How to Build Full Over Full Size Bunk Beds for Adults

Cut eight beams, 4-by-4 by 33 inches. These will be the upper and lower bedposts. You may shape them on a lathe if you wish.

Drill a one-inch bore, ½ inch in diameter, in the exact center of the top end of four of the bedposts. These will become the lower bedposts.

Drill a 1 1/16-inch bore, ½ inch in diameter, in the exact center of the bottom end of four of the bedposts. These will become the upper bedposts. Set them aside for later use.

Drill two bores in one of the lower bedposts. Make each bore centered on the bedpost, one inch deep and one inch in diameter, at heights of 11 1/3 inches and 12 2/3 inches from the bottom of the bedpost. Then, in the exact center of each of these bores, completely drill through the remaining three inches of wood with a narrower bore 3/8 inch in diameter. Repeat this process for the other three lower bedposts.

Drill two bores in one of the upper bedposts. Make each bore centered on the bedpost, one inch deep and one inch in diameter, at heights of 30 1/3 inches and 31 2/3 inches inches from the bottom of the bedpost. Then, in the exact center of each of these bores, completely drill through the remaining three inches of wood with a narrower bore 3/8 inch in diameter. Repeat this process for the other three upper bedposts.

Drill four bores in a 75-inch 2-by-4 beam. Make each bore one inch deep and one inch in diameter. Place them in groups of two along the beam at two inches and 73 inches. Then, in the exact center of each of these bores, completely drill through the remaining three inches of wood with a narrower bore 3/8 inch in diameter. Repeat this for the other three beams of this length.

Bolt together one of the 75-inch beams with two of the lower bedposts, using the bores you have drilled. The bolts will be the same size as their bores, 3/8 inches in diameter, so you may have to hammer them in. Then place washers and nuts on the end, and tighten. Repeat this process for another of the 75-inch beams and the remaining two lower bedposts.

Join three of the 52-inch 2-by-4 beams to one of the 75-inch beams at distances of six inches, 37 ½ inches and 69 inches. Use a right-angle metal bracket on each side of each 52-inch beam, and fasten with one-inch screws.

Join together this half of the lower bunk assembly with the other half, and connect the 52-inch beams to the 75-inch beam in the same fashion.

Nail a sheet of particleboard 75 inches by 52 inches by one inch thick to the beams below. Your lower bunk is now complete.

Assemble the upper bunk in the same fashion as the lower bunk.

Make any optional additions at your discretion. Add safety railing to the upper bunk by screwing wood, install decorative cap pieces to the tops of the upper bedposts, sand down any sharp corners to avoid injury, put up an access ladder, and so forth.

Stain and finish, or paint, the woodwork at your discretion. Allow to fully dry.

Insert metal pins two inches long by 3/8 inch in diameter into the holes at the top of the four lower bedposts. With a partner, lift the entire upper bunk on top of these pins, using extra help to guide the pins into their corresponding holes in the upper bedposts. The bunk bed is now complete.