We are looking for either wood or metal bunk beds (twin size), we already have mattresses. Anyone have a brand that was easy to put together and has a separate ladder (it's going into a small space, so the ladder needs to be on the side not the end of the bed.
I have had traditional wood bunks and the tubular futon loft bunks. Both are easy to assemble you just have to follow the instructions.
I would say avoid the cheap stuff until you know what you are doing because their instructions blow and the quality is awful. That equals a furniture life span of about two years.
I feel I must explain, when I say cheap I mean 100 dollars for the bed. I am not saying go out and spend thousands.
go with quality over anything else. my grandparenst bought a quality bunk bed set for my dad when he was a kid and now my brothers daughters use the set every time they come out for a visit. these bunks are 50 years old. QUALITY is the key!
I suggest that all bunk beds are put together in a similar way. The pieces are attached with large screws. The base on which the mattress rests can either be strips of wood (slats) which you attach to the sides with small screws. Or the sides come with heavy tape already attached. The tape folds for packaging.
I've helped to put both kinds together. If you buy metal, be sure the pieces are large and it's sturdy. The metal ones are not as sturdy as the wood ones, in my opinion.
We have bunk beds from IKEA that we put together pretty easily. They are not as high as regular bunk beds. The bottom bunk is basically a mattress on the floor. I don't know if the mattresses you have would fit though. We bought IKEA mattresses. The ladder is on the side and flush with the side of the bed. I don't know if they still sell that one, but they have other bunk bed frames.
When I went through this, I found them all to be really similar, and also pretty straightforward. I wouldn't worry too much about assembly.
Just a suggestion - if you are not picky about wood color and you have a little time, check Craigslist and Freecycle. Many people get them when their kids are younger and then want to get rid of them later. I kept an eye on those websites for about 2 months, and got a very solid set (wood bunks with separate ladder) very inexpensively. They did not have instructions, but were simple to figure out.
Our bunk beds came from BunkBedKing.com I put the beds together by myself, and just needed help to lift the upper onto the lower. They are high quality, but still affordable. Our are about 10 years old now and have been moved, separate, restacked, etc. several times as needed.
we have two sets of bunk beds...both wood. Both sturdy. We had the metal ones and my husband engineered metal poles to make them sturdy.
The one set of bunk beds we bought 13 years ago at Costco. They were about $600. They are a Cape Cod style and can be taken apart and used as twin beds as well.
The other one has the double bed that can be used as a couch.
I wish I knew the brand on both, I don't. Sorry.
