Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Loft bed come stained or painted?

No. We do not have the facilities to provide that service, our loft beds kits are cut, drilled, and planed so that they have a clean, smooth finish to them. You can then stain, paint, or finish the loft bed any way you wish. You don't have to do anything to the loft bed once you receive it, but giving it a personal touch is always nice. Understand that because the loft bed is made from 2x4's and 2x6's, the loft bed has a block type look to it as opposed to a finished piece of furniture you would buy from a retail furniture store. The advantage of this, our loft beds is designed for safety and stability which is the most important factor when you're sleeping five feet in the air.

Can we buy just the plans and or bolt hardware?

Yes. We sell our plans on eBay for $5 per set and the bolt kit for $25 (plus shipping.) You don't have to buy our bolt kit, our plans tell you exactly what you'll need - if you live near a Lowe's or a Home Depot - check our their prices and make your own decision. Many of our loft bed customers don't live near areas with large hardware stores and often find that the smaller/regional stores charge higher prices then we offer. We buy in such bulk that we get aggressive prices. The same concept works for the lumber, we tell you in our plans exactly what you'll need for lumber and we'll even go as far as making purchasing suggestions to save you money. Lumber prices vary like the price of gasoline - you may find that the cost of purchasing an 8' long board to make the loft bed leg of 6' is more expensive then purchasing a 12' board and cutting it in half. Also, the major hardware stores either make the cut for free or for nearly nothing - thus the savings of purchasing a longer board even with a small cut fee is better then buying two separate boards. We do the same thing when we purchase wood from Home Depot.

Do I have to sand the loft bed?

No/Yes. It's up to you, you may want to sand the loft bed if you build it yourself to smooth out some rough edges or not. When we sell you the kit, we plane the wood, but you still might find a few rough areas - its up to you.

Can I really put this together myself?

Yes. It does help if you have a helper to hold one end of the board while you assemble the other end. Someone with very basic skills can handle the installation along with our fully illustrated plans on the restricted website (it's only restricted to protect our $5 plan interests - once you purchase our plans, we give you the website link and you're welcome to visit as much and as often as you want - no password or time restriction is imposed.

What type of wood do you use/recommend?

Yellow Pine - it's cheap, available, and if you choose your boards carefully - looks great when either planed or finished. You can use any type of wood, but 99% of all our loft beds regardless of who purchased the wood has been built with wood from places like Home Depot and most of the time it's Yellow Pine. You do not need to use pressure treated wood unless you're planning to put use your loft bed outside ... Avoid wood that has large crack by the ends, or large number of knots. Knots have a tendency to weaken the integrity of the boards.

What tools are required?

Drill with 1/8th drill bit (a 1/4" hex drive head really helps as well), standard socket set (if you don't have the 1/4" hex drive head for the drill), Phillips screw driver, some wood glue is optional, some type of wood saw if you have to cut boards (remember, stores like Home Depot can make all the cuts for you if you are not comfortable with this part of assembly,) finally ... a sense of adventure.

What is your warranty and guarantee?

On our loft bed kits - we replace any board that arrives damaged, any bolts missing, etc - whatever it takes to help you get the loft bed kit built. Our plans come with a 30-day unconditional money-back guarantee. Because the loft bed kits which include custom cut wood and bolts, we can not offer refunds or returns - the return freight in most cases is as much as the wood cost is. But rest assured, even if you buy our loft bed plans, between emails and phone support (not toll free - but since we have unlimited long distance on our end - we're happy to call you back on our dime) we'll walk you through the process.

What does the completed loft bed weigh?

Somewhere between 250 and 300 pounds, since the weight is distributed over four legs, if the floor will support a normal size adult standing in a one square foot area - it is more then strong enough for our loft beds. We honestly have never seen or heard of a floor that could not support our loft beds - we would even go as far as stating that if you have a floor that does not support our loft bed ... we wouldn't stand on it either.

Does the loft bed rock, shake, rattle or roll?

No. We like to make jokes that it all depends how many people are on the loft bed and what they are doing .... but no. Our loft beds are designed to be like a rock (certainly as heavy as one is). We do not require or recommend that you attach our loft beds to any wall, furniture, or any other structure. It is a free-standing design that can be placed in the middle of a room if you desire.

Does the loft bed have special railings for children?

Our loft bed plans include two types of guardrails - one design for adults, the other for small children. The old "coke can" test should be applied with any small child, if you can pass a coke can height wise between the mattress and the guardrail, we suggest you add an additional guardrail to make the loft bed extra safe. You can add as many guardrails along the mattress as you feel comfortable - our design allows for this. All kidding aside, there are only two possibilities for a child to "fall" from a loft bed mattress (while extremely rare it is potentially possible,) they either go over the guardrail or between the mattress top and below the first guardrail. Both cases can easily be corrected with our plans.  Of the thousands of loft bed users, we've never heard of someone falling out of our loft beds, but we give you this information because we're parents like you. If you plan properly, you will never have a problem with a loft bed.

How far apart are the ladder steps, what about ladder handrails?

Standard spacing is about 14", but again, smaller children may need the steps closer together - not a problem, our plans give you all the information you'll need to add an extra couple of ladder steps should you need. While we don't specify the minimum age for a child to use our loft beds, we leave that up to the responsibility of the parent. We strongly suggest that when you have a teenager using the loft bed and a younger sibling in the house, be aware that often the younger sibling might want to act out what the teenager sibling does with the loft bed. While we do not provide ladder handrails other then the loft bed itself, we do offer suggestions as to how to make the ladder easier to hold on to for small hands.

Can the loft bed mattress height be adjusted up/down?

Yes. The maximum height of our standard loft bed puts the mattress bottom at 66" high, you can lower the mattress support deck to any height by making additional holes and in the case that you want to raise the loft bed height, contact us and we'll give you several suggestions.

Do you offer a desk option under the loft bed?

Yes, we'll be happy to send it to you. But because it takes up a lot of the loft bed space underneath, most people use existing desks or other furniture they already own under the loft bed.

The loft bed is designed with a foot ladder, is a front ladder available?

Yes, just email us.

I'm sure we haven't covered every question hear, just email or call us and we'll be happy to address your questions or concerns. Loft beds are a great addition to any bedroom and give the user a new view on their living area.

Website Development: Djams Corporation, LLC - Last modified: June 16, 2010