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What Plywood for bed?

Hi,

I'm hoping the Bunnings team can recommend a plywood that is 12 or 15mm thick which is safe from health perspective to be placed between the bed slats and mattress.

A mattress specialist recommended buying plywood from Bunnings to increase the firmness of the mattress. I will need to drill a lot of ventilation holes to prevent moisture build up in the mattress and worried about smells or chemicals leaking out. So I'm hoping for a plywood that is safe to be slept on for years to come.

Thanks,

Colin

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EricL

Hello @ColinL

Thank you for sharing your question about your bed frame. Generally speaking, the same effect can be achieved by increasing the number of slats in the bed or changing the slats completely with a thicker piece of timber. Let's say for example that you currently have a timber slat that is 70mm wide and is 10mm thick. Each slat is spaced at 100mm, if you were to add more slats at the same thickness but leave a gap of 20mm it will increase the stiffness of the bed.

Another way to accomplish this is to use thicker and wider slats spaced at 30mm or less. A good example of this would be to use 140 x 19mm 1.8m DAR Pine Premium and placing a gap of 30mm between panels. The smaller the gap the more panels you can put in the more support you provide.

I don't recommend using plywood as it traps too much moisture and could cause mould infestation. What's important is that the gaps are present to allow the mattress to breath.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1, @Noyade and @Remarka6le for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

Noyade

Hi @ColinL

I'm with @EricL - thicker slats. I had two beds with those ridiculous (my opinion) convex bamboo slats and replaced them with 70 X 35 untreated pine.

Photos if you're interested.

Any chance of photos of what you currently have and the spacing/anchoring mechanism?

Cheers!

(PS - why is Eric's post highlighted blue?)

Dave-1

Good Morning @ColinL

Three for three with going for thicker slats and more of them. I dont like the idea of plywood for the same reasons that @EricL has said.

Its a bit odd if you have a matteress specilist suggesting plywood as a base. Most times ive talked to maitress suppliers they want resonable airflow about the matteress. Maybe something has been lost in the translation.

Dave

ColinL

Hi Eric, Noyade and Dave,

Thanks for your replies, please see photo of my slats. Each slat is 5mm wide and spacing is 90mm.

Following your advice, can you please confirm if this is the most suitable and cost efficient product, and if I need to paint it or treat it or drill the edges into the bed frame to prevent movement? Or just simply lay the pine on the frame?

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/home/leaving?allowTrusted=1&target=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bunnings.com.au%2F140-x-19mm-1-8m-dar-pine-premium-1-8m_p8401466

Thank you!

Colin

MitchellMc

Hi @ColinL ,

Yes, the 140 × 19mm DAR Pine Premium you linked would be the most economical and practical option for increasing the firmness of your bed base. It will provide significantly more support than your current 5mm slats while still allowing proper airflow, which is important for preventing moisture build-up in the mattress. You won’t need to paint or treat the pine if it’s being used indoors in a dry bedroom environment. In most cases, you can simply lay the boards in place as the weight of the mattress will hold them steady, but if you’d prefer extra stability, you can pre-drill and screw them lightly into the side rails to prevent movement. You also likely won’t need to install them across the entire bed. Placing several boards through the torso and hip area should provide the firmness increase you’re after, as it’s unlikely to make much noticeable difference in the waist-down section.

Mitchell

Dave-1

Afternoon @ColinL

Pretty much echoing what @MitchellMc has said :) Normal slats never seem to have been treated. With your frame of the bed you may need to do some acomodations to it to make the timber work (those plastic brackets may be too small to accomodate something thicker) You could run the new slats inbetween them?

Im pretty sure that the existing slats only go half way to the centerline of the bed, mostly id say for flatpacking the bed into the smallest area possible but also maybe to stop a seesaw effect with the center line. It may take placing your new slates into place and testing it out to see how it feels. So maybe buy one or two slats worth of timber and see how it fits first?

Dave

ColinL

Awesome thank you very much guys, appreciate the advice!

Cheers,

Colin

TedBear

Have you considered using pegboard as the underlay? The existing slats will take care of the weight so the pegboard would just straighten the supporting surface while allowing air flow.

PS Eric's reply isn't blue on my device.

Noyade

"PS Eric's reply isn't blue on my device."

Hi Ted.

Seems to come and go?

Now you're blue.

Is it an unread post?

MitchellMc

Now you're blue, @Noyade. It's the newest activity since your last visit to the discussion.

Mitchell

TedBear

Thanks for clarifying that @MitchellMc.

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