We will be purchasing a memory foam mattress. The problem we are having is with the mattress support. Our bed is a Four Poster, Rice Bed.
We are removing our old coil mattress and corresponding Box Springs. The new bed will require a support. The Rice Bed has metal brackets attached to the wooden sides and foot frames and we are having problems. The wood frames are 17" to 22" off the floor, the brackets 18". We cannot buy floor supported frames as they are too low. The metal brackets will not allow for the placement of any 40"X60" support. Any support device must be custom. We can place a 3/4" piece of plywood, with a moisture barrier if necessary. I can use a skill or drill saw to create slats or holes. Will this work or are there any other, better suggestions? As we live in a low humidity area and are on the second floor. Will the cutting of slats or placing of a moisture barrier be necessary. I’ve also given thought to placing 1"X1" slates on the plywood itself. Would that be of any help? Would Bunkie Board support would be an improvement. If we just use plywood, would any type of finish help? I’m thinking that sealing the wood would help keeping wear from the mattress, would it increase the moisture problem? Any suggestion would be appreciated, thanks.
Hi steve1942,
Welcome to the Mattress Forum!
I’m sorry, but your description of your current bed set is not very clear to me, so I’m not understanding exactly what you’re attempting to describe. I know that you have an existing bed set, but I don’t know what size. It seems that you had a mattress and box spring in the bed set before, so I’m not sure why you would now have an issue doing the same thing with a new mattress set. Also, I’m not sure of why you would be using a 40" x 60" support, as this is not a size normally used in the mattress industry (maybe your mattress is a queen and you’re assuming two support decks split from side to side instead of the “traditional” head to toe for a split queen box spring?).
I’m going to make some assumptions from what you’ve provided and hopefully I’m on the right track. It seems that your bed set has side rails that are 5" tall and at the top are 22" off of the floor. There is an inner “lip” at 18" off of the floor affixed to the interior of these side rails, upon which support slats, a deck or box springs would rest. As your bed set is quite elevated, it seems you may be interested in minimizing the thickness of any support unit (box spring, foundation, etc.) and place your new mattress directly upon some sort of thinner support structure. I hope I’m on track so far.
In a situation like this, one of the easier solutions could be to run 5-7 reinforced “t-slats” side to side between your side rails, resting upon the inner lip inside of your side rails. Then, you could place upon this the plywood pieces you were previously describing, and you would have a very solid deck upon which to place your new mattress. You stated that you were in a low humidity environment and on a second floor, so humidity was not of great concern, but at a minimum I would place some sort of fabric over this deck to minimize the chance of getting splinters in the bottom of your mattress, and if humidity did become a concern a 1" coir bed rug would be a better choice.
This is of course just one option, but based upon what I “think” you’re asking it’s one of the easier fixes I can offer. Feel free to post photos of what you’re describing in this thread, or reply back to clarify if I’m “barking up the wrong tree”.
Phoenix
Thanks, you’ve understood my post, exactly. Your post caused me to look more closely at low profile supports. I’ve found that I hadn’t realized the supports aren’t 60"X80" but are slightly smaller. The ones being sold will fit, I’ve created a problem that wasn’t there. I plan to purchase a 4" wooden support, not split. It will look almost exactly as you described. It may cost slightly more than building it from scratch but will spend the few extra dollars receiving the wood and bolts in the exact predrilled lengths and and size. The slats are 2.76" apart, which I believe is satisfactory. A cover is to be included. The only question I would still ask, are the wood supports superior to steel. Both are offered at nearly the same price, the steel is already assembled. I did read somewhere that wood was preferable but would appreciate your opinion. Thanks again, you’ve been most helpful, I,m glad to have found this site. Steve
Darn, I’m back. We wish to buy an 11" memory form, gel mattress. Because of the mattress height, we wish to decrease the height of the support, 1" means a lot. We’ve noticed that a 3" high bunkie board support is available. It comes with 13 slates that measure 3" by, what looks to be, 1/4". The wood type is not mentioned, it looks like pine. It’s advertised for a queen, but I’m wary. Would it provide the support we need? Together we weigh 310 lbs. Not expensive so could upgrade if necessary. It’s not the money, we need the extra inch for medical reasons.
Hi steve1942,
I believe you are referring to foundations, either a wood version using closely spaced slats (as you’ve described), or a version of a semi-flex/min-flex grid. The wood foundation as you described is generally preferred, as it is stronger and will provide better support and more surface area of contact to the base of the mattress. Some of the metal grid networks can sag a bit over time and actually cut into the base foam of the mattress.
As you described it, this would probably have spacing of just a bit over 3" between the slats, and most memory foam manufacturers using a polyfoam base would prefer 5" or less between slats, so that usually would work. Also, most bunkie boards have a cardboard deck on top of the slats, but this tends to take a set over time, so I would rely upon the slat distance as your main method of rating the product. The bunkie board itself will need proper support underneath it, so you would need some sort of cross slat network, such as the T-slats I referenced in my previous post.
Phoenix
I can do that, thanks. Lots of help. Steve
Hi steve1942,
I’m happy I could be of assistance. I hope everything turns out well.
Phoenix