Tuesday, October 25, 2011

2 beds, 3 days

This post isn't going to be very interesting to those that follow me on Facebook, since I've already mentioned/shown it, but our Fall break was spent at my sister's house in Vegas, building beds!

And these are the fruits of our labor!

(I say "we" a lot, and when I do, I'm referring mostly to my step-dad and myself... even though my sister did help... I guess I subconsciously don't want to give her credit? :-p)

My sister decided that she wanted us to build a Hailey Storage Bed from Ana White's site, and, while she was at work, my step-dad and I (and 4 kids) took a trip to Lowe's! We made some modifications to the original plans while we were there, and I'm SO GLAD I had someone to run ideas through for once. 

My sister wanted to stain, not paint the beds, so we knew we had to get plywood. After checking prices on 3/4" ply, we decided to go with 1/2", which was a third of the cost. Now I want to note that 1/2" ply is more than strong enough, and if the plan you're building from resembles this one (with supports every 17" or so), it's more than fine to get 1/2". Especially if the price difference is that substantial! We ended up getting two full sheets and having the first ripped down to 11 3/4" strips, and the second ripped to the width of the head/footboards. The extra half sheet will end up being a lifesaver in the end :-) We also got extra 1x2s to trim out the dividers in the middle. It was really my personal preference.. I think it looks unfinished without trim.

After taking a quick glance through the plan, we realized that we don't have enough sides/dividers for a second "box," so here's the first time the extra ply helped us. We just cut a few more dividers and finished making the rest of the cuts. My step-dad did most of the cutting, because I was nervous (and REALLY intimidated working with him! LOL!)

OOH! I have to share this...

The WRONG WAY to rip a 2 x 4!!! If anyone can do it, it's my step-dad... but i was scared for someone's life.. Not quite sure who's, though..
































This was our set-up. I bet my sister's neighbors LOVED us.

After we'd finished building the first bed, my sister decided that she wanted us to do a second. Here's the second time the extra 1/2 sheet of ply came in handy! We had enough scraps to build an identical head/foot board! We just took another trip to Lowe's to grab two 1x6s for siderails, and some OSB to lay the mattress on (pictured above). I'm sure there were a few other things.. but there can't have been many.

I don't have the total for both beds, but I estimate that it came in at about $130. I'll update when I hear back from my sister.

Here's a refresher, admire with me! :-)






Do you have someone you can go to if you have any questions when building ANYTHING? Have you taken on a few large projects in a very short period lately? How'd that work for ya?

4 comments:

  1. Nice. If I tried to rip a board like that I'd probably cut my leg off. Thank goodness for clamps and a square!

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  2. @Jodie You'd be missing a leg?! THAT'S IT?! haha. You have more ability than I, then! LOL!

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  3. Hi where can I find the plans for the large sandbox with built in seats? The link brought me to this page.

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  4. Hi where can I find the plans for the large sandbox with built in seats? The link brought me to this page.

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