Building a small sleeping loft for children. Toxic MDF? Solid wood? Please help!

[gavagai]

I am going to build a "loft furniture" for my children. It consists of a sleeping section (loft bed) and next to it a "balcony," i.e., a small loft you can stand on (if you are 120 cm tall) and a cozy corner underneath. Now I have started thinking about the "floor," meaning the surface one sleeps on in the loft bed and stands on the balcony. I was considering using MDF because it is practical, but I've heard that MDF releases a lot of formaldehyde, and it's therefore not recommended for small children to sleep on it every night.

So the questions are: How dangerous is it (if at all)? Does anyone know if it's possible to get less toxic MDF, and if so, where, and how do you know which one is good (I know there are products with the Svanen label, but I haven’t found a suitable retailer, I live in Uppsala)? Are there other alternatives for flooring? Would solid wood be a realistic alternative or another type of board? The loft parts are approximately 120x160 and 120x200 cm and rest on a wooden frame on four pillars (like a large table) with joists in between to support the floor.

Very grateful for help!

 

[ByggaNytt]

Built a loft bed for my daughter a few years ago and never thought about any dangers in MDF, I assume the paint is worse?

 

[SBH]

formaldehyde in MDF? aren't you thinking of pressure-treated wood?
some construction shows have used MDF for beds

 

[Lutte]

formaldehyde in MDF? aren't you thinking about pressure-treated wood?
some building shows have indeed used MDF for beds

the homemaker hero nikotinell built a bed out of MDF in a show, and it's fairly common for some of the more expensive children's beds to have a frame made of it too!

 

[DANNE_K_]

Particle boards, I've heard, can release formaldehyde.
I spent most of my childhood sleeping in a loft bed (that my father built) with a particle board as the bed base.
If it has caused me any harm, I do not know

Now my daughter sleeps in a loft bed that I built out of MDF (http://www.byggahus.se/forum/mobels...verk-till-allman-beskadan-59.html#post1974571)

 

[gavagai]

Sounds good. May I also take the opportunity to ask what thickness of MDF you used, and what dimensions for the loft frame, the distance between any studs, etc.?

 

[KnockOnWood]

...
Then the questions are: How dangerous is it (if at all)? Does anyone know if there is less toxic MDF available, and if so where, and how can one tell which is good (I know there is Swan-labeled, but haven't found a suitable retailer, living in Uppsala)? Are there other flooring alternatives? Would solid wood be a realistic alternative or another type of board? The loft parts are about 120x160 and 120x200 cm and rest on a wooden frame on four pillars (like a large table) with beams in between to support the floor.

Very grateful for help!

If you are very concerned about the possibility of toxins in new building materials that could negatively affect your small children, there is another route you could take, as you mentioned yourself: Solid wood!

Common simple raw tongue and groove board is an excellent building material, and it will be at least as strong, probably stronger than MDF.
Available in 17 and 22 mm thickness at all building material retailers.

 

[KnockOnWood]

Addition:
Moreover, the raw pine board costs only 1/4 - 1/3 of what MDF costs per sqm

(At Byggmax, they have 17 and 20 mm thickness)

 

[DANNE_K_]

Sounds good. May I also ask what thickness of MDF you used, and what dimension of the frame for the loft, distance between any studs, etc.?

For my build, I used three thicknesses of MDF: 6, 12, and 19 mm.
The frame is built with 45x45 studs, and for the step legs, I used 45x95 studs.

Addition:
Furthermore, the raw tongue and groove costs only 1/4 - 1/3 of what MDF costs per sqm

(At Byggmax, they have 17 and 20 mm thickness)

Yes, MDF is not cheap. I've blocked out the cost of my loft bed build but it was over a thousand kronor anyway.

 

[Klassson]

A tip is to check if there is CARB-certified MDF. MDF contains formaldehyde, but what the VOC value becomes (measured in mg/liter) after everything is painted... No idea. A lot of fuss about a small thing, but Europe is like a developing country compared to the USA regarding, among other things, VOC. Google CARB and VOC, and you'll get gray hair over less... After that, anything other than solid untreated wood is life-threatening...

 

[Dekker]

It's the wood glue that contains something that becomes formaldehyde when exposed to oxygen, it's the amount of glue in the material that matters. Plywood also emits it, but significantly less due to the smaller amount of glue (and very little glue having direct contact with the air). Treating the surface of the boards also reduces the amount because oxygen has a harder time reaching the wood/glue.

Masonite boards use no glue at all, they are wet-pressed and use the wood's natural binders to hold the board together, but I wonder if there are boards thick enough to be useful for anything other than the back panel of some furniture.

 

[Niq]

Common floorboards should work as well. Slightly more expensive than raw pine boards but look better and cheaper than MDF.

 

[KnockOnWood]

What are "vanliga golvbrädor"?

I have råspont as flooring on my barn loft.

 

[prototypen]

Doesn't "trä" emit turpentines?

 

[Odjuret]

Additionally, one emits carbon dioxide... every time one exhales...