I need to build a queen-size waterbed pedestal with 6 drawers, and maybe a cubby. The drawers will hold sheets, pillow cases, blankets, etc. Anyone have some basic plans that uses minimal wood, yet strong enough? thanks
There was an article on this in Canadian Woodworking (I think). It used
2x spruce on edge for primary support, with birch frames around the drawers. Drawers used standard kitchen slides.Chris
I don't have the plans for it (except in my head) but I built a California King size bed like that about 20 years ago for my wife. We still sleep on it every night. Basically... ____________
Base I wanted to be able to disassemble the bed into reasonably sized components so the base is two sections, each as long as the bed and half the width.
The drawer frame sides in the bases - which are also the supports for the mattress boards - are 3/4 particle board. The PB pieces are joined longitudinally by 3 - 1x2 fir strips which are glued and screwed to shaped cutouts at the inside top/bottom and outside top of each piece of PB; the outside bottom cutout is larger for a toekick and the sections are joined there with pieces of walnut ply incorporated into the bed sides. The fir strips are set slightly into the PB so the PB, not the strips, carry most of the weight.
The two base sections have mating, rabbeted pieces of 1 1/2" oak fastened vertically on the inside at the center of the foot and head ends; those oak pieces each have two matching through holes so that they can be bolted together. _______________
Bed sides They are each one piece of 3/4 walnut ply with cutouts for inset drawer fronts. They are permanently attached to each base by gluing to the top outside piece of fir on the bases and into the base cutouts for the toe kicks.
There is a piece of 3/4" oak attached vertically at the inside of the foot ends so that the sides can be fastened to the foot. The oak strip is only long enough to reach from floor to below the fir strips; i.e., it does not show when the bed is assembled. _______________
Footboard Two pieces of 3/4 walnut ply glued into stopped 3/4 x 3/4 dados in 1 1/2 x 4" solid walnut pieces at each end and the center. The solid walnut pieces are maybe 1 1/2" longer than the ply is wide so that the ends could be shaped and stand proud.
The dados alone aren't sufficient to join the ply panels (when the footboard in't attached to the bed) so there is a piece of ply about 2
1/2 - 3" wide attached on edge across the two ply panels...it also serves as a rest for the mattress support panels.The outboard solid wood pieces have dados to accept the ends of the bed sides. They also have two threaded brass inserts so that the sides can be bolted to the footboard after they are inserteed into the dados. The sides have a piece of hardwood attached perpendicular to the ends and are bolted through that strip into the threaded inserts. _________________
Headboard This is made of four pieces of 3/4 walnut ply. Two of the ply pieces are the width of the bases; the other two are narrower.
The headboard is sectional, each section being one wide piece and one narrow piece of ply. Those pieces are glued and screwed to vertical solid 3/4 x 4" walnut pieces that have a rabbet along the back edges to receive the ply. Wide rabbet...maybe 1" wide, 1/4 deep. They are similarly joined at the top. I wanted a top that could be a small shelf so it too is 4" wide. The sides of the ends are finished with another
3/4 x 4" piece of walnut.The two headboard sections are joined in the same manner as the bases...1 1/2" oak pieces vertically on the back sides, oak pieces rabbeted so they mate, through bolted.
The finished headboard is 10 feet long...the total width of the two middle sections are the width of the bed; the outboard ends accomodate nightstands which are hung from French cleats on the headboard. The headboard itself is hung from French cleats on the wall. The base sections are just cozied up close to the headboard, not attached. ________________
Mattress supports Just four pieces of 1/2" fir ply. Could have used two (each full bed length and half ther width but four are easier to handle. They rest on the fir strips that join the PB pieces. Those fir strips, BTW, are beveled on the top inboard edges...the fir ply panels are beveled so they match. ________________
Drawers Three on each side, equal width, each partioned, each close to 36" deep, full extension slides. Wife wanted aromatic cedar but it would have been ridiculously expensive to obtain where we lived at the time (Honolulu). Instead, I got some of the 3/8" T&G stuff that is used to line closets. Laid it up and glued to 1/4" walnut ply for the drawer sides, backs and bottoms. Used 3/4 walnut ply for the fronts. Had to special order slides from Knape Voght. _______________
Miscellaneous Any exposed edges of ply or PB are capped with walnut strips.
Bedrooms often just have one electrical outlet in the wall where the bed is so I put duplex outlets into the outboard ends on the bottom of the headboard, wired #14 extension cords into them. When setting up the bed I can plug the cords into the wall; once the bed is set up, lamps and the like can have their wires go down between headboard and night stands and be plugged into the headboard outlets. Ditto for phone. Meets code? Dunno, don't care.
-- dadiOH ____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at
Have you checked a water bed store? It is shockingly surprising how little wood is used and how flimsy all of them are until you add hundreds of pounds of water on top to stabilize the whole structure. Additionally I am shocked that each time that I set my sister in-laws water bed up that it continues to hold up. I know that the bed has been moved 6+ times in 20 years. Hers is a king size with 12 drawers.
Ditto that. I had a king waterbed, a Sealy Hydropedic (best night's sleep I ever got, BTW) that I had to give away, and it was amazing to me how chintzy the frame was. On the other hand, I've seen a load test of a red oak 2x2 and it supported just over 9,000 pounds before it failed. Even if your waterbed is 10x10 and a full foot thick, that's
6,300 pounds or so. Obviously, there are lateral loading considerations for motion in the ocean, so to speak, but 2x lumber frame finished out with 1/2" ply would be more than sufficient.-Phil Crow
Phisherman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
I know that you were looking for plans, but have you considered buying one? Waterbeds are considerably less popular now than they once were. When I got married, we got rid of my wife's queen for $50. Pedestal, frame, headboard, and mattress.
I know of people who have just given them away as well. Depending on where you live, they can be easily had for free.
I don't know that I have ever seen anything other than 2x pine stock for construction, though. So if you were looking for something other than that, you would likely have to build.
Good luck, Len
Thanks for all the comments/feedback, and I would appreciate more! I just got back from my local library, yet I found nothing(!) about waterbed pedestal construction. Don't understand the unpopular reasons for a waterbed, as I've slept on one for over 30 years. I'm not necessarily asking for free plans, I'm willing to purchase if I can find them.
Have you tried a Google search?
The Taunton Book "Beds" by Jeff-something has a platform bed that can handle a water mattress.
Barry
Try this for a slide show of the assembly
I built a very big version of what you are looking for my oldest son. Each drawer case holds 6 drawers that are roughly 24" wide x 30" front to back and about 7" deep. Total height from floor to top of the 3/4" plywood deck is about 22". Instead of a water bed they purchased a select comfort air mattress. However, I built it very stout and it would have supported a water bed if that's what they had ended up with. From floor to sleeping surface its 36". Daughter-in-law needs a step stool to climb into bed. We put the drawers on 30" Blum Tandem fully concealed slides. Very nice but expensive. Doubt you would be interested in anything that big, however, it would be easy to make a similar unit in a smaller size. I have some pictures showing parts for the drawer cases I could send you. Drop me a note if interested. Earl Creel
Jeff Miller.
Page 130.
A great book. Highly recommended.
I agree with the "buy used" sentiment. I have a super-single that our son has not had room to take. A dealer told me that it was worth $50 tops. He chopped his up to get rid of the thing. The conventional beds with water-tubes in a soft-side mattress are popular. The construction is very chintzy - drawers without slides, soft pine
1x2 and masonite drawer bottoms. All covered with a dark stain to make it look attractive. Joints are only stapled together lightly. Little glue, no screws. I have a king size with captain's pedestal: 4 drawers and two doors on each side, one door at the foot into a tunnel up the middle. Simple 3/8" plywood deck boards. The super single, queen and king can all use the same pedestal and side rails. The only difference is the width of the footboard, dummyboard under the head and whatever headboard sits on top of the rails. So, you can actually use ANY size and stretch it to fit.On 1/5/2006 12:26 PM Phisherman mumbled something about the following:
did a google search, and in the first 5 items was this.
The Phisherman entity posted thusly:
One caveat you might want to keep in mind. A queen-sized waterbed frame may or may not be the same size as a queen-sized regular mattress frame. We bought a regular mattress to replace our waterbed mattress, and it was a special size made to fit a waterbed frame.
Heating a waterbed can be the largest cost associated with it, and a bit of insulation in the design could save a LOT of money over the life of the frame. I also really don't like the typical smaller pedestal design, our bed has the drawer units the same dimensions as the frame around the mattress).
Despite arguments about bumping toes ( I never have), my guess is that the real reason for the pedestal design is that its cheaper, or used some existing standard sized drawer units. Making the base drawer portion the same size as the mattress frame, looks MUCH more like furniture to me, and provides a bit more storage etc. Think about it, maybe draw a picture, and see if it isn't more appealling to you as well.
Water has a HUGE heat capacity, the lower the amount of insulation between you and the mattress, the smaller the comfortable temperature range of the water. Neutral to the skin is around 91 F in the water, and maybe 72 F for air in the room. One degree of change in the water is like maybe 5 degrees change in the air depending on air motions and blankets etc.
The builder can't do anything about heat loss off the top, thats pad and sheets and blankets. I like some heat warming the stuff in the drawers, so I am suggesting insulation for the sides of the mattress frame, and reducing the airflow if not insulating the outside of the drawer base instead of just insulations directly below the mattress support, except maybe something directly below the heater pad to kind of reflect up.
I know just enough to be dangerous, so wiser heads correct me. Instead of the typical 1" solid wood frame with a padded cap, how about making a sandwich of 1/2" PB or PW, 1" insulation, 1/2" PB or PW, with a solid wood top and/or bottom plate? Maybe make the drawer faces larger than the openings so that they close flush to the surface, and generally avoiding gaps etc. for air to flow through the bottom.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.