Hi Wheetabix,
Just to be clear … I don’t think solid surface platform beds are a “bad” choice necessarily … they just wouldn’t be my first choice unless there was a compelling reason to use them that made any extra risk in terms of ventilation “worth it”.
In my own case for example … I have an adjustable bed which has a solid surface but the tradeoff of having the bed I wanted was worth it to me. It may be the same for you.
If there is a way to use slats in the bed instead of the inserts then I would probably lean in that direction but only if the slats could be added so they were secure and there wasn’t any risk that they would shift or “fall through”.
I don’t know the strength of the midbeam (although I understand from the description that it’s steel) so I would use your best judgement to make sure there was no risk of the center of the bed sagging over time under the weight of the mattress and you because it doesn’t appear to have any support legs in the middle and a queen or king is a wide span and can sag more easily. They would probably have a good idea of its strength.
While beds are not my area of expertise or something I’ve researched much or to anywhere near the degree of mattresses … there are a few slatted platform beds in the first post of this thread that may also be worth looking at as well.
@stuplarosa: That’s great to hear … they are certainly “good people” that go out of their way to be helpful.
Phoenix