Last Updated on July 30, 2020 by Bob Albertson
Any bed frame with slats is a platform bed as opposed to a panel bed. A platform bed is supporting your mattress through the even arrangement of the space slat series which is usually made from wooden material. It is not included with the box spring under the mattress. A panel bed is normally designed to be used with the box spring which is accountable to support your mattress and does not include any sort of slats.
If in case you are building any new platform bed for your queen mattress or if you are already having an old platform bed that needs some new slats, then figure out how many slats you are in a need of based on the slat width. The slat spacing has to be standard. Slats are normally made from wooden material.
What is Standard Slat Spacing?
Slats on top of the standard platform bed should have a spacing of more than 2 1/2 inches apart. This will permit a suitable air circulation under your mattress along with a sufficient level of support for different types of mattresses. Some of the mattress warranties do specify design requirements for the platform beds in which we have slat spacing. Therefore, it is important to first of all check the manufacturer for basic rules which is being applied to your mattress model. Some of the mattresses will be in a need of smaller spaces of around 2 1/2 inches.
How to Calculate the Slats?
You have to calculate the total number of slats that you need based on the width of your selected slat as well as its standard spacing. The majority of the slats are made through the 1 x 3 or 1 x 4 lumber: 1 x 3s are 2 1/2 inches wide, as well as 1 x 4s are 3 1/2 inches wide. A queen mattress is around 80 inches long.
If you are spacing the slats as not more than 2 1/2 inches apart, you would require the below-mentioned number of slats:
- 1 x 3: 17 slats
- 1 x 4: 14 slats
Major Wood Types for Slats
Most do-it-yourself building a platform mattress for their queen mattress will go the local lumberyard or home core and choose up slats in something popular lumber species that is available. This most probably will be a less expensive building grade of softwood, such as pine, larch, Douglas fir, or spruce. If you pick this route, you should use 1 x 4s instead of 1x 3s (1 x 4s are stronger), and pick out kiln-dried boards so they are much less in all likelihood to warp and pretty knot-free, because knots are frequently vulnerable spots. Also, choose via the stock to find straight and flat boards.
Bed manufacturing companies make the use of different types of wooden materials for constructing slats. Some of the most common wooden types are oak, beech, poplar, or birch. Basic properties that are engaged in making excellent slats are the bending strength as well as stiffness. Bending strength will be measuring how much of the wood will be able to bend before it breaks down. Stiffness is about how much the wood can resist in terms of bending. Common hardwoods that somehow score relatively high in both categories include:
- Ash
- Beech
- Birch (yellow)
- Hickory
- Oak (red, white)
- Yellow pine
Yellow pine is known out as softwood but it is often a part of so many hardwoods. Other forms of species of pine including sugar, or Ponderosa, and white pine are not highly scored.
Using a Center Support
Queen beds are around 60 inches in width. Hence no slats of the wooden type will be spanning that distance without sagging into the middle space. This is the main reason that almost all the platform queen beds with the slats are having a stronger rigid center support which is running from the head till the bottom foot of your bed.
Using center support, the slat span will be just 30 inches rather than the dimension of 60 inches. When it comes to the regular platform bed, the slats do not need to be flexed. It is better to let the slats be stiffer.
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