Bed Height?

[RogerD]

Having never built out a van, what would the minimum height that the platform should be?

I can just see 6 months down the road going ... I should have built it X higher.

Just thinking about storage underneath.

I'm leaning towards building a couch style with two 500 pound sliders. So it's a couch in the day and you can pull it out and make a bed at night.

I need to start on it within the next week, but just not certain about the height.

 

[MrNoodly]

The bottom of my planform is 12.5" high. That's a little more than what's required to slide my storage bins under there. And with my 12" of mattress, the top of the bed is perfect chair height for me. If I was a little shorter I would also have just enough head clearance.

 

[Almost There]

You'll soon find out that there is no simple answer to bed height. It's a combination of what's comfortable for you to sit and lay on and what you're planning on storing below.

I have a high top van and needed to place my Whynter fridge unit underneath the bed to achieve the layout I wanted. My bed platform is 24" above the floor. I'm perfectly comfortable with a 4" upholstery foam mattress and 2 of the eggshell toppers. The bed platform is  hinged so it's important that the mattress not be so heavy that I can't lift the hinged areas for access below.

 

[AMGS3]

Do you have mobility issues that would limit your ability to get into/out of bed if it were too tall/short?

If YES, then make your bed the right height so that it's easy to get into with the added thickness of the mattress on the platform. For storage underneath, measure the room available and hunt down some totes/sliding drawers/laundry baskets/boxes that will fit under the platform. Or you could make your own, though wood is much heavier than plastic.

If NO, then do you already have storage containers that you want to use in your build? Make your bed the right height so that you can put them under your platform.

Other things to consider -

Do you have a dog who sleeps in your bed that would not be able to jump up onto the bed if it was too high? You could make a little two step stair for the dog to use. Or fashion some type of sturdy dog stepladder from a couple of strategically placed boxes.

Do you like to sit on the edge of your bed? Do you regularly use your bed as a chair/couch? If you're probably going to continue doing this, measure from the floor to the back of your knees and make your bed so that it is comfortable height for you to sit on without dangling your legs uncomfortably.

If you're going to the trouble of making your bed (instead of sleeping on an air mattress on the floor) you might as well make it fit your life.

~angie

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk

 

[Minivanmotoman]

Lots of great advice so far.
You'd better sit down for this one.

The exact dimensions should be 0.5*H minus the hypotenuse of the mattress thickness if your torso is less than TH.
Got that?
Seriously, you should sit down for this one.
Without knowing ANY of your specfics, generally,

1. Measure your inside height in the van, floor to roof.

2. Subtract any further construction dimensions that might reduce it, flooring, insulation, ceiling.

3. Go sit down and ponder the meaning of life with an iced tea. Oh, and while you're at it, measure from the seat to the top of your head. Your sitting height.

4. Total Inside van height minus your sitting height minus mattress thickness is your max potential bed height for the bed.
This will allow you to get up in the middle of the night for a pee without getting a headache from clanking your head on the ceiling causing you to lose control at the most inopportune moment. Or chase mice looking for where you hide your Doritos in the dark.

5. Then you can decide how much room you have under the bed and what to do with storage. Boxed plywood bed support with lift up lid for access or open raised platform with legs allowing slide under storage bins are two most common.

6. But there are always exceptions. Some want max storage space and so choose min over bed height and rolling out of bed instead of sitting up to get Max storage under bed.

7. Some use a hammock or bed lowered from the ceiling. Some have storage over the feet/ head of the bed and enough other storage that they put the bed low.

Many options and we don't even know what type of van you have, or how vertically challenged you are, packrat tendencies, if you even like Doritos,...

It is all really a function of total space, personal preference, physical size, storage requirements.

 

[becida]

Having never built out a van, what would the minimum height that the platform should be?
I need to start on it within the next week, but just not certain about the height.

I wanted enough height so I could sit on the bed and not hit my head on the roof (don't forget the mattress height). I wanted enough room under the bed so I could slide 10 gallon Rubbermaid totes in & out.

The width was easy as long as I was alone ( I measured cots & single air mattresses). I've seen pictures of beds built by people that slide out when a wider bed was needed.

Too much stuff was "my" main problem in the build. Maybe a better way to say that was I had trouble getting enough room (living space) inside the van.

Best of luck to you!

Don't be surprised if you do rebuild your van, I did & more than once too!

 

[speedhighway46]

D-Man:

1> low enough so you don’t hit your head when you sit on the side of the bed with your feet on the floor.

2> high enough to slide your stuff underneath. If you are going to use plastic totes, buy them first and plan around their dimensions.

3> Some day you will become an old coot like me. Due to AKS (Aging Knee Syndrome - I just made that up) I find that if my knees are bent more than 90 degrees I have a real problem standing up on my own. Take that into account when planning your height.

Just my opinions . . .

 

[lenny flank]

I sleep on a plain ole folding cot from Walmart.

The thing I like about it--it's exactly the right height for my DIY five-gallon bucket toilet to store underneath it.

 

[becida]

I sleep on a plain ole folding cot from Walmart.

The thing I like about it--it's exactly the right height for my DIY five-gallon bucket toilet to store underneath it.

That's just enough!

 

[Canine]

Mine is 29" off the floor to accommodate a chest of drawers aka a tool box.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Line speedhighway46 said it is a trade-off between headroom, under-bed storage, and seating comfort.  You have to decide for yourself what is more important.  My bed is too high for comfortable sitting so I built a small footrest to take the pressure off the inside of my knees.