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Handywork: Platform
Tonight I worked on the platform for Sebastian's bed. I screwed down three new slats across the underside of the two plywood boards that make up the platform, and then screwed down the original central slat, which has a central support. It had never worked right, but screwing it into place made it perfect. I broke two drill bits in the process, and the drill battery ran out of power towards the end, but I finished it off manually. Fortunately the drill had just enough power to make shallow starter holes for the last few screws.
Then I took a cheap flat bedsheet that Teri had bought for the purpose, and stapled it into place - on both sides of the platform, including the underside where it wraps around the edges.
It wasn't an easy project, but I got it done and it looks good. It's certainly MUCH sturdier than the two loose boards were! And it looks nicer, too. Time will tell if it holds his mattress in place; it has tended to creep off the foot of the bed, and all his pillows fall into a trough between the headboard and the mattress. That's what a bed salesman told us recently. But if it doesn't help, I'll buy some of that stuff that's used to hold rugs in place on the floor. That should work!
Next I have to think about a platform for our bed. I'm thinking that the bottom can be a pair of open boxes, kind of like large bookshelves with the back sides made of heavy 1" MDF and turned upwards to support the mattress. The frames can be made of 2"x6" wood, with "shelves" of the same wood across the underside to give support. It would actually have to be in two parts, the size of two twin boxsprings. Cover them with a pair of cheap twin-sized fitted sheets, staple them securely, and we have a nice king-sized platform for our bed at about 1/5 to 1/3 the cost of a commercial one - that is, around $125 instead of $300 - $500.
But things could go wrong, I suppose. In which case I'll be wasting $100 worth of wood. Has anyone else tried to do something like this?
Then I took a cheap flat bedsheet that Teri had bought for the purpose, and stapled it into place - on both sides of the platform, including the underside where it wraps around the edges.
It wasn't an easy project, but I got it done and it looks good. It's certainly MUCH sturdier than the two loose boards were! And it looks nicer, too. Time will tell if it holds his mattress in place; it has tended to creep off the foot of the bed, and all his pillows fall into a trough between the headboard and the mattress. That's what a bed salesman told us recently. But if it doesn't help, I'll buy some of that stuff that's used to hold rugs in place on the floor. That should work!
Next I have to think about a platform for our bed. I'm thinking that the bottom can be a pair of open boxes, kind of like large bookshelves with the back sides made of heavy 1" MDF and turned upwards to support the mattress. The frames can be made of 2"x6" wood, with "shelves" of the same wood across the underside to give support. It would actually have to be in two parts, the size of two twin boxsprings. Cover them with a pair of cheap twin-sized fitted sheets, staple them securely, and we have a nice king-sized platform for our bed at about 1/5 to 1/3 the cost of a commercial one - that is, around $125 instead of $300 - $500.
But things could go wrong, I suppose. In which case I'll be wasting $100 worth of wood. Has anyone else tried to do something like this?