Bunkie Boards

We just set up my brother's old bunk beds for my son & my father made his own bunkie boards. They are just plywood covered with felt. They held up for many, many years with my 2 rough brothers & have now been passed on to my son, so I would think they are fine. Good luck!

You can just use plywood, or use wooden slats (spaced like 5-7 inches apart) for support with a normal mattress. We've used both and both have held up for years.

Hi K.,

I just saw your update and wanted to tell you that I just bought my son bunk beds and purchased the most amazing mattresses for them. They have a 3/12 inch wood frame built into the mattress, they are especially made for bunk beds. You will never have to use a box spring, slates, plywood, or bunkie boards EVER again!! I Purchsed mine from Furniture Row in Matthews off Independence Blvd. You can google there number or reply and I will find it for you. I paid $179 for my full mattress and $139 for my twin and they are the most COMFORTABLE beds in the house! The maker of the beds (Denver Mattress Co.) is Ranked number 3 in the nation folllowing behind Serta and Sealy.

Have a great day!!

Bunk Bed Slats is what you need:

http://gerberinterior.com/osc/product_info.php?cPath=27&a...

ply boards have formaldehyde in in the glue, it smells terrible and is harmful to your health if you are exposed to it to much. especially if you are a small child and breathe it for 10 hours straight!!!!

also your mattress needs to breathe, - if it doesn't it will mold.

:)

got to go and get my kids ready!
lol

-C.

I'm not sure where you live, but there is an AWESOME place in the Amish country area where you can get custom made mattresses of far superior quality and MUCH cheaper than any mattress you can get at BabiesRUs or Wal-Mart or anywhere! My chiropractor told me about them...and you can get them custom made. I got my son's crib mattress for $53, and the mattress for his cradle for $19! It is about 45 minutes from my home in Canton, and was SO WORTH the drive. If you'd like more info, feel free to email me!

We bought bunkie boards at Big Lots. They were very inexpensive and are still holding up after 2 years.

My kids broke the slats on our bunk bed as well. What we did, was get a couple 1 x 4s and put those across like stats for support and then had a piece of plywood cut to fit. It makes the bed much more sturdy and there is no way they are going to break it now. Good Luck!

D. M.

I have purchased about 5 or 6 bunkie boards over the years....I like the convenience...and my hubby couldn't make them....so it's worth the money....not that much around my parts....it helps distribute the weight evenly in a bunk bed...

Good Luck

Go the plywood route. We just purchased bunk beds this fall and bought plywood. My husband then sprayed with adhesive glue and we stretched fabric over each board - this way it is smooth like bunkie board (no splinters, etc) and a third of the cost! Home Depot and Lowes will even cut down to size for you if you take the measurements with you!

My daughter had the same thing and we got plywood cut to the size we needed and it worked great

We moved into a house this summer and our box spring wouldn't fit up the stairs. We cut a couple pieces of plywood and put them down and then put the mattress over those. I did cover the plywood with a sheet so it wouldn't snag the mattress. I can't really notice any difference. I don't see why you would have to go buy something that expensive.

I've never heard of a bunkie board. We used plywood for my son who will be six soon. (45lb in soaking wet clothes!) and he says it's the most comfortable thing he's ever slept on. Still sleeps as good and seems as well rested as ever.

That's what my parents did...put plywood under the matress...they'll be fine!

I bought beds for my kids and they were matresses on top of CARDBOARD! they had used 1 by 1/2 inch wood slats and covered them with cardboard and put the mattresses on top. Of course they fell apart! My husband used some plywood to replace the cardboard and the bed lasted till my 200# daughter left home.
Even if plywood is 15 dollars a sheet, it still will last longer.
Best of luck,
L.

My girls have bunk beds with wooden slats, and we put the mattress right on top of the slats. That's they way they were designed, and it's perfectly comfortable. I will say that there are quite a few slats (probably 10-15 per bed) to provide the proper support for the mattress. I think the slats are just 1x2s. I hope this helps!

We recently bought bunk beds from Levin the sales rep told us to buy plywood and cut it to fit it was cheaper and it works fine if the mattress is to hard I put a soft foam pad on it works great.

We have used plywood and it seems stronger and did last longer then the bunkie boards
Good Luck

My husband and I went shopping for bunkbeds and was quite frustrated about how cheaply made they were! We then made our own. We put plywood and then put 2X4's across to hold the plywood in place. The bed turned out really nice! I would go with plywood. We have even used that under my 13-year-old's bed and it has worked nicely and found to be cheaper than buying a whole bunch of other stuff. Hope this helps. T.

We went with plywood too. It's been fine for us, but I have to say the quality of the mattress makes a difference in how nice the bed feels. One son had a good hand-me-down mattress that still feels fine on the wood. The younger son has a cheapo mattress that feels awful, but he's only 2 now so I'm not too worried about it. The bunkie boards we looked at were so expensive we chanced the wood and have been happy.

Wer had the same issues with our sons beds. We wound up doing the plywood too because the bunkie boards we didn't feel were that stong and it doesn't take much to break them. I was told by the guys setting our set up never to allowthw boys to jump on the beds. They said once when they were setting a set up the child went in and jumped on the beds and broke the bunkie boards before they had even completed the install. They had went out to the truck to get one last piece and he went completely mattress and all through the bunkie board.So we never allowed anyone to sleep on the top bed and when we moved each boy had his own room and I felt if the broke it on the floor level at least no one would have been hurt.

Yes, plywood is cheaper and can be used. My brother used it for their bunk beds. I would make it double strength though. He used two pieces on each bed to make sure it was at least an inch thick under the mattresses. Worked out fine.

You can get a bunkie board at Original Mattress Factory for about $30. We have one on my son's bed and it works great!

Please, if you find out, let me know. I been having the same problem. I actually bought ne mattresses that were thicker, but I need to find that thin mattress board. I also thought about plywood too. Well, if I come up with something before you do, I will let you know.

wife and mother of 4(3,6,8 & 10).

As stated before, most plywood is a source of formaldehyde. You might consider painting (sealing) the plywood with one of the newer paints which doesn't emit vapors or other fumes. Maybe there is something made especially to seal plywood. Good luck . . .

we used thick plywood when our oldest had bunk beds. It worked great for him. I'm not sure what the difference is, but we didn't want to pay the high price for a bunkie board, either. My husband just went to Home Depot with the measurements we needed. I hope this helps some!