Upper bunk bed in the garage: bed rail ideas?

[Remeron]

Hi everyone,

Curious to get some feed back from some owners out there who may have young children. We were surprised that Heartland did not provide a ladder to safely access the upper garage queen bunk bed as a standard or as an option. We have young children aged 5 and 8 who we feel are unsafe to sleep up there as there is no factory railing or raised edge on both ends which would potentially prevent a fall to the floor. I've done a considerable amount of research on both the Heartland and RV.net to see what people have come up with as solutions. Wondering if there is any other novel ideas floating out there.

We did consider the option of buying a removable one for a child's toddler bed from Walmart. I didn't like how it was not bolted down and could easily slide around under the mattress if the child is not sleeping directly over the anchoring arms. Has anyone drilled a solid wood one into the bed platform? Does anyone know what is the depth of the platform so I don't drill all the way through with screws which may be too long?

Thanks for you input,

 

[Appleguy]

we had the same concerns so I got some 1" X 1/8" aluminum flat bar and cut 3 pieces about 24" long with a 90* bend about 12" and then attached a couple of 1 X 4" boards. The 3 legs are placed under the mattress and the uptight portion with the boards keeps our grandkids from rolling off. when in travel mode we lay the board portion on the mattress with the legs hanging down on the outside of the mattress.

 

[Remeron]

we had the same concerns so I got some 1" X 1/8" aluminum flat bar and cut 3 pieces about 24" long with a 90* bend about 12" and then attached a couple of 1 X 4" boards. The 3 legs are placed under the mattress and the uptight portion with the boards keeps our grandkids from rolling off. when in travel mode we lay the board portion on the mattress with the legs hanging down on the outside of the mattress.

I am interested in seeing your actual set up. Any pictures? We were at our local Home Depot this evening looking around at available materials ranging from aluminum to actual 8 foot lengths of cedar 2x2's. I would prefer to keep the weight to a minimum as wood can add up quickly and begin to really count against the 300 lb wright capacity of the top bunk.

 

[Silverado23]

I added a regular bed rail to the single upper bunks of my North trail. I used nylon webbing anchored under the mattress to reduce the shifting and lack of weight on part of the mattress. I have photos and will post them soon.

 

[Remeron]

I added a regular bed rail to the single upper bunks of my North trail. I used nylon webbing anchored under the mattress to reduce the shifting and lack of weight on part of the mattress. I have photos and will post them soon.

Great idea! Never thought about using netting to make sure the rails don't move out of place. I would really appreciate the photos!

 

[Appleguy]

I can take some photos and e-mail them to you. the structure weighs about 3 pounds.

 

[Remeron]

My email is robtang76@gmail.com

 

[Silverado23]

]Here are the photos of the Bunk rail project. I used a bed rail kit from walmart that is able to fold and store under the mattress if necessary.
The nylon webbing was 1 1/4 in wide by about 2 foot longer than the rail kit. Roughly 5 feet.
I used a screw and countersunk washer but a regular washer could be used as long as the nylon webbing does not move.
I doubled the end of the webbing on both ends by about 6 inches and predrilled the hole locations for each screw starting at one end of the bed screwing down the webbing in locations that had support, making sure that each location was tight enough to still let the bed rail support to slide under the webbing but not have much extra slack.

I used the bed lock plate (round white disk in the photos) to make sure that it is secure.

To the get the webbing for the plate to sit under the bunk I removed then reattached the bunk hinge sliding in the webbing between the bunk and frame.

 

[Remeron]

Hey everyone,

Just spent the evening rigging up my idea of a custom bunk safety rail and ladder mount for our rear upper bunk in the garage. I was determined to create something light weight and had to have strength. After much trolling around Home Depot, I found 8x12 shelf brackets, two 1x4 pine boards and some stain for my project. The bunk was quite easy to put together and only took a few hours of sanding and staining of the wood. I felt the faux leather fascia trim was not strong nor durable enough for a hooked bunk ladder. I picked up a nice scrap piece of 2x4 and gave it some TLC with some fine grit sandpaper, and mounted it right up against the fascia trim. The 60 inch bunk ladder from Camping World came with hardware which was mounted directly to the 2x4 piece.

Here are some pictures of the completed project! Thank you everyone for your helpful advice and suggestions. The project cost me approximately $40 for the wood and hardware, and $50 for the ladder.

 

[JerryC]

I added a regular bed rail to the single upper bunks of my North trail. I used nylon webbing anchored under the mattress to reduce the shifting and lack of weight on part of the mattress. I have photos and will post them soon.

This is a great idea!

I'm curious, is the bottom bunk comfortable? It seems like it could be lumpy.

 

[JerryC]

I love the idea of using netting for bed rails. Especially when your trying to utilize space as much as possible. Netting collapses to a small space, is lightweight, and can be put up and taken down quickly. I can't believe I haven't thought of this. Thanks!

 

[Silverado23]

This is a great idea!

I'm curious, is the bottom bunk comfortable? It seems like it could be lumpy.

My kids use the bunks and have never complained about any lumps. You might be able to feel them if you are heavy enough to totally compress the mattress.

 

[Lynn1130]

The bottom bunk is quite comfortable but I have to ask. Why not put the younger ones on the bottom bunk?

 

[Silverado23]

The bottom bunk is quite comfortable but I have to ask. Why not put the younger ones on the bottom bunk?

For my family I have two upper bunks, a lower bunk and a dinette. For convenience and not having to reset beds every night we have the older kid in an upper bunk and one of the others in the other upper bunk. The older kid uses the bunk rail as more of a privacy area than a way for preventing falls. In our soon to be new RV NT 32buds we lose a bunk and mini dinette. Tthe older kid will have to make up his own bed (sofa) each night and take it down each morning as part of his responsibility. The younger ones will not have to change their bunks each day.

 

[txmelea]

We bought a foam mattress topper to use on the top bunk so that standard queen sheets would fit. We took a foam pool noodle and slid it under the fitted sheet at the edge of the mattress. This way our daughter has a "hump" all along the edge of the bed to keep her from rolling out. Might not be a great idea with very young children, but it works with ours!