[RangerJay]

Mrs RedSHED,

The vertical support for the foot of the bunk is two legs that extend only to the plywood surface of the lower bed - each leg is then tied, with dowels and one bolt, to fabricated supports in the storage space below the bed.

The tie-in to the shower wall is for lateral support to keep the foot portion of the upper bunk from being able to move from side-to-side - this does not carry any vertical weight at all. Without this lateral tie-in the unit does have some side-to-side movement which I think would cause grief after travelling on a rough road. The entire bunk becomes very sturdy once tied in to the shower wall.

The distance between the two bunks is 22 inches. This halves the distance between the plywood surface of the original bed and the lower surface of the upper cabinet. In hind-site the upper cabinet does not intrude much into sleeping space so we both think that this 22 inches could be increased to allow more space between the two bunks.

In the Bambi floorplan the configuration of the shower wall and door present a challenge to getting in and out of the lower bunk - I have to pull my knees up then swing out to the floor within the space of that 22 inches. This took a bit of getting used to (sort of like the Bambi toilet and space for your knees). This challenge might be eased a bit if we had gone to a bit more space between the beds - but it definitely won't go away.

The upper bunk by the way is a snap to get in and out - the bench makes it perfect to climb up and down.

If you'd find more pictures helfpul I'd be glad to take them and post them.


Jay