"The Monster" Bed Frame Review

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

After not getting the necessary mattress support for my 13" SleepEZ mattress and their “Knock-Down” foundation, with much research I decided to replace my bed (which had two side rails and ONE cross bar between them in the center - with a “foot” support) with a Knickerbocker KB2007 “The Monster” bed frame.

It was only $89.xx + tax at my local furniture store.

It is rated at 1000 lb, has four casters (one at each corner), and three “glider” supports for the center rail (head-foot).

I’ll skip to the summary:

For construction I give it 5 stars.
For design I give it 2 stars.

On construction:

  • The product is using fairly thick gauge steel (I didn’t measure - sorry), and the side rail vertical dimension is 2". That’s a lo of strength there. The center rail is a double angle iron style - and while I’m pretty sure it is not using the same 2" high steel - it is more than adequate. The rollers and gliders are of adequate quality - I have no issues with them. They don’t blow me away either, but it was only $90.

On design:

  • Take a look at the instructions page that is posted at: Heavy Duty metal Bed Frame universal size
  • If you study it you will see that the “frame arm” that swings out, ends up lowered from the bottom of the foundation / box spring height by the thickness of the frame rail. Think of a pair of scissors that you twist 90 degrees so that they are horizontal. One arm of the scissor is now below the other…
  • Now repeat that again for the center rail that is located beneath the “swing out” frame arm. You now have the center rail that is nowhere near level with the side rails.
  • The four screws that hold the center rail to the frame arms are substantial - again I haven’t measured, by recollection the heads are just shy of 1/8" high. They sit on top of that frame arm, and the tops of them are probably roughly equal in level to the actual frame rails.
  • So my KD foundation center support “beam” (running head to toe), actually sat very happily on those top screws… With no weight on the bed you could look under and see that the beam was resting about 3/8" above “The Monster”'s center support rail. Of course that was with the center sagging under the weight of my 13" mattress. Towards the head and toe, the distance between that center bed frame rail and the bottom of my KD foundation center beam (which was sitting on those 4 screws) was very close to 1/2".
  • However as soon as any real substantial weight is put on it (>120 lbs I’ll guess from my test), the KD foundation wood flexes down in the center - deforming without breaking of course… And the results are a VERY noticeable sag when laying on the bed.

In summary I am stunned that they are so proud of the bed frame - because while I feel it is very well constructed of quality materials, the design comes nowhere near that level of quality. I’d really go as far as saying it is a poor design because of the manner in which that center rail is incorporated.

I cannot recommend it “as is”.

My solution was to install a 1/2" x 1" strip of wood between that center frame rail and the center beam on my foundation. I used zip ties to hold it in place to the bed frame. Problem solved, sag seems to be completely gone. It’s amazing but 1/2" can really make that much of a difference.

If you’re ok with this type of modification - then I can whole heatedly recommend “The Monster”.

(The KD Foundation though - not so much - I still regret purchasing it)

2

You mention that you don’t like their kd foundation. what do you wish you had gotten?

3

Well I love their mattress, let’s be clear.

But a 13" mattress is difficult to support with only 3 “beams” head-to-toe, and those beams not even being solid.

It’s not so much an issue with THEIR KD foundation - but in my mind any KD foundation that can be broken down into a box and be manageable to ship (e.g, weight minimization and keeping the box as reasonably sized as possible)

Realize part of the issue is that frames (e.g, NOT beds themselves) never support all the way down to the foot of the bed. So here you have a KD foundation that overhangs the support frame, and again those beams aren’t solid - they are kind of like a “window-pane” design made up of strip lumber) To be fair, it’s not getting a lot of weight down there, aside from the mattress - unless of course you should sit on the bottom of your bed. (I’m going to try to avoid doing that)

I am not sure exactly what I would have done instead…Find a rigid bunkie board? Or a box spring purchased locally that is for one of the many foam designed mattresses… Or pay someone to manufacture a hollow but very well built plywood box.

4

Hi JackBauer,

Thanks for the feedback about the monster frame. I appreciate it :slight_smile:

A bunkie board could have some of its own issues (lack of ventilation and lack of height) and many if not most of the commercial box springs would be less supportive than the KD foundation (see some pictures here) and would still have the overhang issue on the same frame.

Of course you could also buy a stronger frame such as this but then the cost is higher.

I think the DIY option can certainly be a good one and you could build it as strong as you like.

Phoenix

5

Thank you so much for writing this review. I am going through a similar issue. I am thinking of having a local carpenter reinforce this design by adding two additional support beams head to tow and also including more slats for added support. Basically trying to follow the Flobeds Fir slats wood foundation model. They say always start with a strong foundation. So, I would rather spend more to modify the current foundation so I can get the best use of my expensive and heavy 13" latex mattress and not have to deal with sagging again. The recommendations says the maximum distance between slats should 3 inches or less. I am wondering if I added more slats and left a distance of 1 inch between them, it should leave some for ventilation and offer close to a more of a flat support. Better than plywood option with no ventilation.

6

Hey mendelnewton,

Welcome to the mattress forum :).

I think your modifications are a very good idea, for you. Not everyone can do the DIY on their existing bed/foundation but using the Flobeds “style” of the Fir model is a really good direction. It really helps to hear some of the different and creative ways people can “fix” or improve their existing beds/mattresses/foundations. Thanks for the updates.

Sensei