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Bunkie Life's Clients Build Support
Bunkie Life's Clients Build Support
Important: read before you build expansion, contraction & settling of your bunkie
After building your bunkie, it will settle into place over the next year. With a lofted bunkie, it will even begin a part of that settling journey once you get the loft and roof boards up (the weight of the bunkie helps to push it down).
Expansion and contraction are a natural part of wood and are to be expected after your assembly and with weather and moisture variances.
If possible, we recommend not installing anything that connects board to board vertically for one year or at least until your bunkie has experienced its initial settling. Applicable items would be similar but not limited to a chimney heat shield with a woodstove.
If your bunkie is a model with storm straps, please refrain from over tightening your bolts in your storm strapping. A good ‘finger tightening’ is preferred. This allows the wood to contract and settle without impeding it.
Failure to follow these best practices could prevent certain boards from settling (expanding/contracting) together with the rest of your bunkie and could cause small ‘gaps’ between two rows in some areas. If this happens, check those add-ons you’ve installed and loosen your storm straps if applicable.
Importance of inventorying your parts
This is a big “you’ll thank me later” task! The more organized you can be in gathering the same boards together, the easier it will be to count your inventory. Colour coding signs are welcome here! This task will also pay off when you get to stacking up wall boards – confirmed and certified by prior Bunkie Lifer’s who did a DIY build too. Don’t forget to complete this for your contractor, or have them do it before they start!
Inventory is another pivotal piece in Bunkie Life’s Client Care Team providing the best build support as you have questions along the way!
Completing your inventory about a week prior to your build date is strongly recommended.
Acceptable threshold for wood
Bunkie Life Agreement Reminder: You are purchasing a high-quality WOOD product: knots, small splinters, wood sap, slight warps or bows are to be expected and will not affect your structural integrity. Bunkie Life will be the final authority on if a piece reasonably needs replacement.
Reach out to [email protected] with pictures if you’d like us to take a look. Most pieces can be worked with unless broken in half width or length wise, or have 3ft of consecutive damage to the tongue or groove side of the board.
Can’T Find A Piece?
On the rare occasion that you’ve done your inventory and you think you are missing a piece, here is what we need from you to help!
1. Photos of your inventory sheet – Full completion is necessary for us to provide the best support for
your build.
What are we looking for?
a. Piece quantities that exceed what is expected
b. Full confirmation that all other pieces are present
2. Picture, Measurements of all “unidentified pieces” – Just in case!
Something you can do while you wait for support is to look at the piece installation step in the manual to get a visual of what it looks like and where it could be hiding in with your other pieces. You can use some of the tactics we will be using above to start the investigation as well!
Need Build Support? We can be reached quickly by texting (Canada – 289-512-0072, USA – 539-224-5485) or emailing [email protected]. Please provide photos that provide a full-picture of what is in question – full bunkie wall pictures are best!
NEVER alter a board length, the notch depth, or any other aspect without approval from the build support team first.