best type of wood for slats?

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

I’m making my bed frame from scratch. What type of wood is best? Most are made of pine. Some internet searching suggests poplar. Douglas fir was also mentioned. Given that all else is equal regarding size and spacing etc what do you recommend?

2

Hi nap101,

While different woods and carpentry isn’t my area of expertise … I would use one of the stiffer species listed here such as Yellow Pine or Douglas Fir or even Spruce or Hemlock.

You may have seen these already but there are some DIY instructions and designs that are included in the foundation post here (in the platform beds section)

Phoenix

3

Hi nap101, Phoenix made some good suggestions. It depends on the type of slats. For plain flat rigid slats, something firm (southern yellow pine is pretty hard for a softwood) is good. If buying from a big box store like a lowe’s or home depot, you may have to get bigger boards and cut them down yourself (or see what they charge to cut them down). Typically construction lumber is spf (spruce, pine, fir) and can be a mix of those. Usually around 2x10 and 2x12 sizes, syp is what they’re made from so it’s a different wood species.

If you’re not bothered by spending a little more, you could go with a hardwood like oak or something along those lines.

If you wanted some ‘spring’ to your slats a lot of times beech is used. Typically they’re made into bowed/engineered slats that arch up (so when activated by weight on top, level out) - otherwise if you made a flat slat that had springiness to it, you may end up with it flexing into a sag which you don’t want.

Best of luck with your bed frame.

4

Thanks all.
I will look at the harder woods. Douglas fir was my first choice. Not sure if I will just get 1x3s or get larger boards and cut them down.

5

Hi nap101,

We use select red pine in our slat system. The secret is to support the slats in the middle of the bed frame. This can be done by adding a center support that is bolted from the headboard to the foot board. Make sure the center support has a few wooden legs that rests on the floor to help distribute the weight evenly. Your slats should be a minimum of 3é4 inches thick and 3 inches wide.

good luck with your project!

6

thanks. that’s already part of the design.