Bed Slats

[cusimar9]

We bought a steel framed king size bed for the spare room, with a fairly thin mattress.

The bed is OK but the slats are steel tubing with absolutely no give at all and are quite uncomfortable.

I'm thinking of replacing them with wooden slats to give a bit of 'give' but I imagine it could be a bit of a lottery picking the right thickness of wood for a good strength/flexibility balance.

Looking on ebay slats look to be around £25 for 10 so I guess I'll need two packs at £50, seems steep to me.

Could I just rip some 2 x 3 timber pieces to around 10mm thick? The material will probably work out around £15 which seems better to me.

Anyone done this?

 

[Sawyer]

Ordinary tongue & groove floorboards will do well; either butted together for maximum stiffness or spaced apart for a bit more 'give'.

 

[Jacob]

Ditto. Or 4 or 5 x1" PAR.

10mm much too thin.

 

[cusimar9]

So perhaps thicker pieces more spaced out rather than thinner pieces closer together?

I presume you need a center support as well otherwise there'll be sag in the middle

 

[AndyT]

Have a look at Ikea. Seriously. For the last bed I built I bought slats from there and they are nicely curved plywood (ie slightly upwards arched so they go straight under load, not saggy) smoothly finished and taped together, for less than the cost of the raw materials. What's more, you can compare options before you choose and get the firmness/softness you prefer.

 

[Woodmonkey]

I wouldn't butt them together, the idea of the gaps is so that the mattress can 'breathe', it might end up going mouldy underneath otherwise. Inch thick is overkill 18-20mm is fine.

 

[Woodchips2]

Have a look at Ikea. Seriously. For the last bed I built I bought slats from there and they are nicely curved plywood (ie slightly upwards arched so they go straight under load, not saggy) smoothly finished and taped together, for less than the cost of the raw materials. What's more, you can compare options before you choose and get the firmness/softness you prefer.

Thanks Andy for that info, just wish I'd known before I recently finished two single beds #-o . It's true that IKEA are cheaper than the raw materials!

Regards Keith

 

[pebbles]

Have a look at Ikea. Seriously. For the last bed I built I bought slats from there and they are nicely curved plywood (ie slightly upwards arched so they go straight under load, not saggy) smoothly finished and taped together, for less than the cost of the raw materials. What's more, you can compare options before you choose and get the firmness/softness you prefer.

+1

I got two 80cms singles to make up a 160cms kingsize, they're perfect. A bit of a fiddle to put them together but strong, well sprung, lightweight, inexpensive.... can't fault them three years down the road.

 

[glynster]

You want sprung beech slats - £20+ on ebay for a double
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Replacement-5 ... 3a8e363bb2

Otherwise your mattress will wear much faster and a decent mattress should cost twice the cost of your bed at least so £50 is nothing in the long run

 

[Doug B]

Have a look at Ikea. Seriously. For the last bed I built I bought slats from there and they are nicely curved plywood (ie slightly upwards arched so they go straight under load, not saggy) smoothly finished and taped together, for less than the cost of the raw materials. What's more, you can compare options before you choose and get the firmness/softness you prefer.

+2
Used them on the build of my sons bed years ago, really add to the comfort of the mattress in fact his bed is more comfortable than my own :?

 

[cusimar9]

Good find guys! 2 of these should do the trick, £24, not bad

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/produ ... #/50160208