I finally purchased my new all latex Dunlop matttress + frame. I had the mattress delivered and frame installed and requested that the slats be installed at 2.5" inches apart and they said no problem. However, after leaving them to it believing they would install the slats at 2.5" apart, I measured it after the fact and the slats were installed 3" apart. I know that you recommend that for an all latex mattress, less than 3" distance between slats is desirable. Moreover, I noticed that they did not utilize the entire allowable length of the supporting wood piece used to install the slats to the side of the bed frame. In other words, there are two wooden thin beams that almost span the entire length of the frame, and is used to drill the ends of the slats into. For some reason, they installed the first and last slat an inch or so before the wooden piece begins and an inch or so before it ends. This is really strange to me, and it is creates a weird feeling in the feet area, because the mattress “spills out” out at the end due to it not having full support by the last slat because it is simply installed before the end of the side wooden beam. I want to call the company that installed the slats, and ask them to redo the work by requesting that they use the maximum length of the side beam (i.e to install the first slat at the very beggining of the beam, and the last slat should stretch to the very end of the side beam). In addition, I am going to request that the slats be installed 2" apart. Phoenix, before I do this, is there any problem in removing the slats from the original installation and redoing the drilling of the holes again (in new locations)? does this hurt the structural integrity of the side wooden pieces at all, or the structure of the frame for that matter? I will essentially have a bunch of drilled holes since I plan on having the slats installed in difference points now due to shift in distance between slats.
I will attach a picture when I a home tomorrow, but I understand why you are confused. Let me see if i can be clearer in the mean time.
On the platform bed, there is a wooden “railing” on each side of the frame (on the inside) that slats get drilled into on one end. all the slats are also drilled in the center of the frame. I.e here is the idea
{---------|-----------}
Therefore, the picture above represents two slats installed side by side from one extreme end to the other, and the { } represent where the screws were drilled at the end to secure the slats to the frame. My installation looks something like this:
See how I left 4 vertical bars on both ends of the bed? I am trying to represent here that the full allowable surface area (from one end of the bed to to the other) was not fully utilized. I.e I could have have more surface area to support the mattress as a whole. Instead, the begging slat pair and ending slat pair are installed before the two extreme ends, and this means the mattress slightly spills out in the begging and end. It could be better supported, and more evenly supported had the full surface area of the side beams been utilized to install the starting slat pair and ending slats pair in the very beginning and very end of the side beam…I hope this makes sense, but again, I promise to attach a photo tomorrow when I can take a picture.
Its difficult to explain and I will attach a photo tomorrow, and link the frame I purchased as well…
in the mean time, try to picture a series of slats installed 3" apart. The first pair of slats are installed at some begging point, and the last pair is installed at an end point…
What I am trying to describe is that those two pairs (begging slats and end slats) were not installed close enough to where the frame starts and ends…meaning that there is less support surface of the mattress at the extreme ends of it…i.e a “spill out” of the mattress at the head and toe…if only the starting and final slats were installed closer to the begging of the frame, and closer to the end of the frame, there would be more surface area supporting the mattress…
Thanks for now, and I will attach a picture tomorrow as well/
I suggest going to your local lumber yard and buy some pine lumber the same width and thickness as you have right now. Get it cut by the lumbar yard to the length you need. Then simply remove the slats you have and add the extra one you just bought in order to get 2 inch spacing between the slats. You may want to start your first slat so that it is resting against the head piece and make sure your last rest against the toe piece, this way your mattress will be completely supported from head to toe…
Another to avoid such a situation next time is to deal with the actual maker of the bed frame, so that you will get the correct information before you make your purchase.
I was thinking you had purchased a foundation (that has a support surface on both ends as part of the frame) rather than a bedframe so your comments make more sense now. If I’m understanding you correctly your bedframe has slats similar to this instead of slats similar to this.
I don’t think that most people would notice much difference (the top and bottom couple of inches don’t support any weight outside of the mattress itself because most people don’t sleep in these areas or if they do there is little weight there and the top and bottom of the mattress aren’t likely to “sag” over the space of a couple of inches) but if for some reason the slat placement is affecting how it feels for you then your actual experience is always more important than how anyone else may feel.
I would talk to the retailer about the slat distance and why it ended up different from your custom order and see if they can make any suggestions about how to remedy the situation to your satisfaction. I also think MFC Memory Foam Comfort’s suggestion is a good one and may be the most “practical” solution of all.
I am getting the slats fixed today to have them installed 2" apart. My question is, the way they currently installed, they are only screwed in to the sides of the frame, and not in the middle. I.e they are not screwed in to the center support beam. It kind of causes them to flap around in the middle, but not too much really, and when the mattress lays on top of them they are obviously non flexing and secured in place. However, should they be screwed in the middle like in this picture to the central support beam?:
If they are screwed to the side rails then they shouldn’t move, especially when the mattress is lying on the slats, but it certainly wouldn’t do any harm to add screws to the center if you experience any shifting. It may also reduce any flex to some degree on one side of the bed or the other under weight and it would probably make it a little stronger and more rigid structurally. If you do this I would make sure that you pre-drill holes first so that you don’t crack or split the center beam.
