replacing wooden slats with plywood. or My bed sags, help me fix it.

[The Dancing Peacock]

My bed sags, and it sucks. I have back probs, so I gotta fix it. The way it holds up my mattress is with about 20 or so 1x4 wooden slats that run the width of the bed. They are all attached to each other by a piece of fabric, so itis kind of a sheet of plywood slats that run from the head to the foot of the bed. The slats sit in an L shaped bracket that look just like the railing from a generic bed frame for a mattress/boxspring combo.

There is no support in the middle of the bed at all, pretty much only the wood, which is now almost 10 years old, and the sag has gotten out of hand.

I was thinking of pulling out the slats and putting in a sheet of 3/4" plywood under the mattress. Don't tell me it'll be too hard, because I slept on bunks made from plywod and 2x4 for 2 years. , no problems.

My question is, can I get a sheet of plywood the size of a full bed without having to put two pieces together? If I do need to put 2 pieces of plywood together, what's the best way of attaching them, without having to create a whole separate frame.?

 

[Siddhartha]

nevermind

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Been having a little bit too much wild sex0r on the bed again, huh?

You can easily get a sheet of plywood that big. Just hit up a hardware store. I'd go with putting a few 2x4s under there instead though. Plywood might sag.

- M4H

 

[iwearnosox]

Get a job and buy better bed?

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

Originally posted by: Dr Smooth
Put your bed on the floor.

well, that's not what I want to do, now is it? Otherwise the tthread likely wouldn't exist, as I don't need the forum's help to put my bed on the floor.

 

[notfred]

I don't know how big a full size bed is, you'll have to measure it. A standard peice of plywood is 8' x 4' though. Measure the bed before you start thinking of ways to do stuff that you might not even need.

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Been having a little bit too much wild sex0r on the bed again, huh?

You can easily get a sheet of plywood that big. Just hit up a hardware store. I'd go with putting a few 2x4s under there instead though. Plywood might sag.

- M4H

even 3/4 or 1`"

 

[LeeTJ]

Originally posted by: The Dancing Peacock
My bed sags, and it sucks. I have back probs, so I gotta fix it. The way it holds up my mattress is with about 20 or so 1x4 wooden slats that run the width of the bed. They are all attached to each other by a piece of fabric, so itis kind of a sheet of plywood slats that run from the head to the foot of the bed. The slats sit in an L shaped bracket that look just like the railing from a generic bed frame for a mattress/boxspring combo.

There is no support in the middle of the bed at all, pretty much only the wood, which is now almost 10 years old, and the sag has gotten out of hand.

I was thinking of pulling out the slats and putting in a sheet of 3/4" plywood under the mattress. Don't tell me it'll be too hard, because I slept on bunks made from plywod and 2x4 for 2 years. , no problems.

My question is, can I get a sheet of plywood the size of a full bed without having to put two pieces together? If I do need to put 2 pieces of plywood together, what's the best way of attaching them, without having to create a whole separate frame.?

the plywood would actually provide less support than the 1" slat's your talking of. why not just replace the 1" slats??

btw, 1" is thicker than 3/4".

i've always prefered teh 1" slats over the american system of boxspring.

 

[LeeTJ]

after giving it some thought, are you sure it isn't your mattress causing problems?? the way to check it would be to put your mattress on the floor and sleep on it that way. if it still sags then you'd have to conclude that it's your mattress causing the problem.

the 1" slats are ususally pretty stable. my son has a full size bed with slats.

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

Originally posted by: Tyler
I don't know how big a full size bed is, you'll have to measure it. A standard peice of plywood is 8' x 4' though. Measure the bed before you start thinking of ways to do stuff that you might not even need.

a full mattress is 54" x 80", so I'd probably need 2 full sheets cut to size if I'm going to do it with an 8x4 sheet. Do they make bigger sheets?

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

Originally posted by: LeeTJ
after giving it some thought, are you sure it isn't your mattress causing problems?? the way to check it would be to put your mattress on the floor and sleep on it that way. if it still sags then you'd have to conclude that it's your mattress causing the problem.

the 1" slats are ususally pretty stable. my son has a full size bed with slats.

The mattress isn't great, but I've pulled the mattress off and looked at the slats, there's a definite sag in them. The bed is more than 10 years old, closer to 14 I think. I think the combo of both a bad mattress and saggy slats isn't doing great things for me.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Originally posted by: The Dancing Peacock

Originally posted by: Tyler
I don't know how big a full size bed is, you'll have to measure it. A standard peice of plywood is 8' x 4' though. Measure the bed before you start thinking of ways to do stuff that you might not even need.

a full mattress is 54" x 80", so I'd probably need 2 full sheets cut to size if I'm going to do it with an 8x4 sheet. Do they make bigger sheets?

Yes, they make sheets of oversized plywood big enough for your needs, but it would have to be special ordered and cost too much.

In your situation I would buy a bunch of framing 2x4's and cut them to length. An alternative would be to buy a 4x4 the length of your bed and a cheap hydraulic bottle jack. Balance the 4x4 on the jack and pump it up until it takes the sag out of your bed.

Throwing your mattress on the floor sounds cheaper, easier and faster, though. With your mattress on the floor, when you come home drunk out of your gourd, all you have to do is fall over to be in bed.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Originally posted by: The Dancing Peacock

Originally posted by: LeeTJ
after giving it some thought, are you sure it isn't your mattress causing problems?? the way to check it would be to put your mattress on the floor and sleep on it that way. if it still sags then you'd have to conclude that it's your mattress causing the problem.

the 1" slats are ususally pretty stable. my son has a full size bed with slats.

The mattress isn't great, but I've pulled the mattress off and looked at the slats, there's a definite sag in them. The bed is more than 10 years old, closer to 14 I think. I think the combo of both a bad mattress and saggy slats isn't doing great things for me.

Just read this. Pull the slats out and turn them over so that the "sway" is pointed up. It will sag down to level in a few weeks.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Dr Smooth
Put your bed on the floor.

 

[flot]

I think you're on the right track. Some 1" plywood will probably do it.

If your bed is 54 x 80, then just get home depot or wherever to cut the sheet down so that you have a piece that is 48x54. Rip out the middle slats, replace with plywood, and I'd bet that most of your problems will go away...

Edit: Duh, or just get a full sheet of plywood cut down to 48x80. Throw it on top of the existing slats. The weight will be redistributed more evenly, (now it will be centered on the edges of the slats) and it probably won't bow nearly as much, as long as the slats are in "okay" shape. If for some reason this causes a problem (since the surface it is sitting on will not really be flat) just lay some 1x3s (again, 80" long) on either side of the plywood, and voila, you should have a reasonably flat base underneath the mattress. I can't think of any reason why this wouldn't work?

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Dr Smooth
Put your bed on the floor.

C'mon man, read the post, don't just reply like a jackass. I covered this in a previous post.

I don't want to sleep on the floor, I'm not in hs/college anymore. I did this then. I can afford to not have to sleep on the floor. Yes the next logical step is, "can you afford a bed frame?" the answer right now is no I just want to deal with the one I have.

 

[heartsurgeon]

get a new bed...(mattress boxspring combo)

you spend a significant portion of your life in it.

you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

 

[LeeTJ]

BTW

i'd strongly recommend buying a new mattress also.

check out these guys.


they are awesome. I strongly strongly recommend getting the latex mattress. Latex mattresses feel as good as the tempurpedics from brookstone but are a lot cheaper and they last longer.

also, if you get the mattess alone, no box, then it cost even less.

$475.00 Plus S&H for the Latex w/ race core no box.