Bunk Ladder

[kmbelt]

I have the 5er in my sig below. On my bunks, i do not have a ladder for the top bunk, so i want to make one. Anyone done this before or have any plans/designs i could go by?

[Buzzn6]

For this I would use aluminum tube, say 1 1/2" but you could use 1 1/4", drill out the holes for ladder rungs and weld them in place. The rungs can be 1" aluminum. This will make a light and easily handled ladder.

[ntar827]

I used half of an aluminum step ladder. Remove the back half and cut the legs to proper length and angle with a hacksaw.
Put carpeting on treds (steps).
Made for easy climbing and is light and easy to store on top of mattress.

[nremtp143]

kmbelt wrote:

nremtp143 wrote:
Take a look here at this PVC ladder. PVC Bunk Ladder IS something like this what you are looking for??
Monty

That is exactly like what i'm looking for.

Good. Glad I could help. A buddy of mine made one from these specs for his toy hauler so his kids can move it themselves. Worked very well.

Monty

[kmbelt]

nremtp143 wrote:
Take a look here at this PVC ladder. PVC Bunk Ladder IS something like this what you are looking for??
Monty

That is exactly like what i'm looking for.

[nremtp143]

Take a look here at this PVC ladder. PVC Bunk Ladder IS something like this what you are looking for??
Monty

[Duane]

I always believed if I walked around Home Depot or Lowes enough times, then an idea or a solution would present itself...

Anyway, Even though I didn't have any pictures, I could give you a couple of links to show you some of the things that I used...

The Handrail. This is the particular shape that I used for my ladder. Other shapes may work better for your particular purpose.

The The Dowel (Rungs). I can't remember the actual diameter of the dowels that I used, but I would use the largest diameter that will fit into the handrails. This will help with the strength and will give you more area for footing.

The latch. This is what I used to secure the ladder to the side of the top bunk. I used 2 of these, with the actual latch attached to both sides of the ladder and the "eye" attached to the bunk. Depending on your situation and also the availability of other hardware items out now, there may be a better solution. But this worked great for me because it kept the ladder firmly attached to side of the bed, especially when my daughter was climbing the ladder.

Once I got everything cut to length and glued together, I determined when the angle would be for the bottom of the ladder where it contacted the floor. I cut the bottom of the ladder to match that angle and attached a couple of these. I didn't want to chew up the wood or the flooring.

Since you have access to woodworking equipment, you will be fine. I am absolutely horrible at woodworking. I would rather work with nuts and bolts than nails and screws... Good Luck and let us know how it turns out.

Duane

[kmbelt]

Duane wrote:
I made one several years ago for a bunkhouse trailer we had.... I went to Home Depot and bought a length of oak "flat bottom" hand railing and some oak dowel rods. I drilled some holes with a forstner bit in the "flat" sides, glued the dowels and railing together, then stained to match the woodwork in the trailer.

I used the handrailing because the shape was easy to work with, was already sanded for staining, and in the end, was very sturdy. Also, I could cut the length to what I needed for the height of my top bunk.

I looked around in the hardware dept and found some latches that I could use to secure the ladder to the bunk.

I hope you get the idea... I don't have any pictures, or plans to work from...

That's a good idea. It would have character too instead of just being all squared off. My parents have a full wood shop, so i could do something similar pretty easy. Thanks for the idea.

[Duane]

I made one several years ago for a bunkhouse trailer we had.... I went to Home Depot and bought a length of oak "flat bottom" hand railing and some oak dowel rods. I drilled some holes with a forstner bit in the "flat" sides, glued the dowels and railing together, then stained to match the woodwork in the trailer.

I used the handrailing because the shape was easy to work with, was already sanded for staining, and in the end, was very sturdy. Also, I could cut the length to what I needed for the height of my top bunk.

I looked around in the hardware dept and found some latches that I could use to secure the ladder to the bunk.

I hope you get the idea... I don't have any pictures, or plans to work from...

[ependydad]

A while back, I found various woodworking plans for bunk ladders. The benefit to making your own vs. buying something off of the shelf is that you can orient the rungs to be flat to the floor vs. being rounded (which can be hard on feet) or worse - tilted up or down.

I didn't keep any links as my layout likely doesn't support a ladder (always forgot to check it out).

[kmbelt]

dalehelman wrote:
I made one out of PVC pipe cheap and easy.

You have any pictures of it. This will be for my 5 yo to get into the bed with, so needs to be pretty safe.

[dalehelman]

I made one out of PVC pipe cheap and easy.

[BarneyS]

The link below will take you to other bunk ladder discussions. You should probably get some help there.
Barney

Search results on bunk ladder.