I’m building a king size platform bed with drawers for storage. My plan is to build a plywood frame for the drawers and to support the mattress. I will use real wood for the sides, drawer fronts and frames, and headboard. None of the plywood will be visible.
My question is do I need to use cabinet grade plywood like baltic birch or something similar for the unseen base or can I just use the much cheaper hardwood veneered plywood sold at home centers (which is about half the cost)?
For this application, is it worth it to use higher end cabinet grade?
Replies
If you will never see it, then the only question you need to answer is is your CHOICE structurally sound?
If yes, why spend ca$h on something that provides no benefit?
You'll be fine with the less expensive plywood.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
You don't need baltic birch. Hardwood-veneered plywood will do just fine. Incidentally, good hardwood-veneer plywood is cabinet-grade stuff.
Unfortunately, the hardwood-veneer plywood at the big-box stores is not always the good stuff. I buy plywood from a supplier that sells to cabinet shops. The plywood is good quality, with few voids or delaminations, and no metal inclusions. It is also manufactured flat, shipped flat, and stored flat. That would be worth paying extra for, but oddly enough, it costs about the same as at HD.
Any sanded 3/4" plywood will be strong enough , I would make sure the plywood is domestic and not China ply or such . The high formaldehyde content could cause health problems especially in a bed .
Play it safe dusty
Lyptus,
I'm assuming your talking about 2- 36"x whatever platforms....not one? Mine is covered in ticking which you may want to think about..making the choice of ply even less significant.
Interesting idea. What kind of ticking did you use and where did you get it? Did you use strips and build a lattice of ticking?- Lyptus
Lyptus,Kind of ticking?...my wife bought the stuff many years ago (24yrs.),I suppose a fabric store...sorry.
Lyptus ,
The old fabric covers on old mattresses had a Blue and White thin striped material called " Ticking " it is a sort of a canvas weight fabric and can be found at larger fabric stores .
regards dusty
I plan on using ½” Baltic birch plywood for the drawers. I can find a reasonable priced product which is listed as 4B grade. Do you all know if this grade is reasonable for use in furniture drawers?
Depending on where you are, you might want to consider some form of ventilation.
When I was living in Portland Oregon, I had some problems with persistant moisture and mildew under the matress on platform beds. It was never a problem in drier climates though.
The plywood needs to be any sanded surface shop grade. How thick it needs to be depends on the distance between supports. I build 3 drawers per side into the pedestals, and the upper drawer support board doubles as a structural support, so I can use 3/8 inch plywood with out problems.
The other approach is to use slats of 1X3 with 1" spaces between so that there is some ventilation to the underside of the mattress.
That works, but you lose the structural stiffness that the plywood provides.
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