Building a project with wood. Plan review requested

[Freija]

= Do you have the leeway to haul off any actual junk and recover some floor space? I wouldn't make it look so appealing someone would want to take it away from you.

It’s not my junk. If anything, I wish that dead Suburban was on the other side of the house with the other dead car.  Both sides and the back of the house are surrounded by 10’ high block walls with equally high metal and wood gates and I’m pretty sure everyone in this neighborhood is well armed so security isn’t an issue..

- I see you already purchased the materials but I would have gone with plywood all the way down. MDF is nice and flat but it is not structurally sound. If it will bear load, it needs to be reinforced all the way around. By the time one does the reinforcing, you may as well have gone with plywood or lumber that can bear a load.

I had a friend suggest MDF for the bed layer because it is smooth. A 4 x 8 sheet of ¾” sanded plywood was also a lot more expensive but after realizing a 4 x 8 sheet of ¾” MDF weighs 88 pounds per Google and more than I can manage on my own, I do wish I would have gone with plywood that might have been a little easier to work with. I’m going to need help moving the MDF before I can even cut it to size. As far as structural strength, I might increase the number of 1 x 4 slats underneath and cross my fingers. The mattress should distribute the weight fairly evenly and the MDF won’t be supporting much more than 220 pounds in total.

- I noticed a lot of butt joints and you mentioned dowels as they are strong. They can be if they are substantial enough for the stress. Please be advised wood screws and TBIII make a compelling bond too and are much easier and more forgiving. But that is your call.

I am reconsidering using dowels for the outside butt jointed corners of the three frame layers. My main thought with using dowels was cosmetic as well as structural integrity. Screws into end grain seems weaker but would certainly be easier. Since those joins will actually be covered up by the upright legs, I might indeed use screws, glue and some metal 90° corner brackets. I already purchased corner brackets for the two upper layers.

I’m still going to try to use dowels for the upright corner legs even though at 86” long, that will be tricky. In this case it is for aesthetics. I could use screws and button caps but wanted the smooth look. If this proves too difficult, I will use screws and have the gizmos to cut my own holes and plugs.

- I have no idea how much movement will be on the bed (please don't take that the wrong way) but steel connections stay firm much longer than wood fiber to wood fiber.

LOL! I wish! When I made the decision to go with a 38” x 80” Twin XL mattress, I figured I probably won’t be sharing that space with anyone else for the rest of my life because how many single 68 year old grandmas ever actually get any anyway?

I really appreciate the input. I’m not quite as sore today as I expected so I’m off to Harbor Freight for more cheap clamps and to hopefully not impulse buy too much then to the market. Time permitting, I’ll get outside and figure out how I’m going to arrange things and take some more pics