Bunk bed ladder

Acdii wrote:
I got a Coleman 274BH and was wondering what could be used to get into the top bunk without blocking the bottom bunk, or more important, it not in the way of the bathroom door. My daughter will be using the top bunk, my mom the bottom one.

Is there a rope type ladder that can be secured to the top bunk and pulled up and lowered easily?

Have YOU ever tried using a "rope ladder"?

Have YOU ever tried a "rope ladder" in the middle of the night WITH a full bladder AND your eyes barely open in complete darkness?

If you have not, perhaps you SHOULD try it BEFORE having your Daughter getting tangled up in it.

I would not personally ever have considered subjecting my Daughter to a rope ladder.. In fact, even with a well made bunk ladder my Daughter HAS had a few "missed steps" over the years that would wake the dead..

You can buy ready made aluminum bunk ladders, they come in two different lengths (60" and 66". I would highly recommend buying the type that has a secure two part mounting system and not the hooks that hook over the bunk (and are easily dislodged).

Pay attention to the specified angles of use for those ladders, I ended up making my own bunk ladder out of a aluminum step ladder because the angle I needed to clear the bottom full sized bunk was not correct for the ladders..

I need to figure out where all my pix are some day to show you what I am talking about, but I basically took a new aluminum step ladder, cut and removed the rivets holding the non step part of the ladder.

Then I removed rivets from one side of the step part of the ladder.

I then measured the top step width and marked that on the bottom step.

Ran a chalk line then cut each step to that line.

This allowed me to make the ladder the same width top to bottom.

Then bolted the side to the steps..

Stretched some cheap carpet over the steps (makes for a much more pleasing feel with no shoes or socks).

Then cut two holes in the face of the ladder that would sit against the bunk.

Screwed in two eye bolts into the bunk that go through the two holes in the ladder face.

Then when the ladder is placed I can simply use carbiners through the eye bolts to secure the ladder in place.

Result is a bunk ladder that can support 225 lbs and is able to clear my bottom bunk.

When the ladder is in place it DOES encroach the walk way path a bit but is much safer than having a child getting tangled in ropes..

On edit..

Adding link to an online PDF that I made that has my homemade bunk ladder info with pix.. See page 47 of the doc in the link below.

HERE

This doc is fairly large so it may take a few minutes to load..

we bought an aluminum one with the plastic hooks in 2005. It was still growing strong when we traded the bunk house in 2 weeks ago.

Considering my son went from around 60 to 160 pounds while we had it, I'd say it was very well built.

How old is your daughter? Mine prefers to climb up and down and has since age 8, now 11.

Didn't have to be rude about the rope ladder. And yes, I have. She can climb up there on her own, but was thinking when she has to go in the middle of the night that she wouldn't accidentally step on my mother in the bottom bunk. Due to the location of the bathroom door, there is no way a ladder can remain in place there, it would interfere with the door.

I found a step stool that she can put her feet on while sitting on the edge of the bed, so she can swing her feet over, and pretty much just stand up and walk down it, then move it to the side to get into the bathroom.

Acdii wrote:
Didn't have to be rude about the rope ladder. And yes, I have. She can climb up there on her own, but was thinking when she has to go in the middle of the night that she wouldn't accidentally step on my mother in the bottom bunk. Due to the location of the bathroom door, there is no way a ladder can remain in place there, it would interfere with the door.

I found a step stool that she can put her feet on while sitting on the edge of the bed, so she can swing her feet over, and pretty much just stand up and walk down it, then move it to the side to get into the bathroom.

Trying to get a "point" across, rope ladder may sound and be fun for a short time but in the long run could be MORE of a hazard.

I would leave that as something to use in the daytime in a play ground setting.

There must be a way that some sort of ladder could be used, hard to believe that a ladder could prevent a bathroom door from closing, that door would have to be opening IN TO the bunk area rather than into the bathroom area which would be opposite of a typical bathroom door setup..

Perhaps a folding door could be subbed?

Any way a sliding door could be used?

Just thinking outside the box..