Leave the bolts loose until all the parts are in and be careful not to strip the heads on the bolts.
Its a clever piece of engineering / lots of relatively lightweight parts that fit together to make a sturdy bed. Although I would definitely buy it again, there are some cautions on assembly. FIRST, pay very special attention to the pictorial instructions. Parts are marked with letters on little white stickers. Some parts look identical but they arent. If it shows part A/C fits with part M/N then make sure it goes together that way even though it might work with a similar looking part or else you wind up taking it apart again. That may seem obvious but its not as clear as it could be in the instructions and the pictures. And Im a former mechanic and machine assemblyman. SECOND, the threads on the many Allen head bolts used to put the bed together are fine, but the cap of the bolt where the Allen wrench goes in are a bit soft. As a result, its easy to round the Allen hole a bit. I didnt have any instance where I couldnt get it tight enough but I wouldnt want to try to undo them. The Allen wrench they provided was okay but I changed to a professional one that works with a ratchet after I started noticing the risk of rounding the heads. I didnt have a major problem because I was careful but its worth noting. THIRD, Id recommend leaving all the bolts a little bit loose until youre done assembling the bed. The instructions mentioned leaving some bolts loose for a couple of parts early in the assembly but I recommend doing it throughout. Especially important late in the assembly when you install the 22 slats into the frame and you attach the side rails to the bed, things arent going to line up unless youve left things a little loose. Then at the end go over each and every bolt very carefully to make sure they are tight. Note also that the slats will absolutely go all the way down as theyre supposed to but sometimes a little extra paint clogging the opening might be making it just a little difficult. But they need to go all the way down and have the plastic retaining clips go in. Finally, the space under the bed is great to put a tent or bureau or toy box for storage or a lot of individual things. In the case of my 6/year/old there wasnt enough height for her to sit at a desk under there. Overall I very much like the bed and recommend it, especially at the price.
Leave the bolts loose until all the parts are in and be careful not to strip the heads on the bolts.
Its a clever piece of engineering / lots of relatively lightweight parts that fit together to make a sturdy bed. Although I would definitely buy it again, there are some cautions on assembly. FIRST, pay very special attention to the pictorial instructions. Parts are marked with letters on little white stickers. Some parts look identical but they arent. If it shows part A/C fits with part M/N then make sure it goes together that way even though it might work with a similar looking part or else you wind up taking it apart again. That may seem obvious but its not as clear as it could be in the instructions and the pictures. And Im a former mechanic and machine assemblyman. SECOND, the threads on the many Allen head bolts used to put the bed together are fine, but the cap of the bolt where the Allen wrench goes in are a bit soft. As a result, its easy to round the Allen hole a bit. I didnt have any instance where I couldnt get it tight enough but I wouldnt want to try to undo them. The Allen wrench they provided was okay but I changed to a professional one that works with a ratchet after I started noticing the risk of rounding the heads. I didnt have a major problem because I was careful but its worth noting. THIRD, Id recommend leaving all the bolts a little bit loose until youre done assembling the bed. The instructions mentioned leaving some bolts loose for a couple of parts early in the assembly but I recommend doing it throughout. Especially important late in the assembly when you install the 22 slats into the frame and you attach the side rails to the bed, things arent going to line up unless youve left things a little loose. Then at the end go over each and every bolt very carefully to make sure they are tight. Note also that the slats will absolutely go all the way down as theyre supposed to but sometimes a little extra paint clogging the opening might be making it just a little difficult. But they need to go all the way down and have the plastic retaining clips go in. Finally, the space under the bed is great to put a tent or bureau or toy box for storage or a lot of individual things. In the case of my 6/year/old there wasnt enough height for her to sit at a desk under there. Overall I very much like the bed and recommend it, especially at the price.