Metal or Wood Bunk Beds?

Updated on April 15, 2019
F.B. asks from Kew Gardens, NY
15 answers

Little one will be out of his toddler bed soon. The boys room is small and bunks are the only suitable option. Considering metal or wood. Leaning towards metal because wood can split. Any thoughts or suggestions? Feel like metal might squeak. If so, is there anything I can do to prevent that?

Thanks in advance.

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T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Don’t go cheap. Buy quality.

You get what you pay for.

No bunk beds here but if we did, it would be a quality wood.

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N.C.

answers from San Diego on

If you can pay the extra cost Wood is the way to go. Get solid wood not particle board.
Kids can get crazy on bunk bed and the sturdier, the safer. My sons bunk has lasted for 7 years, with built in drawers as steps and under the bed, great storage.

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T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Unless you are buying VERY cheap wood beds "splitting" is not going to be a problem. Metal beds, on the other hand, can squeak and sway, and really don't hold up well. I would go with wood for sure.

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C.T.

answers from Santa Fe on

Hmmm. My son has wood bunkbeds that we bought from a furniture shop 12 years ago and they look pretty much the same as the day we bought them...no splitting. Metal is cheaper though. Good luck with your choice!!

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W.H.

answers from Sacramento on

wood for sure! I slept on a wooden one when a child, and my son had a metal one. The metal was horrid to sleep on, whenever someone moves the whole bed moves too. I can recommend the metal for using as a chicken roost though lol

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J.K.

answers from Wausau on

Wood bunk beds tend to be sturdier than metal and will hold up longer in the face of shenanigans from the children.

Check out Bunk Bed King. We've had one of their bunkbeds for over 15 years without issues.

3 moms found this helpful

W.W.

answers from Washington DC on

metal squeaks and wood doesn't split - if it does - then you bought a cheap set of wood bunk beds.

We have had both wood and metal and by far the best has been wood. Ours is SOLID wood and not plywood or IKEA stuff - this is the stuff that you spend $2K on and it lasts for decades.

The squeak of metal is annoying. My husband fixed it by drilling extra supports into the rails. We ended up selling it and buying wood. Never looked back.

Both our boys - while one is now a freshman in college - and the other a junior in high school - have bunk beds - the oldest has the bunk bed that has the couch at the bottom. The other has the flat double bed on the bottom.

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R.L.

answers from Chicago on

Another vote for wood. We had ours for many years, no problems.

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S.S.

answers from Atlanta on

if you are buying a wood bunk bed and the wood splits? You bought cheap. These are your kids. Spend the money and buy QUALITY wood bunk beds.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.B.

answers from Boston on

We've had multiple sets of wooden bunk beds from IKEA. Both sets are 15+ years old - we gave away the smaller set (twin, but a lower height for younger kids) a few years ago. The other set is now at my ex's house and still in use. They looked good and held up well.

Metal is flimsier, can sway, and squeaks. Quality wood is very solid and takes a beating.

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M.6.

answers from New York on

ETA: Why buy new when you can buy used? With so many people selling stuff used these days (nice stuff), why pay full price for amazing quality (or buy something new but cheap and regret it). I'd check out your local online selling ads for a good, high quality, wood bunkbed system. My new rule for every purchase now is "can I buy it just as good used for cheaper?" Saves my pocketbook and our environment and I hate what a disposable society we've become collectively.

________

We had solid wood bunkbeds. They were expensive, but amazing quality. We did the built in dresser on one end, desk on the other end and free standing bottom bunk that ran perpendicular to the top bunk, which gave us the ability to use the bottom bunk in any room if we chose to and treat the top bunk like a lofted bed.

I purchased our set in 1999 and sold it 3 months ago for nearly 1/2 what I paid for it on our local buy/swap/sell site. It didn't have one single thing wrong with it and kids slept in it the entire time we had it (didn't sit unused for years).

You get what you pay for.

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S.M.

answers from Chicago on

I vote for wood as well! My kids don’t have bunk beds but they have a wooden loft bed with a desk underneath. We got them about 4 years ago and it’s held up well so far. Growing up, my sister and I had wooden bunk beds as well. Good luck in your search for the right fit!

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S.B.

answers from Houston on

If your wood bunkbed splits it because you didn't buy quality beds. Sometimes its worth the extra $$. My dad and his brother had bunkbeds. We still have them and they are solid as a rock. I would go with a solid wood bunkbed. Good luck!!!

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M.D.

answers from Pittsburgh on

We have wood and they are solid as a rock.

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H.M.

answers from Dallas on

I would say wood. My boys got wooden bunk beds about 14 years ago. They still sleep in them. Some of the slats at the end have come out but that is because they really are to big for the beds but we don't have room for separate beds.

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