# Bed slats



## Hitch (2 Jul 2010)

Years ago, i made a bed for our first house together.... it was kingsize in width and double in length.... we all make mistakes :lol:  

Anyway, the slats, i used diy store softwood which seems fine.
Time has come to buy a new matress for it. The last one seems to have failed with one or two springs coming through the underside now. I was thinking about putting a solid board ontop of the slats, do we think this might help...
Regular turning probably would aswell :roll:


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## andycktm (2 Jul 2010)

I'm just on with making a bed frame.
The ones ive looked at seem to have, i Presume steamed beech lats as they are bowed to act as a spring.
As for a mattress £400 minimum :shock: 
Is there such a thing as king size in length?


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## big soft moose (2 Jul 2010)

andycktm":f3o2jfgr said:


> Is there such a thing as king size in length?



Ikea matresses are about 6" longer than standard - being 6'4" this was a useful discovery- my feet hang off the end of normal matresses


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## Hitch (2 Jul 2010)

Just ordered the new matress, :roll: 

Saw one at £2495 :shock: :shock:


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## Majorlarf (2 Jul 2010)

Hitch":35ddmg3u said:


> I was thinking about putting a solid board ontop of the slats, do we think this might help...


If you do you will have to drill the board with a descent size hole saw all over to allow the mattress to breath


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## jasonB (3 Jul 2010)

ASs Major says drill plenty of holes, I've done several beds with MDF bases and not had any complaints.

A 1" flatbit would allow air through without the risk of a spring going through. And also has the advantage of not heating the MDF which smells something rotten when hot.

Jason


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## Steve Maskery (3 Jul 2010)

Ventilation for the mattress is a must. You will probably find that the manufacturer has a specification for the slats - they should be no more than Xmm wide and Ymm apart, that sort of thing. The first bed I made had a solid ply base. The mattress went mouldy and I was not popular.

The base needs to be designed with the slat characteristics in mind. My bed has solid softwood slats, which gives it a dead feel, which I like. I've made others with the sprung beech slats from Woodfit. They give the bed a MUCH more bouncy feel.

I've never been able to work out how divans breath, given that there is no air movement at all under the bed.

S


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## Doug B (3 Jul 2010)

I recently made a bed for my son, SWMBO bought sprung wooden slats from Ikea. They came with rubber holding strips that allow the slats to be rolled up, excellent for cleaning under a bed that is difficult to move.

They are extremely comfortable, so must so that when time permits i will be using them on our own bed, when i get round to making a new one :roll: 


Doug.


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## dannykaye (3 Jul 2010)

I made two beds and used 5" x 1" planed square timber from wicks, my beds have a centre support so slats are half the width of the bed. The important thing is having enough space for air to stop mould on the matress which will get quite damp in use.


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## Jonzjob (3 Jul 2010)

Over here the most popular, I think, method of springing beds are beech sprung slats. The ones on ours are 2" with 1 1/4" gap and half width with 2 supports down the centre. Very comfortable.

We have also bought a new (expensive :shock: :shock: ) mattress and were advised to turn it every couple of weeks, both end to end and over.


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## Benchwayze (3 Jul 2010)

andycktm":txbrdxqu said:


> Is there such a thing as king size in length?



Served in HM Forces, but I was never into peeking in the showers... So I can't help you there! 

John 8)


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## Benchwayze (3 Jul 2010)

Jonzjob":1zh7fg1i said:


> Over here the most popular, I think, method of springing beds are beech sprung slats. The ones on ours are 2" with 1 1/4" gap and half width with 2 supports down the centre. Very comfortable.
> 
> We have also bought a new (expensive :shock: :shock: ) mattress and were advised to turn it every couple of weeks, both end to end and over.


Don't I know the story! LOML is obsessive about this. She has a card to record dates and come Hell or High water, when it's mattress turning day, it's mattress turning day! :roll: 

John :shock:


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## Chrisp (3 Jul 2010)

I worked in a bed shop for 9 years! and often had the Ikea mattress/bed debate with customers, some suppliers would give different names to sizes so one company's kingsize would be anothers double! always stick with the sizes, 4'6"x6'3" standard double and 5'0"x6'6" kingsize, although anything is possible, we used to recommend laying pegboard on top of slatts to give ventilation and support the springs inside a pocket sprung mattress, there are now pocket sprung mattresses designed for slatted beds but will come with a min size gap between, as for the sprung beech slatts we used to have loads of spares in our stockroom so it might be worth asking in a local bed shop to see if they have spares?


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## Big Fat Pig (7 Jul 2010)

Oddly enough, i made a slatted bed a while back, and i even managed to get a pic of it on here.
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/post ... tml#279877.

Now if that link works i will be amazed as i`m no pc guru. If it doesn`t work and you have a notion, do a search under my member name for a post titled ` A couple of things wot i have made.`

Piggy



Ps. it is a king size bed, and i have a couple more pics of it on the pc which i didn`t post if you`re interested.


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## Dibs-h (8 Jul 2010)

W75 x L190cm = Small single
W90 x L190cm = Single
W120 x L190cm = Small double
W135 x L190cm = Double
W150 x L200cm = Kingsize
W180 x L200cm = Super kingsize

So longer than 6' - you need to go Kingsize and bigger really. You can't beat a quality pocket sprung mattress - something like a Hypnos. But they aren't cheap, but then again what's a good night's sleep (every night) worth - you have to ask yourself.

Dibs


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## Hitch (10 Jul 2010)

I went with 6mm mdf, over the existing slats. drilled with lots and lots of 25mm holes, about 100mm centres.
Will keep an eye on it for a while to ensure there is adequate airflow.


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## Jonzjob (10 Jul 2010)

The previous slatted bed that I had made was about 30 odd years back from a Readers Digest DIY Manual and consisted of 96 feet of 6 X 1" pine planks. There was a 1" gap between the planks and it was a beauty!

No problems with damp and very comfortable..


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## andycktm (16 Jul 2010)

After ikea was mentioned i checked the site out, went through and 
got ready made slats instore fully bent :lol: birch slats with holders/spacers £30  

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00072822


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