Woodworm in new bedframe

Back to the shop. Take the dodgy slats with you and tell them you want merchantable quality ones. If they can't supply them straight away, ask for a refund of, say 20% so you can buy some replacements - but be happy to settle for 10%.

I've used 3/8 inch ply for slats before now - they'll manage a 3ft unsupported width with no problem.

They should supply slats of "merchantable quality" twisted and wormed don't meet that IMHO. If you take the money to provide you own bear in mind it gives them a hook to hang an invalidated warranty on. Also slats are not planed square, the edges are rounded so as not to present a sharp edge to the matress. Even if you have a router your time isn't free...

Or if he uses pine, go for 1". 3/4" is only just.

NT

snipped-for-privacy@meeow.co.uk wrote in news:1117413442.941246.268030 @g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Or buy sprung slats (from Ikea - around £10 per set). Need a central bar as well - but that can be dead simple. Definitely more comfortable than pine 'planls'.

tell me more... cheap too. I'v never found anything better than wood slats, but I dont use slats as supplie with beds, theyre mostly air. Rather make a set so at least 2/3 of the space is wood, not 15% with numerous small sags and prematurely dying mattresses.

NT

snipped-for-privacy@meeow.co.uk wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

We got these:

The support the slats provide is fine and it is just a bit less dead than solid pine.

The slats are made of something like birch ply and are Lithuanian.

What happened to iron frames and sprung wire? I suppose you could make an attempt with angle iron, springs, and chain-link fencing...

mm, looks good. I always noticed thinner slats were a slight improvement, but not robust. Thin hardwood should resolve that problem. Thanks.

NT

You can't flat pack them for home assembly.

snipped-for-privacy@meeow.co.uk wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Well - I am of somewhat larger than average size and don't fall through!

Just remembered - we bought three packs - and added a couple of extra slats from the third pack to each side. We have a kingsize bed and the standard Ikea length wasn't quite there. (Odd, though, even the slats supplied stopped substantially short at both ends. As they did on most beds that we saw in shops. It began to seem normal to see mattresses gently sloping downwards at the foot end.)

they were spaced so far apart as to give that famous coarsely corrugated sleep feeling. A flat wood board was an improvement in nearly every case.

Why use iron bars and springs when you can use thin hardwoo.d

NT

What? Rubbish. You are *supposed* to put a mattress on the bed, you know...

a) What iron bars?

b) Far better ventilation of the mattress.

you dont say. Obviously that doesnt make it level. When youve got 3,4 or 5 crossbars supporting springs it is inevitable that the end result will be corrugated.

the bars that support the bottom end of the springs.

true, but does not outweigh the corrugation effcet, terrible on poeples backs, far worse than a less vantilate mattress.

NT

What sort of system is that?? I have never seen one. I think you are talking about something else!

that would make sense. Hers what I was discussing:

Rectangular outer frame

Typically 3/4/5 iron crossbars evenly spaced slung many inches below the outer frame, with edges bent up to attach to the frame. Bit like this but more rounded:

: | | : \___________/

Add lots of large vertical springs:

: | S S S S | : \_S__S__S__S__/

and chicken wire across the top. Now you have a sprung bed base. Sounds all very luxurious, but the fact that you will never get a level surface in practice makes then not so good on the back. Give me a hard flat wood base over these any day.

I wonder what you were referring to.

NT

I have never seen that construction before. I meant:

--~=================~-- | |

cross-section. The (2"?) angle irons at each side are drilled to receive the ends of expanding springs (~), every few inches. The mattress rests on a wire base (=) which has a diamond pattern, with rather elongated diamonds, which is held all around by the springs. The angle iron (bed iron) is a complete frame, and has dogs on each corner which either slot or screw into cast-iron lugs which screw onto the bed head and foot. Just looked for a picture, can't find one. These were used very extensively.

In article ,

Sounds like the old Vono bed frame?

When they began to be discarded Vono's were precious for the quality of their angle iron.