I’m planning on purchasing 2 Split Cal King 9" latex mattresses for 2 old Sears Vari-Matic XL Twin adjustable beds that I’ve had for years. I realize that I will need to cut the plywood base width and extend the foot length to match the Cal King measurements. I’m curious if anyone else has done this and what type of material, etc. did they use to recover the plywood.
Hi dcook675,
Your situation is outside of my experience but hopefully some of the members here that have made the type of modifications that you are considering will see your post and share their suggestions.
Phoenix
Power foundation bases are made to be a bit smaller than the mattress for fitment, so I don’t know if the width difference would bother you too much. The same with the extra length - the mattress would extended a bit beyond on the head of the unit. Have you tried the mattresses upon the unit without the modifications yet?
If you do decide to attempt the modification, you’ll have to undo the fabric from the underside that is stapled around the platform bases. Realize that it probably won’t be long enough once you extend the length of the base unit. You’d want to trim off an inch from each side to adjust for the width. You’d add the 4" in length to the foot section. Trace out the hole pattern from the old piece to the new piece and extend the holes for the mattress retaining bracket 4". Pretty simple. You’ll also need some HD polyurethane foam for the extra length on the foot section, assuming your power foundation used some on the top deck (or perhaps around the sides as well). T-nuts are usually used as fasteners in the decks. You should be able to reuse the bolts. Match up the thickness of the new piece to your old chipboard/plywood piece. Realize that you’re extending your foot section 4" and that extra unsupported length won’t be accommodated in the support arms underneath extending out to adjust for this length, so there could be extra stress placed upon the unit at the very foot and I would avoid placing extra weight or sitting in that area.
Mechanically this is s simple project, but you might have some cosmetic issues once you are done, depending upon how much extra fabric was left over underneath the unit when everything was stapled together.
Good luck!