Not structurally sound for large children or their parents
The bed is beautiful and all the predrilled holes lined up well. The instructions were clear and simple. However, the wood itself is soft and easy to cosmetically damage. There are a lot of screws, as some people mentioned, but you can safely omit about 50 on the slats. Also, you will need to use a stick or something to chase out the holes as about half of them had wood in them that would halt assembly until removed.
Major Con the bed is not very structurally sound. The first time I sat on the side of the bottom bunk, like you might do to put your shoes on, the main rail broke in two. I think there may have been an issue with the 1x4 plywood used as the main structural beam, but it just isnt the strongest piece of wood for the application. Also, the 1x1 support on the inside, that serves to strengthen the main rail while providing a shelf for the slats, is in 3 pieces. The whole thing would have been stronger if they had used a continuous piece instead. For me, I am going to install a metal angle bracket, about 1x1x5 right on top of the 1x1 support. This should keep it out of sight and roughly double the strength of the main rail. Kind of lame to have to reinforce a new bed so that it is safe to sit on. The break happened tonight, so I have yet to see how customer service is going to respond. If I get bad service, I will update the review. I am just asking them to send me a one new main rail and dont want to send the broken one back.
Not structurally sound for large children or their parents
The bed is beautiful and all the predrilled holes lined up well. The instructions were clear and simple. However, the wood itself is soft and easy to cosmetically damage. There are a lot of screws, as some people mentioned, but you can safely omit about 50 on the slats. Also, you will need to use a stick or something to chase out the holes as about half of them had wood in them that would halt assembly until removed. Major Con the bed is not very structurally sound. The first time I sat on the side of the bottom bunk, like you might do to put your shoes on, the main rail broke in two. I think there may have been an issue with the 1x4 plywood used as the main structural beam, but it just isnt the strongest piece of wood for the application. Also, the 1x1 support on the inside, that serves to strengthen the main rail while providing a shelf for the slats, is in 3 pieces. The whole thing would have been stronger if they had used a continuous piece instead. For me, I am going to install a metal angle bracket, about 1x1x5 right on top of the 1x1 support. This should keep it out of sight and roughly double the strength of the main rail. Kind of lame to have to reinforce a new bed so that it is safe to sit on. The break happened tonight, so I have yet to see how customer service is going to respond. If I get bad service, I will update the review. I am just asking them to send me a one new main rail and dont want to send the broken one back.