Reinforcing the base of divan bed drawers

[livinginhope]

Hi all, I have a divan bed, for which the base of the drawers is very thin board, and had sagged down, and the back of the drawers has bowed out, creating gap between the base and the back. I've just fixed it by - basically leaving the drawers overnight with heavy weights on the backs to push them back in, but I'm concerned it'll just happen again once the drawers get used. I feel what's really needed is to attach a plank of wood directly under the base - ideally from front to back, to support the base and stop the back from bowing out, but I can't think of a good way I could attach it: The problem is I don't think it's practical to take the drawer apart so I have to somehow attach it to the already assembled drawer.

Photos of the underside of the drawers attached. It's a standard flatpack drawer design (although I bought it already assembled - didn't assemble it myself). Base fits into grooves in the back, front and sides. Back and sides appear to be one piece of wood, bent around and somehow attached to the front (I can't see how, but the join feels pretty solid, so I assume screwed together). The front is covered with cloth which is stapled down and I think would very hard to remove, which means I can't really get to the front.

Any ideas how to attach some wood (or anything else) to support the drawers?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I might be inclined to use a bit of timber underneath, fixed at the front with an angle bracket and fixed at the back with either a couple of screws into the end grain. Or you could use an angle there too. Or you could fix screws in through the top if you don't care about seeing the screw heads. Or some kind of variation of what I've described, a few ways to do it. Maybe use two lengths of timber if you expect to store plenty in there. Dozens of guides on youtube.

 

[foxhole]

They are often flimsy , but you can support with a couple of lengths of 2x1 spaced at equal intervals. Glue wide side to base and add right angle brackets to either side at ends.

 

[aveatry]

There is an actual product that you can buy for just this problem if I remember right its a strap that can be tightened

 

[foxhole]

There is an actual product that you can buy for just this problem if I remember right its a strap that can be tightened

Straps don’t work as tightening just causes frame to buckle.

 

[livinginhope]

They are often flimsy , but you can support with a couple of lengths of 2x1 spaced at equal intervals. Glue wide side to base and add right angle brackets to either side at ends.

Thanks, that makes sense, and matches @freddiemercurystwin 's reply. My only doubt is that I just checked, and the back (and sides) only extend 8mm below the base. That doesn't give a lot of material to screw into (assuming you can even get angle brackets that small). Is attaching angle brackets to what would be so near the lower edge of the draw sides really workable?

 

[foxhole]

It’s a case of using as thick a timber as possible without it fouling on anything . You may be limited to just glueing or use metal kit.

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