Newbie build... children's bunk bed

[masopa]

Some daftie questions here folks. I've built a bit of stuff before, but this is a more substantial project for me and will be using a fair bit of wood, so I don't want to waste £££s and get it horribly wrong.

I want to build my son a "convertible" bunk bed, I have plans in mind, but it's to fit a specific space in his room, will have a single (70x200) bunk up top with usual fixed ladder, rails etc. as well as a 30cm shelf running down the wall side (why do no "bought" bunk beds allow anywhere for them to keep books etc. next to them?) - so 100x200 roughly.

Underneath, there will be a fold-away second bunk, which when folded away will allow me to put a desk & chair and bookcase (all on castors) under the main bunk. The foldaway bunk will push to the wall and be secured by a lock & hasp (kids, eh!) - another reason for the shelf on the main bunk is I'll need c. 30cm to play with to get the mattress folded away on top of that bunk. Cunning! It's intended to look a bit like this (linky here), but with the staircase going down to the floor and the bottom bunk being fold-away-able. And an shelf making the whole thing wider. As for slats, I'm afraid it's hard to look past IKEA's £12 slatted base - for that price I can't make it cheaper & better.

Anyways, the design isn't really what I'm asking about (although comments very welcome)... it's more about construction materials.

I will be varnishing (eventually) and although it doesn't need to look ultraslick - it's a kid's room after all - I don't really want it to look obviously homemade and "cheap". Which has dispensed with my original idea to use CLS as the building material. Radiused corners and edges would look dreadful.

However, I'm still swayed by the cracking value of CLS - under a quid a metre!

What is the downside to taking a 38x63 length of CLS and cutting off 5mm of either "long" side, giving me what would effectively be 38x53 PAR with better, square corners and edges?

The CLS I've been using has been surprisingly straight (and that's just from B&Q) and it's actually made reasonable rails/aprons for my workbench, which was 180cm long so a comparable run of timber. I don't have too many quarms about the bed being not totally 100% accurate to the thou.

I'll be using my table saw etc. to cut, so I'm more relaxed about it being a touch more difficult to work with.

I can see some 44x44 PSE redwood for about £2.70 a metre, which is a fair bit more but not outrageous. Obviously it will close to triple the cost of the build, but if that's what I have to do, that's what I have to do...

Thoughts?

 

[AndyT]

A few years ago, we bought a raised bed for one of our children. As he got bigger we decided to raise it higher. I made some leg extensions, joined together with morticed and tenoned rails, to fit underneath. I wanted to match the original which was decent quality. I bought joinery grade redwood, probably similar to your 44x44 stuff. I eased the corners and finished it with satin polyurethane.
It ended up a very close match, especially after sunlight darkened it down a bit. I was happy that the wood was as strong as the original bed.

I think most CLS is spruce, which while excellent in some ways is a less dense timber than redwood and can have noticeable soft areas and resin pockets. You might be able to pick out good bits of spruce and make a perfectly strong item but if you are already leaning towards using redwood, I think you won't regret the extra expense.

 

[masopa]

Thanks Andy... that was my slight worry with CLS - no matter whether I trim it to be more or less PSE, it still has the texture of a cheap wood. Redwood may not be hardwood, but it should be a step in the right direction.

Checking Sagulator (great resource!) I reckon a 20x140 piece of redwood should be more than sufficient as the main supporting elements from head to foot of bed - it should be stronger than a single piece of CLS. A pair of 44x44 glued togerher should be strong enough for the main vertical supports for the whole structure. Just need to work out how best to remove any lateral "wobble" whilst still leaving one side completely open for the "living area". I'd like to avoid obvious diagonal cross-members, but it might be the only way of doing it. Unless I sheet the back and left side, since they'll be against the wall?

In fact, a nice diagonal lattice would look nicer: far more work (and more expensive) but definitely more attractive. Am I biting off more than I can chew, though??

Ideas, ideas!

 

[Racers]

You could attach it to the wall/walls that should stop it racking!

Pete

 

[masopa]

Doh! The simplest solutions are usually the best

Thank you!