Building the simplest of bed frames

[greengin]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of building a frame for our little one's first bed. We got a 90cm x 190cm mattress, and would like to put it on a low frame that allows mattress airing but won't let him fall from high. The point of building it ourselves is the chance of saving a bit (maybe) but mostly the fun of it.

This is what we'd like to do: http://www.funkyfuton.co.uk/mall/pr...shikifutonbedbase/457855/Shiki Futon Bed Base

I have a few questions:

- We'll get the timber probably from B&Q. We like the redwood pine. Is this a good option? Our bed actually uses much softer white wood for the slats supporting the mattress.
- To support the mattress+jumping kid, how can I calculate the maximum weight that a single slat can take over a span of 90cm or 45cm?
- About the slats, is it better to have them as separated as possible (to facilitate airing), or keep them close? (For better distributed support).

I promise you that I've tried to find out myself about the wood strength, but got nowhere. I don't know the wood properties, and even if I did all the examples I found are either too easy (couldn't extend to my case), or way too complicated (understood nothing).

Thank you for reading so far!

 

[big-all]

you wont be able to buy the wood for much less the cost off a complete unit
4x1"par[20x95mm planed pine]is around £2.-£2.50 a metre
you have around 27m and say 6 for wastage you have 33m so £66-£82 how
you also need nuts and bolts and screws costing between 2 and £10
much is the futon ??

 

[greengin]

Thank you for the response, that futon is £100. Initially I was thinking of using 16 slats of 90cm * 65mm * 20.5mm. At the price we found at B&Q that'd be £40.

If I need to use 94mm * 20.5mm slats, that'd be £46.5.

I cannot find the price of the two or three main timbers (most likely three) that support the slats, but I was thinking that I'd use 44m*44mm, that's £20-£30.

Using 16 65mm slats means a separation between slats of 57.3 mm, which I don't know if it's reasonable or not. Using 16 94mm slats means 26.4 mm between slats. Could/should I reduce the number of slats in this case?

This price seems fine to me, and I'm hoping it may be fun .

 

[big-all]

when i make beds i use 4x1" spaced 55-70mm apart
are you planning on a bed base or a folding futon

 

[foxhole]

How little is he? usual to just use a safety barrier in edge of bed.

 

[greengin]

Big-all: no need for folding, the mattress wouldn't work for that. Folding may be the reason why they are so expensive. With 14 94mm slats the gaps are 45 mm, £40. How about redwood pine? Is white softwood better for this?

Foxhole: he's 1.5yo. We thought of the barrier, but we are sure he'll try to jump over it or push it hard, so it may be dangerous unless it's as tough and high as the cot barrier. We'd like him to move to a bed, probably with a very thin mattress next to the bed in case he falls.

 

[big-all]

get it from your wood yard ask them specifically for 2.7 or 5.4m lengths and live with 897mm slats then you will have no wastage
just ask for par or planed 4x1"

i make it 12 at 95=1140 11 spaces at 69=759= 1899mm

 

[foxhole]

Big-all: no need for folding, the mattress wouldn't work for that. Folding may be the reason why they are so expensive. With 14 94mm slats the gaps are 45 mm, £40. How about redwood pine? Is white softwood better for this?

Foxhole: he's 1.5yo. We thought of the barrier, but we are sure he'll try to jump over it or push it hard, so it may be dangerous unless it's as tough and high as the cot barrier. We'd like him to move to a bed, probably with a very thin mattress next to the bed in case he falls.

It's low and just designed to keep them from falling out the bed, made of steel also very strong.At 17months my granddaughter was climbing over stair gates, but came to no harm.

 

[greengin]

get it from your wood yard ask them specifically for 2.7 or 5.4m lengths and live with 897mm slats then you will have no wastage
just ask for par or planed 4x1"

i make it 12 at 95=1140 11 spaces at 69=759= 1899mm

Thank you for the details, I think we'll try those numbers. Actually our double bed has 11cm gap between slats, 7cm sound better for me. At B&Q we only found timber of 2.4m, meaning 60cm wastage per 2 slats.

We'll look for a local timber yard. To be honest, the main reason to go to B&Q is that I imagine local timber yards won't be much interested in so small orders :S. Just checked on google maps and was amazed at the number of timber dealers very close to us!

 

[big-all]

where about in surrey are you

 

[greengin]

It's low and just designed to keep them from falling out the bed, made of steel also very strong.At 17months my granddaughter was climbing over stair gates, but came to no harm.

The idea of him climbing over the the stair gates is my nightmare... I found many guardrails that can be used with any bed, I guess that's necessary. Thank you for mentioning this!

 

[big-all]

get it from your wood yard ask them specifically for 2.7 or 5.4m lengths and live with 897mm slats then you will have no wastage
just ask for par or planed 4x1"

i make it 12 at 95=1140 11 spaces at 69=759= 1899mm

Thank you for the details, I think we'll try those numbers. Actually our double bed has 11cm gap between slats, 7cm sound better for me. At B&Q we only found timber of 2.4m, meaning 60cm wastage per 2 slats.

We'll look for a local timber yard. To be honest, the main reason to go to B&Q is that I imagine local timber yards won't be much interested in so small orders :S. Just checked on google maps and was amazed at the number of timber dealers very close to us!

sometimes they do 3m lengths at the diy sheds that will give you 300 waste
thats why i said 6m waste assuming you where stuck with 2.4s

 

[greengin]

where about in surrey are you

In Sutton, not far from the B&Q which we found by chance as we drove by...

 

[big-all]

theres a champions up at st hilier or it may be new malden

aha sutton http://www.championtimber.com/branches/branch-sutton
and theres looks like another timber merchants net door lol

 

[greengin]

theres a champions up at st hilier or it may be new malden

aha sutton http://www.championtimber.com/branches/branch-sutton
and theres looks like another timber merchants net door lol

Yes there seems to be a few.

The other thing is that B&Q will cut the timber to measure (free or very cheap for the number of cuts I need). I'll try to call a couple of local timber business to see whether they cut it to measure and the charge for that... (it's not like we have a proper place at home to do this stuff).