Hiya we wondered if you good folks could give us any advice please.We have recentaly bought a Sterling Windward 540 which is a 6 berth ( love it to bits we do )Anyway the question is we wont use the 4th bunk which is not the fixed bunks but the one you put up above the small eating area if you know what i mean .The bunk is screwed into the wall and then you pull it up.Well what we thought was we are lugging about a heavy bit of kit that we will never use.So if we take it off ( store it in the loft in case we ever sell again ) Oh is very good at diy .....but is it worth doing ? would we cause any damage to the van....many thanks
I have taken mine out and stored it, just in case. It is very easy to remove with a screwdriver. The holes left in the wall (4)can just be filled with caulk( it is not structural) The problem is with the cushions as there is now a space where the bunk bed has been removed, so you may have to fill it in with something. I actually cut the existing backrest cushions as a quick fix. Here is an "old" picture of the side dinette. I would have put it on my website, but I have run out of webspace (used all of the 55MB from Blueyonder) and I am trying to find what I can do to add more projects I have been up to.
you end up like others have side a gap to fill as the cushions will not fit and then there is the weight issue of you taking out the bunk as the balance will out lighter on one side by a fair few kg`s.
hi i took the bunk out of our van its a simple job, we haven't had any problems with the gap at the side of the cushions we just tuck a bit of the quilt into it when we make the bed up. i used screw covers to hide the holes left in the wall. removing the top bunk doesn't affect the structural integrity of the van
We have the four berth side dinette Charisma. When we bought the van, we asked the dealer's opinion of removing the top bunk as we would never use it. They said they had done it many times for customers in the past and in fact they did it for us (with one or two other little jobs) in with the price. They also supplied a long cushion to go down the side to fill the gap. I would think it would be easy to buy some thick foam to size and cover it to match/blend in with the existing cushions. We are pleased with the result as it makes an excellent single bed for our 12 yr old son. We kept the bunk so that it can be reinstated and sold as a four berth when the time comes.
Quote: Originally posted by Anniemacxx on 02/10/2009
We have the four berth side dinette Charisma. When we bought the van, we asked the dealer's opinion of removing the top bunk as we would never use it. They said they had done it many times for customers in the past and in fact they did it for us (with one or two other little jobs) in with the price. They also supplied a long cushion to go down the side to fill the gap. I would think it would be easy to buy some thick foam to size and cover it to match/blend in with the existing cushions. We are pleased with the result as it makes an excellent single bed for our 12 yr old son. We kept the bunk so that it can be reinstated and sold as a four berth when the time comes.
Brillant idea many thanks......like you it just seems a silly idea for us to lug something around that we will never use when everything else in the caravan we will.With the foam that would make the bunkbed wider then ...I like jobs like that,,,our local market sells foam and im sure ill find some material to match near enough in .thank you its been a great help
Suzanne, reading about the foam, reminds me of our old Avondale caravan. One of its previous owners had removed some cuboards/shelves at the side from the back dinette bedroom area to make more leg room. There was a piece of foam stuck down in the gap. We were changing our 3 piece suite at the time and the material of that was very similar to the cushions in the caravan. We cut a section from the back of the sofa and I covered this piece of foam, made in blend in quite well and did not seem so noticable. I think these alterations just customise the caravan to your requirements. Will definately consider doing something similar with ours also, as we will never use that bunk over the side dinette.
Quote: Originally posted by 4humps1 on 02/10/2009
Thats a clever idea Jane using the old sofa material ...and you said you couldnt sew
Well I can't really sew , but I did seem to manage that. Perhaps I didn't class it as 'real' sewing! . Now clothes alterations, etc. is a different ball game! I've a king-size duvet cover here that matches another I bought for the folding camper double beds, feel like I should be getting the sewing machine out (RFLMAO ) and sewing it up down the middle and creating two single ones for the bunks in the caravan, BUT to scared to in case I mess up (more than likely!), so may just go and buy the identical ones in singles instead.
Jane there is not alot you can mess up sewing in a straight line with your sewing machine........Think of the money you will save........a bottle of Tia Maria for the halloween meet...
We removed the rear bunk and the side bunk from our 6-berth caravan, as they were far too small for our boys to use. Plus they both sleep in the awning extension anyway. We made some thin foam cushions and covered them in co-ordinating fabric. to fill in the small gaps. It looks fab! We've put the bunks in the loft, so if we ever decided to sell the van, we could still screw them back into position. It was a fairly straightforward job.
The bunk bed was taken out of our secondhand van at some point in its life and you can see the small screw holes. it does not bother us and we would not have used the bunk anyway. We have made the lower bed into a small double as this suits us better with a two and a half year old. We even made a 'cot side' for it.
Quote: Originally posted by 4humps1 on 03/10/2009
Jane there is not alot you can mess up sewing in a straight line with your sewing machine........Think of the money you will save........a bottle of Tia Maria for the halloween meet...
Do you want to bet. What day are you free Suzanne? Want a laugh with me on a sewing machine
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Topic: Removel of bunkbed
, but I did seem to manage that. Perhaps I didn't class it as 'real' sewing! 
I've a king-size duvet cover here that matches another I bought for the folding camper double beds, feel like I should be getting the sewing machine out (RFLMAO 
) and sewing it up down the middle and creating two single ones for the bunks in the caravan, BUT to scared to in case I mess up (more than likely!), so may just go and buy the identical ones in singles instead. 
