Pallets in fields

[Wagtail]

OMG; this just hit me. Maybe I've been taken over by aliens but let me explain.

We bought a new box spring and mattress for the guest room and in an old metal bed frame it sat way too high. You needed a ladder to get in. My solution was to build a 2 1/4" high, wooden "box spring" and look how it came out. It's a freaking pallet design and it's just something that "came to me" as a solution and fixed the problem.

View attachment 570425

Now what? My thoughts may no longer be my own. I've been building mashed potato pallets at the kitchen table and seem inexplicably drawn to Pallet Town of Pokemon fame. Population 8. I've been seeing pallets lurking everywhere in lumber yards and Costco and even in my barn. There's one in the basement and I just had some seed delivered on a --guess what--a pallet.

Psssst... Mate, that's called a "slat" bed base. All of the beds in my house are like that. Heck, I'd venture 99% of the beds down here are "slat", no box-spring required.

You're just throwing money away if you buy a box-spring.

 

[sixdogs]

Psssst... Mate, that's called a "slat" bed base. All of the beds in my house are like that. Heck, I'd venture 99% of the beds down here are "slat", no box-spring required.

You're just throwing money away if you buy a box-spring.

Wagtail, the wife already bought the box spring and mattress as a combo and when we assembled it, the bed approached 38" in height. No one could get in it.

My solution was the "slat" box spring shown that I made. That's when my cousin said, "Oh, a pallet" and instantly I knew I had palletitis. Maybe the doc has a flu shot thing for that. Knowing what I know now, all future beds will have a slat box spring and I will make it. It feels better and overall is firmer.

Around here, box springs and mattresses are always sold as a package and I've never seen otherwise. I'll have to go to an Amish place to get just the mattress. By the way, the wooden box spring is a much better idea if you make it right. You guys live right.

Do you make your own wooden boxsprings or are they commercially available?

 

[PILOON]

Psssst... Mate, that's called a "slat" bed base. All of the beds in my house are like that. Heck, I'd venture 99% of the beds down here are "slat", no box-spring required.

You're just throwing money away if you buy a box-spring.

Agreed!
Mine are 12 inch high boxes covered with 3/4" plywood and hinged so that we use the bases for off season storage of clothing, no wasted space 4 us.
Many chiropractors suggest plywood under the mattress for bad backs.

My design is to have the 'box' 4" shorter and 4" back on the 2 sides for foot clearance.
I round the corners with about a 3-4" radius and using my router I round over all the edges of the plywood.
When I was doing renovation work for clients I often made up those bases using leftover construction materials and they loved them.

 

[sixdogs]

PILOON--Yours sound great and really a custom fit. Mine are made from leftover pole barn bracing and it's beautiful close grained softwood. The only wood I had to buy was for the slats. Wife went with straight edges so her "dust ruffle" looked the way she wanted but everyone is different. The wood base feels so much better than a crappy boxspring.

The wood mattress base is a much better idea for an older metal bed that is not a standard dimension. If the angle iron on one is upside down and the wrong direction, just weld another piece on top for the needed edges to cradle the wooden frame.

 

[robbyr]

I’m trying to understand why a pallet is better than a box spring?

 

[turnkey4099]

I like pallets. I like accumulating them and using them, even re-purposing them if required.

As the old adage goes, "If you have livestock, you'll have deadstock" and the same goes for pallets... if you anthropomorphise your 'stock' you'd go mad.

That looks like they have learned to 'circle up' for protection.

 

[sixdogs]

I’m trying to understand why a pallet is better than a box spring?

It solves the problem of a modern box spring and mattress in an old iron bed. They wind up way too high and often are the wrong width and length. The wooden made box spring allows you to make whatever thickness and dimension you want. In my case, a 2 1/4" boxspring is what I needed. Lets see you find that commercially.

Secondary, or maybe primary to the height problem is that the rigidity and structure of the wooden setup gives much more support. It firms everything up and makes the bed feel showroom new. Also, the slats allow for ventilation that is considered a necessity by manufacturers. Lastly, it's near zero cost and never has to be replaced.

 

[Howling]

You may need counseling. Or a 12 step program. I just now realized I believe this is the only thread where I致e come across the word repurpose. Several times. Come to think of it, I don稚 remember ever hearing that word before this thread.

Or is it a 12 slat program?

 

[Wagtail]

Do you make your own wooden boxsprings or are they commercially available?

They all come that way (slat base) and the mattresses have always been designed for them. As I mentioned, 'box springs' as part of a combination package are a rarity here as it's a known added expense.

I have a "Tempur" mattress = very heavy memory foam, which has always been supported by a slat framed bed. The sides of the bed frame have pre-cut grooves to accept the slats. On another bed (for guests) the slats rest on the fully grooved bed frame sides and have a central , coated metal, lattice that holds them in place to prevent any sliding around.

 

[stuckmotor]

I drove by a pallet that was painted up like an American flag today. It was very near a Tory fort from the Revolutionary War. Maybe reenactors have something to do with this phenomenon.