Replies

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Sep 06, 2009 06:11am | #1

   How about making some plywood triangles to use as brackets to assure that the short uprights are square to the cross pieces. 

1. 
   jyang949 | Sep 06, 2009 04:31pm | #2

   We tried something like that, and it did add crosswise stability. There wasn't room to add lengthwise brackets, but it needs strengthening in that direction, too.Stability had never been an issue with welded metal frames, Do wooden frames usually need diagonal bracing to prevent racking?--and where would you place it?Janet

1. 
   Michael503 | Sep 06, 2009 05:15pm | #3

   A couple of things come to mind, but they can get involved, depending on how serious you want to get with it. First, with only 3 slats, the mattress should have a mattress support unit or box springs or 2 sheets of plywood with holes in them to make a platform, else the mattress will fall between the slats. any of these, it they fit kinda snug will prevent racking, but sheets of plywood with a 1/8" clearance between its edges and the rail insides will do it best. Be sure to add some vent holes and shellac the plywood to seal in the odors.If you want the support legs, I assume they are wood, to remain vertical, consider making a box out of plywood, open at the top and bottom, and a little shorter than the distance from the floor to the bottom of the slats. use the outermost vertical supports as the inside corners of the box. assemble the box in place, under the slats, and screw it to the vertical pieces to assemble it. Basically, the idea is to box in all of the vertical supports with 4 vertical sheets of plywood and to secure the posts to the plywood. That way, they never move sideways, even if you give the whole bed a shove.-Michael

2. 
   tom77 | Sep 06, 2009 05:58pm | #4

   Janet,
   The first question is: Do you have box springs in addition to a mattress? If you do, then all you need for regular sized bed thru queen sized bed is more slats. I would recommend six. King sized beds need the middle support in addition. I run a support lengthwise under the slats and attach two legs somewhere in the middle.

   If you do not have box springs, then you must provide much more support. I use about 15 to 17 slats on a queen sized bed with no center support. I added the center support for a king sized bed. In all cases, the slats were 3/4" plywood.

   Hope this helps,

   Tom.

1. 
   jyang949 | Sep 06, 2009 08:06pm | #5

   Tom77:There is a box spring, but since it's a California king, it clearly needs a LOT more support added.(Why is this size mattress called a "California King"? Californians don't appear to be extraordinarily tall. Perhaps it should be called a "Gen-X king," since so many of us are taller than our parents.)What does the lengthwise center support look like? If I understand you, the crosswise slats don't need legs. The lengthwise support is a slat that fits under the crosswise slats, with a leg about a third of the way in from each end. Do I need to add ledges to the headboard and footboard (whatever you call it) to support the ends of the lengthwise piece?

   Edited 9/6/2009 1:15 pm by jyang949

1. 
   tom77 | Sep 06, 2009 08:18pm | #6

   Hi, Janet,
   A regular king is 78" by 80". What is a California King?The center support is a plywood rail, parallel to the side rails. It is about 80" long and about 4" wide, with two legs attached. The two "legs" are about 1.75" by 3.5" and the appropriate length to support the slats horizontally. I positioned them to divide the center rail into thirds.Good luck, Tom.

1. 
   jyang949 | Sep 06, 2009 09:27pm | #7

   A California king is 4 inches longer and 4 inches narrower than a standard king.Is this what you mean, the ends of the lengthwise support don't touch anything?http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwread/3894111692/

   Edited 9/6/2009 3:40 pm by jyang949

3. 
   WillGeorge | Sep 07, 2009 04:35am | #8

   Janet..

   What size bed? King, Queen, Twin?

   Is it on a rug with thick padding?

   What can I use in place of the uprights."

   More of them? A foot on each upright to spread the weight across more surface area?

   Replace the slats with a sheet of plywood? More of them?

   I think no magic answer unless we know more about the bed and where it is.

1. 
   jyang949 | Sep 07, 2009 05:17am | #9

   It's a California king on a rug.

4. 
   Jfrostjr | Sep 08, 2009 04:33pm | #10

   I would nail, or screw, 1/4" plywood to form a box around the support legs; then add another piece of plywood between the two center legs.

   This will provide additional support to the slats and a rigid structure that will not allow the legs to vary from vertical - and at low cost.

   Frosty

   "I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922

5. 
   Dave45 | Sep 08, 2009 05:01pm | #11

   I've fixed this problem on other beds by:
   1. Adding slats (5-6 would probably be much better)
   2. Making new slats from harder wood
   3. Strengthening the slats by gluing/screwing additional pieces to make them thicker.

   Making 2-3 new slats from wider material (1 x 6) that fits snugly between the rails should take care of any "racking" issues.