What's the trick to getting a bedframe that won't fall to bits after a few years? I'm quite 'heavy arsed' and a giant so breaking beds is something I do. Low-beds are maybe one solution but there are a host of reasons why people don't sleep on the floor.
I'm specifically annoyed with the problems slats can give. Big Bear knows full well that slats break, bend or, in the case of metal, will just come off the frame.
I still think a solid, wooden slatted bed is your best option - yes, slats break, but you can replace one slat a lot more easily and cheaply than a whole metal frame, or divan, or whatever else.
The secret of course is to just spend more money. I doubt you'd be breaking something made of big chunks of oak, for example.
Also just spread your weight more when getting on and off the bed.
>>2836 >The secret of course is to just spend more money. I doubt you'd be breaking something made of big chunks of oak, for example.
I'm afraid to say I agree. I paid about 800 quids for my bed base and about 2 grand for the mattress as its one of those fancy Tempur foam things; as everyone says, easily the best investment you can make given the cost-per-use and how much time you spend in it.
The cheapest, simplest way of reinforcing a bedframe with crap slats is to go to your local builder's merchant and have them cut a sheet of 18mm birch ply slightly smaller than your mattress. A standard double is 1900x1350, but you want to knock off a bit so it doesn't poke out of the sides. Expect to pay about £40 for a half decent sheet. The ply will spread the weight under the mattress and stop your slats from collapsing when you move around.
Regarding the frame itself, the weak point is invariably the joints. Any amount of play will start to tear out the fixings and quickly lead to failure. Regularly nip the fixings tight or (better) glue the joints solid with epoxy. Wooden frames can be inexpensively and discreetly reinforced with a couple of lengths of CLS timber.
It doesn't have to be nearly a grand as >>2838 mentions, but a good bed costs money. You can build your own if you're handy around wood, but if you're buying one anything which comes as a kit with fancy nuts and bolts to screw it together is, very likely, a bunch of tosh. The metal frame shown in the picture, for example, looks exactly like the kind of trim you find on a tube framed bit of cheapo nonesense.
If you don't want to go DIY, find a (semi-)local bed maker and get something that's made of squares and screws together with plain wood screws. Then apply >>2839 and reinforce it; the entire bed should, if at all, move and flex as a single unit. Any play in the component parts will get stressed incessantly as you toss and turn during sleep. When reinforcing, bear in mind that you put more pressure on the bed around your hips and mid-torso than your head or feet both when sleeping in it and when falling into bed or sitting down/up on it, so the centre area is particularly important to reinforce.
I'm no Big Bear at *mumble* over 15st, but even I learned that slats are wear parts. It does depend on your mattress and how well it spreads your weight across them but having a half dozen or so spare at all times is a god sent. Check your bed every 3 months or so to replace slats that appear less than perfect. You can even do a rotation, move slats from near the end of your bed towards the centre and get some more use out of the centre ones near your feet for example.
>>2842 Or a waterbed. I have bloody lovely memories of staying over on a waterbed years ago, and prices seem to have dropped since I wanted one but couldn't possibly afford it. Or maybe I'm just less strapped. Either way, go try a waterbed.
