Wonderful loft bed. We were looking into reasonably priced twin-sized loft beds for our just-turned 5 year old who had outgrown his toddler bed. I looked into a few twin beds. Like many people, we were trying to find something that allowed us to save some space. I first looked at a few platform storage beds which were a great option but the few under $300 had mixed reviews about being cheap. I would imagine many are made with composite-like wood that would chip away over time, especially when you have an energetic 5 year-old bouncing on it all the time. Loft beds grabbed my attention next which allowed us to store items underneath including smaller drawer chests which would be great. After researching a few I chose to go with the Junior Loft one. It had wonderful reviews online and sturdiness was constantly mentioned, which a big concern. I love that it held a standard sized twin mattress, that it was too high off the ground (30 to the base of the bed or so), that the side rails were fairly high to accommodate the height of a mattress (side rails are 15 high so that mattresses ranging from 6-10 would still leave room for the side rails to be relevant) and storage steps. Storage is minimal but anything helps. Steps were a big plus because I didn't want our little guy to get up in the middle of the night for a bathroom run and have to worry about going down a ladder, like many loft beds have. The steps are easy and there is a rail there as well which is perfect for a middle-of-the-night/half asleep trip to the bathroom or mommy and daddy's room. Seemed like winner so I ended up ordering it (not from ).
Arrived in a large box. I would say 80 x 8 x 18 and just shy of 100lbs. FedEx guy was nice enough to lug it up our 28 step staircase at our entrance. Lots of parts. As with most of my assembly jobs, I started out by taking everything out of their packaging. There are lots of foam and cardboard within the large box. Two packs of hardware and a few flat boxes for the storage steps assembly. I was glad I had all the pieces as a few prior reviews of missing pieces had me a bit worried. I have read that the assembly takes 3-4 hours for one person and thats about right. I took 3 hours. Remember that the total length of the unit is 92 so, if you plan to assemble it in a smaller space like I did (about 110) know that you will have to maneuver yourself quite a bit to get into certain angles during the assembly. The units big (you can see all the dimensions on the website) so assembling it in another room and bringing it into the intended room would probably not work unless you have double doors leading into the room.
Assembly now was pretty straight forward. To make your like easier I would recommend an electric drive with an angled head and a hex bit. I attached a hex bit to a rachet manual screwdriver which did the job, but was a bit awkward in many cases since you are driving screws that are close to straight beams, so you have little to no room to straightly drive the screw. See my pic of the screwdriver to see what I mean. Also, I know many assembly instructions are against power tools, but a low powered angled ratchet driver is more than safe with this. Its wood, so you don't have to worry about wood/composite chipping. Also the screws heads held pretty well. I think if you dare assemble the entire thing with the small allen key provided (4 or so) you will take 4-5 hours and good bless your fingers afterward.
Minor things; one of the woods pieces were missing drilled holes in order to tight them; once wooden piece's indentation was not cut completely from the factory so a wood bar could not fit right (see photo). Keep in mind that in order to have pieces completely connect to one another you may have to loosen previously tightened screws, just an FYI.
Upon completion I was happy with the bed. It is very sturdy and I was glad I decided to go with a wood frame. Storage steps are a little off (see photo) due to the mis-cut factory wooden piece, but sturdy as there are tons of other screws holding the steps assembly in place. Little annoyances like posts not fitting flush without hammering the heck out of it in place is not enough for me to even take away a full star. Nothing wobbles or shakes. I ordered a foam 8 mattress for it that should be coming soon and I will try to update my review once it comes in.
Great options for big kids...
Wonderful loft bed. We were looking into reasonably priced twin-sized loft beds for our just-turned 5 year old who had outgrown his toddler bed. I looked into a few twin beds. Like many people, we were trying to find something that allowed us to save some space. I first looked at a few platform storage beds which were a great option but the few under $300 had mixed reviews about being cheap. I would imagine many are made with composite-like wood that would chip away over time, especially when you have an energetic 5 year-old bouncing on it all the time. Loft beds grabbed my attention next which allowed us to store items underneath including smaller drawer chests which would be great. After researching a few I chose to go with the Junior Loft one. It had wonderful reviews online and sturdiness was constantly mentioned, which a big concern. I love that it held a standard sized twin mattress, that it was too high off the ground (30 to the base of the bed or so), that the side rails were fairly high to accommodate the height of a mattress (side rails are 15 high so that mattresses ranging from 6-10 would still leave room for the side rails to be relevant) and storage steps. Storage is minimal but anything helps. Steps were a big plus because I didn't want our little guy to get up in the middle of the night for a bathroom run and have to worry about going down a ladder, like many loft beds have. The steps are easy and there is a rail there as well which is perfect for a middle-of-the-night/half asleep trip to the bathroom or mommy and daddy's room. Seemed like winner so I ended up ordering it (not from ). Arrived in a large box. I would say 80 x 8 x 18 and just shy of 100lbs. FedEx guy was nice enough to lug it up our 28 step staircase at our entrance. Lots of parts. As with most of my assembly jobs, I started out by taking everything out of their packaging. There are lots of foam and cardboard within the large box. Two packs of hardware and a few flat boxes for the storage steps assembly. I was glad I had all the pieces as a few prior reviews of missing pieces had me a bit worried. I have read that the assembly takes 3-4 hours for one person and thats about right. I took 3 hours. Remember that the total length of the unit is 92 so, if you plan to assemble it in a smaller space like I did (about 110) know that you will have to maneuver yourself quite a bit to get into certain angles during the assembly. The units big (you can see all the dimensions on the website) so assembling it in another room and bringing it into the intended room would probably not work unless you have double doors leading into the room. Assembly now was pretty straight forward. To make your like easier I would recommend an electric drive with an angled head and a hex bit. I attached a hex bit to a rachet manual screwdriver which did the job, but was a bit awkward in many cases since you are driving screws that are close to straight beams, so you have little to no room to straightly drive the screw. See my pic of the screwdriver to see what I mean. Also, I know many assembly instructions are against power tools, but a low powered angled ratchet driver is more than safe with this. Its wood, so you don't have to worry about wood/composite chipping. Also the screws heads held pretty well. I think if you dare assemble the entire thing with the small allen key provided (4 or so) you will take 4-5 hours and good bless your fingers afterward. Minor things; one of the woods pieces were missing drilled holes in order to tight them; once wooden piece's indentation was not cut completely from the factory so a wood bar could not fit right (see photo). Keep in mind that in order to have pieces completely connect to one another you may have to loosen previously tightened screws, just an FYI. Upon completion I was happy with the bed. It is very sturdy and I was glad I decided to go with a wood frame. Storage steps are a little off (see photo) due to the mis-cut factory wooden piece, but sturdy as there are tons of other screws holding the steps assembly in place. Little annoyances like posts not fitting flush without hammering the heck out of it in place is not enough for me to even take away a full star. Nothing wobbles or shakes. I ordered a foam 8 mattress for it that should be coming soon and I will try to update my review once it comes in.