Solutions for headboard gap and bed height


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Old 02-05-17, 06:14 AM
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Solutions for headboard gap and bed height

I have a king size platform bed I really like. Problem is there is a huge vertical gap between the headboard and the frame. The foam mattress is about 10 inches high and sits on bunkie boards and then on the beds' slats. The mattress moves and my husbands pillows gets into the gap and falls behind the bed. If we added a low profile foundation, it would seal this gap off. But it would also raise the height to 30 inches and it would be too tall for me to get into bed easily. I have thought of some solutions but don't know how to go about them. I was thinking the legs of the bed could get cut to where it almost sits in the floor. The leg height is about 4 inches. It would make up for the height added by the foundation. Problem is it appears the legs aren't Removeable by themselves. The ones at the foot of the bed look attached to the footboard itself. The ones at the head of the bed aren't legs but a wide "leg" the width of the headboard. I think if we could adjust all of this it would be the best solution because I don't like the huge gap at the bottom of the bed either, dust, dog hair and other things go under there and the vacuum can't reach it and also I have Guinea pigs. I don't like having to stuff the gaps so they don't go under the bed.

What tools would be best to adjust the legs and headboard? How do we go about this and how to keep even cuts? Thanks.
 
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Old 02-05-17, 06:19 AM
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Measure, measure and measure before making any cuts. A speed square might be helpful on cutting the legs while clamping a fence as a guide helps with long cuts.

btw - welcome to the forums!
 
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Old 02-05-17, 06:27 AM
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Unless I'm missing your meaning you say the frame is too long for the mattress. What kind of frame is it? You mentioned the mattress sits on slats so I'll assume you have wood side rails. How are they attached to the headboard & footboard? IMO the best way to deal with this would be to shorten the side rails so you're left with just enough gap between the mattress & head/foot board to tuck in the bedding easily.

If you have a modern mattress a foundation is not needed and only adds to the height, which can be an issue as you've found.
 
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Old 02-05-17, 07:56 AM
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I think they mean this kind of slats: Slatted Bed Bases - IKEA
 
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Old 02-05-17, 08:30 AM
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Why not add a cross board to the face of the headboard horizontally at the level where the gap is? Hopefully I am seeing this correctly without pictures.

I built this to surround our Select Comfort bed, but see your point. I plan on installing another face below the bottom shelf to keep things from falling behind when it is not reclined.

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Old 02-05-17, 09:26 AM
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Sorry I am not good explaining this stuff. And I don't think the pictures I took will help much. Basically this is a storage bed with a bookcase headboard. I am thinking it is "platform" because it has slats built in but they are pretty far apart like 5 inches. Maybe I don't understand that term, platform. Anyway, the mattress is foam and seems slightly smaller than the length and width of the bed frame but I checked the receipt and they are both king and not cali king. The bunkie boards about about a inch or 2 high. The headboard has about a 5 inch gap VERTICALLY. If I added a 5 inch foundation instead of the boards it would raise up the mattress to cover that gap. But it would raise the mattress up to 30 inches which would be at my waist. The legs bring the bed about 4 or 5 inches off the ground. I am not good at measuring or cutting, measuring twice and cutting once, I even fail at that lol. I am going to try to post pictures though. I think the bed would have to be disassembled to do this. I wonder if there could be a handyman to hire to come out and do this?
 
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Old 02-05-17, 09:34 AM
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Not sure where you're getting 30"? 4-5"legs + 1-2"board + 10" mattress = about 15". If you add 5", you get 20".
Anyways, maybe put a footstool or stepstool on the floor so you can step on that to get in the bed.

There should be someone around that you can hire to cut, but get someone near you. It isn't a big enough job to make it worth someone's while if they're too far away.
 
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Old 02-05-17, 10:13 AM
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sorry it took me forever to get the pictures to load onto the computer from my phone. I meant that if I got rid of the bunkie boards and added the foundation it would rise the mattress up to 30 inches total height from the floor. I want to add a foundation anyway to help seal off the gap in the first photo. But to me it would be nice to cut short the legs so stuff or animals can't go under the bed like the guinea pigs. One boy escaped his cage a few weeks ago to get to my females and i was lucky he hung around the cages and not go for under the bed. Anyway, I hope the pictures help. I don't understand about the face board someone mentioned. I thought about somehow putting some boards between the back of the headboard gap and up against where the bed meets the headboard to close the gap but the leg shortening idea sounds better and offers more solution to me.
 
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Old 02-05-17, 10:17 AM
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As for the platform to step up on, I don't really want to go that route. Though I may have to, we have 2 dogs that do flying leaps onto the bed and off, one is older and I don't know if it will hinder her from doing her leaps on and off the bed. I am not particularly fond of dogs on the bed but my husband won't budge on that...
 
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Old 02-05-17, 10:25 AM
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putting some boards between the back
That is exactly what I was trying to explain. There is a gap between the bottom of the headboard and the floor. Closing up 12" or so of it with a board across that area would work, but if shortening the legs would work, it would keep the critters and dust out better.

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Old 02-05-17, 10:40 AM
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Ah, I see what you're saying on that, my thought was kind of dumb like try to put 2 or 3 boards next to each other that went from the floor up to behind the headboard and somehow screw together from the front. Your idea is much better. I would still like to add the foundation though and that would cause the height issue. My husband is a big guy and I don't think the bunkie boards are doing a good job on his side of the bed because they squeak and also there is a dip he gets stuck in when he sleeps. I think the mattress needs more support. Really sucks about all this. I am used to having a waterbed haha. None of these issues with those, so I don't know much at all about regular beds and really sometimes I wish I could go back to the waterbed.
 
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Old 02-05-17, 11:06 AM
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If you snug the board up to the bottom of the bookcase and make it edge to edge on the inside, you can countersink holes all along the top and sides, installing screws and plugs to dress it out, then stain it to match.
 
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Old 02-05-17, 11:21 AM
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Sounds good. Someone else just also mentioned about using a saws all and cutting the legs too, will have try to implement all this stuff. Am gonna try to get my brother to help. He's way better at this stuff than me! I'm auto body and not a carpenter at all. Thanks all.
 
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Old 02-05-17, 12:02 PM
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Sawsall work best for demolition, I would not use one to make precise cuts!
 
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Old 02-08-17, 05:48 PM
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Here's the finished product. Working great so far. I am thinking of making the foundation next and making it by myself. I made a plan to make two boxes instead of one big piece.. I was thinking about using 1x4's all around including the frames but I don't know, it doesn't seem tall enough for the framework. Maybe I should used 1x6 instead? Also was considering "furring strip" for at least the bed slats (1x4) but just don't know about this stuff.

I found some helpful info. with research but just would like any tips or suggestions. Thanks!
 
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Old 02-09-17, 03:19 AM
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Looks as if it will work. If making two boxes, be sure to implement a plan to support the middle since you have a great deal of width to deal with.
 
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Old 02-09-17, 06:01 AM
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Well I had the sketch from a program but I'm tired of trying and the upload failing...so the two boxes will have their own 4 walls and so will come together in the center. The slats will be 3.5 inches wide and 38 3/4" across in length. I was thinking about adding a center brace in each box but wasn't sure if that was really necessary or overkill.
 
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Old 02-09-17, 02:43 PM
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Necessary since they will in essence be sitting in the air. Unless you plan on them sitting totally on the floor.
 
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Old 02-09-17, 03:00 PM
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Thanks, I was thinking maybe I didn't need to cause there was going to be a totaIf l of 10 slats for each box, the bed slats that are on the bed now only have 7 slats and the bunkie boards go across that. The slats will be about 4 1/4" apart. I thought it would be like the the bed of nails theory like the more slats the better for weight distribution as someone laying on a bed of nails would be better with more nails than less lol. If I need a center brace added for each box I will.
 
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Old 02-12-17, 11:05 AM
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It's not perfect but it gets the job done and I knew it couldn't be perfect being guy first time trying. I'm exhausted from this. Thanks again for all the help!
 
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