With so many different types of mattresses available in the market place today with various warranty requirements it can make it tough to figure out what type of platform bed system will work with your new or current mattress. In this article we'll take a look at the construction of some of the most common platform beds and examine what will work your mattress, what won't and what you can do yourself to make it work so you'll meet the requirements of your mattress manufacturer. Hopefully you'll find these tips useful when it's time to purchase your new bed.
Platform beds are designed with a wide variety of foundations that are built into the bed system. The most common system is slats. These slats are typically up to 2" wide and are arranged in various spacing anywhere from 2" to 4". Slat systems are used by a large majority of manufacturers and typically these slats are joined together using a nylon material which helps to promote correct spacing of the slats and are then secured down with wood screws. The slats offer good support and help to promote air flow. The only negative is that they don't meet the requirements of mattresses like visco-elastic or memory foam mattresses which require a solid bed foundation without gaps.
If your mattress is a memory foam or visco-elastic and you really want to purchase a bed which uses a slat system you have a couple of options. If the slats are only 2-3" apart you can see about purchasing an additional set of slats or doubling up the amount of slats on the bed to help fill in the gaps. This will make the foundation more solid and will help to meet the warranty requirements for a solid foundation. Your other option would be to purchase ply board or fiberboard which doesn't need to be any thicker than ¾" of an inch, cut it to fit inside the bed and place it down over the top of the slats. This way the gaps are covered and the foundation is now solid.
There are bed companies that make beds with a solid foundation already incorporated into the bed system and these usually involve a metal frame that has ply board installed into the metal framework. Another way that is also being used are steel crossbars installed across the rails with masonite paneling secured down over the bars. These are not as common but are essentially ready to go for memory foam and visco-elastic mattresses.
If you own an innerspring mattress than most bed systems will work just fine with these mattresses. Your only concern should be the overall height of your mattress like pillow tops for example. Manufacturers of these mattresses have continued to construct them thicker and thicker over the years and you want to make sure that your mattress will not cover up the headboard. Make sure to get a measurement from the foundation of the potential bed to the top of the headboard to make sure your mattress will work with it.
Owners of futon mattresses who want to use these with platform beds should be aware that many of these futon mattresses contain cotton batting or other blends that can absorb moisture over time if proper air flow is not provided beneath the mattress. For these types of mattresses it is recommended that they be on a slat system or a foundation that will help to promote air flow beneath the futon.
In this article we've taken a look at some of the many different foundations that are available for platform beds for use with different types of mattresses. We've examined the warranty requirements for memory foam and visco-elastic mattresses and what you should look for in a foundation to help meet those requirements. Also discussed were futon mattresses and what your platform bed will need to help work with those mattresses. Tips for selecting the right platform bed based on the thickness of your mattress were also discussed to help make sure that you select the proper bed with the right headboard height to help accommodate your new or current mattress. The hope of this article was to give you some basic pointers and tips on what to look for in a bed when considering the foundation that's just right for your mattress. You're now more ready to find that perfect bed that will fit in with your own home décor and will work with your new or existing mattress the way you need it to.
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