This step by step diy article is about triple bunk bed plans. Building a bunk bed is a cheap solution for small rooms that don’t provide enough space for fitting regular beds. Although there are many designs you could choose from, in this article we will show you all you have to know about making a classic bulk bed out of common materials. If you have worked with lumber before, the carpentry techniques should be familiar to you.
Buy quality lumber, made for building lumber, if you want to get a durable bed. Nevertheless, you could save some money if you purchase lumber with knots, which could even enhance the look of project, giving it a rustic appearance. Select the slats with great attention, checking if they are in a good condition (the lumber has to be straight and without chips, dents or cracks).
Always aligned the components before locking them together with screws. In addition, we recommend you to pre-drill the lumber, otherwise the wood might easily split. Add glue to the joints, if you want to enhance their bond. Smooth the cut edges with fine grit sandpaper and remove the residues using a vacuum cleaner. Make sure you take a look over the related plans to get an idea about what you can build for your home. See all my Premium Plans in the Shop.
Made from this plan
Triple bunk bed plans
Building a triple bunk bed
Materials
- A – 5 pieces of 2×2 lumber – 69” long, 4 pieces – 44 1/4″ long LEGS
- B – 2 pieces of 2×6 lumber – 43″ long, 2 pieces – 76″ long 3xFRAME
- B – 9 pieces of 2×4 lumber – 76” long CLEATS
- C – 48 pieces of 1×4 lumber – 40” long SLATS
- D – 2 pieces of 1×4 lumber – 40 1/4” long SUPPORTS
- E – 6 pieces of 1×4 lumber – 43” long, 2 pieces – 76″ long, 2 pieces – 59″ long, 4 pieces – 24″ long RAILS
- E – 1 piece of 1×2 lumber – 79” long, 2 pieces – 46″ long, 1 piece – 56″ long TRIMS
- F – 8 piece of 2×2 lumber – 15 1/2” long STEPS
- 5 pieces of 2×2 lumber – 10 ft
- 9 pieces of 2×6 lumber – 8 ft
- 9 pieces of 2×4 lumber – 8 ft
- 32 pieces of 1×4 lumber – 8 ft
- 3 pieces of 1×2 lumber – 8 ft
- mattress
- 2 1/2″ screws
- 1 1/4″ screws
- glue
- stain
Tools
- Safety gloves, glasses
- Miter saw, jigsaw
- Chalk line, tape measure, spirit level, carpentry pencil
- Drill machinery and drill bits
Tips
- Pre-drill holes in the wooden components, before driving in the screws
- Smooth the exposed edges, by using a router with a 1/4” bit
Time
- One day
Related
Building a triple bunk bed
Building the bed frames
The first step of the woodworking project is to build the frames for the three beds. As you can easily notice in the diagram, we recommend you to build the frame out of 2×6 lumber and the cleats out of 2×4 lumber. Make sure the corners are right-angled and add waterproof glue to the joints. Drill pocket holes at both ends of the long components and insert 2 1/2″ screws into the perpendicular slats. Next, attach the 2×4 cleats to the frame by using 2 1/2″ screws. Leave no gaps between the components and add glue to create rigid joints.
Attaching the cleats
Continue the bed frame projects by attaching the 1×4 support slats to the cleats. Place the slats equally-spaced and secure them into place by using 1 1/4″ screws.
Building the frame of the triple bunk bed
Next, build the frame of the triple bunk bed, as described in the diagram. Attach the 2×2 legs to the bed frames, making sure the corners are square and the frames are perfectly horizontal. Drill pilot holes through the legs and insert 2 1/2″ screws into the bed frames. Plumb the legs with a spirit level.
Fitting the middle bed frame
Continue the project by attaching the middle bed frame to the structure. Make sure you create rigid joints between the components, by inserting 2 1/2″ screws and waterproof glue. Ask a couple of friends to assist you while assembling the triple bunk bed, as you need someone to hold the components into place while you insert the galvanized screws.
Fitting the guard rails
Cut the guard rails out of 1×4 lumber, making sure you pay attention to the instructions described in the plans. Drill pocket holes at both ends of the slats and secure them to the legs using 1 1/4″ screws. Place the slats equally-spaced and leave no gaps between the components. Place a spirit level on top of the rails to check if they are perfectly horizontal.
Fitting the trims
Attach the 1×2 trims to the top of the guard rails, as described in the plans. Align the trims at both ends and secure them into place by using 1 1/4″ finishing nails and glue.
Fitting the steps
One of the last steps of the project is to attach the steps to the triple bunk bed. Cut the steps out of 2×2 lumber and fit them between the supports. Drill pocket holes at both ends of the components and secure them into place by using 2 1/2″ screws. Check if the corners are square.
Triple bunk bed plans
Last but not least, you need to take care of the final touches. Therefore, you need fill all the holes with a good filler and let the compound to dry out properly, before sanding the wooden surface with 120-grit sandpaper.
Thank you for reading our article about triple bunk bed plans and we recommend you to check out the rest of our home improvement projects. Don’t forget to LIKE and SHARE this projects to your friends, using the social media widgets, if you’ve found it useful.
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20 comments
Thank you very much for sharing these plans. I built my sons a triple bunk this summer and they absolutely love it.
The materials list calls for the top bed guard rails on the ladder side to be 53″, however I believe they should be 56″. When I was done cutting, routing, sanding and painting/finishing, I went to assemble and discovered that 53″ was too short, so I had to redo a few pieces.
I only made a couple of small modifications, and those were to add guardrails at the head of the bottom bunk so the pillow doesn’t slide off, and also add guardrails at the foot of the middle bunk so that covers and stuffed animals can’t be kicked down onto the bottom bunk sleeper.
Thank you once again!
I will check the measurements. Thank you for the compliments. Why not send a few images so anyone can see your work?
Love the Plan…but the print option is not working on any of my computers.
It is working on all my computers. Did you use the green widget with the printer icon?
Hey guys,
For those of us unfortunate enough to live in areas known as the rest of the world, not the United States of America, could you perhaps provide a set of measurements in metric as well as imperial?
The size of the lumber differs, as well as that of the mattresses, so I cannot provide measurements other than for what I know. You could try with a tape measure that has measurements in metric and imperial, as a starting point.
There are two types of countries in this world, those that have landed on the moon or those that use the metric system. Use a converter.
I actually like the metric system a lot more. It is a lot easier. The trouble comes with the lumber sizes which don’t make any sense in metric system. That is why it is hard to convert my plans to metric. Regarding the first part of your comment, I am against chauvinism. There were many European scientist who have worked on the Apollo program. You could just Google “Wernher von Braun” to see “the other types of countries” aren’t as behindhand as you say. Cheers!
Michael brown, One thing worth mentioning if you plan to adapt the plans to metric which has not been covered here is that when the plans list the dimensional lumber sizes (2×2, 2×4, 2×6, 1×4 and 1×2) these are not actual sizes. A 2×2 actually measures around 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″, 2×6 is actually 1 1/2′ x 5 1/2″, and most of the 1x’s are actually 3/4″ etc… I’ve heard a couple of explanations for why this is the case. some say they are milled to those sizes then shrink to the final size while being kiln dried, others suggest that the nominal sizes have originated from the intended application where adding 1/2″ of drywall would for example make a 2x actually 2″ (1 1/2″+1/2″ drywall…). Either way, that’s the nature of the beast here its unnecessarily complicated but life can be that way sometimes. All of the lumber sizes (nominal Vs. actual) should be available online easily enough of you do a quick search. I hope that helps. Good luck.
What is the estimated cost of this project?
I don’t have a cost estimate for the project. I guess it should be a couple hundreds.
I just purchased all the materials needed at a Home Depot. We paid $164 for all the lumber and Screws we will need.
The leg supports and 2 middle supports for middle bunk seem to small. Especially the leg supports seem to small. I was thinking 4×4 would be great, but maybe 2×4 would be strong enough. Could you redesign specs of bed with 4×4 for legs and 2×4 for middle bunk support?
The 4×4 are overkill. If you feel the 2×2 are not strong enough, using 2x4s is more than enough. You can replace the 2x2s with 2x4s with minimum effort. The plans won’t change fundamentally.
I switched the 2x2s with 2x4s. It is the same lengths cut. No other adjusting is needed. I decided not to use supports on the back side against the wall. Instead I countersunk some lag bolts in the frame of each level and secured them in the studs of the wall. Very strong
2x4s would all be cut to the same lengths of the 2×2. No adjusting would be needed. I decided to not use supports on the wall side and instead countersunk lag bolts into the frames and then secured them into the walls studs. Very secure
Congrats for the projects and thank you for the valuable feedback. I would love to feature your project on the blog. You can send a few pics here: http://howtospecialist.com/give-back/
In the original post I saw it showed the one bed angling out so it would fit in a corner but I’m not finding the plans for that.
That is a project submitted by a reader. I don’t have plans for that configuration yet.
About how much did it cost for materials?