How to Build a Front Porch Bed Swing 6

Building a Front Porch Bed Swing

For 8 years I’ve dreamed of a front porch swing. I remember when we first built the house, I envisioned a swing on the front porch that my family and I could go out on and relax. After all, living in the south you MUST have a front porch swing right? I didn’t want just any swing, I knew I wanted a front porch bed swing.

I knew I didn’t want any ol’ swing. I wanted something handmade and something special. So after years of asking my *cough* husband *cough*, I created the plans and purchased the wood for a front porch bed swing.

Before I started I measured my porch. This is important. If you don’t measure, you can make the swing either too big or too small for the area. Our porch is 92” wide. So I knew my overall swing dimension should be 75”.

For the wood, I just used treated pine. Pressure treated pine tends to be heavy because the during the treating process, they use a method that submerges the wood into water. You’ll need two or three people to install the front porch bed swing. You’ll also want to make sure you get chains and hooks that are heavy enough to support the swing as well as people on it. If you’re looking for a good swing mattress, this is the one I’ve been recommended.

Cut List:

(6) 1x6x39” : Side arm boards
(2) 1x6x75” : Back and front base boards
(8) 1x6x 41” : Support boards on the base
(2) 1x6x31” : Back side supports
(2) 1x6x22” : Front side supports
(1) 1x6x73” : Bottom inside brace, and 3 back support boards
(2) 1x6x9” : Back side supports for hooks

Other Materials:

• Rope (if you want the squiggly rope appearance).
• 4 Eyebolts
• 4 Chains.  I measured what size I wanted and got them a tad larger. Mine were 63” for the front two and 53” for the back two.
• 2” long screws
• 8 silver chain clamps for the chain link.

Tools Required:

• Saw: This is the saw I have, and I absolutely LOVE it!
• Drill: I like these cordless drills. They make movement easier while building.
• Measuring Tape
• Level

 Building the Base

Once you have all your boards cut, you’ll want to start by building the base. This is basically a box. You’ll screw two of the 75” front and back base boards to 2 of the 39” side arm boards to form this base box.

Building the Sides

After the base is built, you can begin with the sides. Screw the two 31” back side supports to the base. Then you can screw the two 22” front side supports to the front. You should have 4 of the 39” side arm boards left. Use two on each side and space apart evenly. I started on the top and screwed it in and then positioned the middle board level and even between the top and bottom. Doing it this way made it easier for me to position the board where I wanted it. I also used a level to make sure that I was screwing the boards on straight.

Building the Back

After the sides are built you can move around to the back. You should have 3 73” back boards. Again, I started with the top board, leveled and positioned it, screwed it off, and worked my way down. Since the sides are built, the two middle boards can be positioned evenly with the two side boards you just installed. That way your swing looks uniform.

Finishing the Base Boards

Screw the 73” inside base board vertically in the middle of the base. Then start positioning your eight 41” support boards. I positioned mine out before screwing them off.

Supports for Hooks

If you look at the back and the front of the swing where the eyebolts go, there is enough support on the front to screw in the eyebolt; however, on the back there is only one board. In order to make more support for the back eyebolt, this is where the two 9” support boards come to play.  Screw the 9” boards to the back side supports.

Installing Hardware to Hang

Our front porch has a siding ceiling; therefore it brings more complications to installing. Installing this swing literally took longer than building it. We had to take the ceiling siding down to find the cross beams that we could screw to.  

To distribute some of the weight, I measured and marked on the siding the length of my swing, and then measured 4” wider. Before measuring this, make sure you’re far enough away from the back of your porch. You’ll want at least 2 foot away from the back of your porch. I did 3 foot because where our ceiling supports were positioned. We drilled smaller pilot holes first before screwing the eyebolts into the ceiling. Then you can install your chain, and then wrap the rope around the chain and tie it off.

The good thing about using chains is you can adjust your swing. As a general rule of thumb, you’ll want the base of the swing about 2 feet off the floor.  Southern Living has a great porch swing installation tutorial.

We spent around $200 – $250 on our porch swing. I plan on staining it; however, I’m waiting on the wood to thoroughly dry out first. This is one of my most favorite projects, and I can’t tell you how many naps I’ve already taken on this front porch swing! I used a mattress out of a camper sleeper, but if you’re looking for a mattress, this one fits well I’m told.

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