Extended loft bed legs

[Greg Urwiller]

I'm going to extend some "short" loft bed legs 18". The legs are 3 1/2" square. I was going to "mortise" about a 2 3/4" square 1" deep into the loft leg and "tenon" an 1'' on the extension, then center a 1" dowel about 2" deep into each section. Glue everything together and paint. Is the mortise and tenon going overboard if I do the dowel? Or even do the dowel 3-4" deep? I'll have X bracing plus the bed frame bolted on the ends, plus a crosspiece on the bottom in the back. Solid enough with the dowels, or should I "mortise and tenon"? Thanks. Greg

[Jamie Buxton]

I'd not bother with the dowel, but I'd make the mortise and tenon more than 1". 2" would be better, if you have the ability to cut the mortise that deep.

[Bill Jobe]

X bracing is no stronger than one diagonal, and can actually work against you in some applications due to the added weight.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I was given a bunk bed. The top bunk was secured using steel rods andsimply set in place. Especially with a decent mattress, which isthicker than a usual bunk bed mattress, there was very little spacebetween the lower bunk and the upper bunk. My solution?


I built a set ofshelves, not very deep, that went between the top and bottom bunk.
The shelves wereheld in place with the steel rods, one at each corner, the same asthe original design.
The shelf wasdesigned such that the legs of the top bunk fit over the shelf, butit was a very close fit so that I could screw the shelf from the sideif I want to increase stability, but I have not needed to do so; thebed is very solid, but, there is also a mattress frame for the topand bottom bunk, which will cause more stability then with only anupper.


You do not have abunk bed, just an upper where the legs go all the way to the ground.You could use steel rods, but if you use only one, the lower portionof the leg may rotate. If you use tenons, that is probably fine aslong as they are strong enough. A horizontal stabilizing bar wassuggested. If you build a narrow set of book shelves between the legsthat also attaches to the legs and acts as the lower section, thatcan stabilize this even more.


Note that with mymodifications, both bunks have two shelves at the head of the bed.They also both have an LED light mounted under the top shelf so thatthey have a light. They also have a place to put things such as sometissue or an alarm clock. The shelf between the bunks near the feet,is mostly ignored and does not have a back to the shelf, so, it isused as a ladder to get to the top bunk.


Note that the bedthat I modified is made from 2x6 material, so that is what I used forthe shelving. It is strong enough to allow a person to use it as aladder and to hold things together.