Anybody Built a Floating Queen Sized Bed?

[Dennis Peacock]

I have a friend who is wanting a floating queen sized bed. He had a neighbor build him one out of construction lumber and now my buddy is complaining that they bed squeaks with every little move. He's now asking "me" to design and make him a floating bed that will not squeak. So I'm asking of the collective wisdom here on SMC. I'm looking for ideas, tips, and design ideas. Please and Thank You. :)

[Jamie Buxton]

What's a floating bed? Can you describe it?

[Mike Henderson]

I think it's a bed frame that looks like it's floating off the floor. That is, the supports don't easily show.

So you can see a platform that the mattress sits on but not the legs.

Mike

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[Jim Becker]

Going by what Mike shows, the key here is making the "base-base" very sturdy and stiff with soft pads that engage the floor and large enough to fully support what's above it without too much of the platform being cantilevered...since that creates more and more of a lever relative to movement as weight shifts. Too much overhang is going to cause noise even from just rolling over, let alone, um...other things. So there's a trade-off here between how far away you can stand and not see the base-base that engages the floor and how well the upper platform is supported out toward its edges. Simple physics, in other words. That top platform for the mattress also need be stiff in structure. A solid platform on top of the structure may be stiffer, but may not be as comfortable or provide as much ventilation to the mattress as sturdy slats will.

[Jim Dwight]

I have 3 beds in my house that I made, my daughter has two in her house and my son has three. All are platform beds but not floating beds. Mine makes some noise when I roll over. My platform is two pieces of 3/4 plywood screwed together but not fastened down in any way along the edges. So it moves a bit when I roll over. I used several different methods of securing the mattress supports in the others but they all allow for some movement just not as much as mine does. My son's is a solid platform with a web of plywood on edge supporting a thin (1/2 inch) plywood top. I slept on this bed for a couple decades before my first wife died. It is probably the least likely to make noise.

So I agree with Jim Becker's comments about making the the structure stiff. I like firm beds so a solid platform does not bother me. If you want something softer, I have also used individual slats that flex a little but they are held in position by dowels in the rails of the beds and slots in the end of the slats. I don't remember much if any noise in those beds either. But I suspect they may make some. You should be able to make a solid platform with somewhat flexible slats but I don't think it's the best way to make it quiet. Completely solid platform would be more sure to be quiet. You can poke holes for air circulation if you think you need it but I've never had an issue.

[Bill Dufour]

looks like a water bed to me.
Bil lD

[Mike Henderson]

You could make the main frame a torsion box, I suppose, and that would be stiff. But it doesn't answer how to support it. I notice one brand of commercial floating beds just uses thin metal triangles to support the bed. They are fairly far on the outside but you don't notice them very much. I think the company was Reed but it was much earlier today when I saw it and I may have forgotten.

Mike

[Jamie Buxton]

Here's a queen bed I built earlier this year. Perhaps it qualifies as a floating bed. It is a platform bed; that is, the mattress rests on slats. Visually, the platform appears 4" tall, and extends beyond the mattress by 8". There's LED tape underneath the platform, and touch switches for them on the sides of the headboard. Sleepers can turn on the lights without even opening their eyes. The bed is mostly made from white oak sawn veneer.

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Here's a pic of the bed in the shop, without bedding.

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[andrew whicker]

I think metal might be your friend on this one. Hide a stout shape in the space under the slats. Something like a small I beam.

[Jim Becker]

Jamie, that's a really nice design. I like how the platform extends beyond the mattress visually. I'd probably knock my knees on it, however! LOL

[Jamie Buxton]

Jamie, that's a really nice design. I like how the platform extends beyond the mattress visually. I'd probably knock my knees on it, however! LOL

Yeah, that's what I came up with the lighting.

The client brought me a photo from a design magazine. This wide platform seems quite popular, although it looks sleeker if the mattress isn't as tall as the one in the pic.

[Bruce Wrenn]

My bed is a queen size water bed (remember those?) It rest upon a drawer base, containing six drawers (three along each side.) Has removable head board, with built in storage. Part next to floor is 3/4 plywood, with a frame work of 2 X 10's, covered by another sheet (actually parts of two sheets) of 3/4 plywood. Mattress is contained by a frame of 2 X 10's, rabbeted along bottom edge to rest on upper plywood. All lumber is construction grade yellow pine, hand picked at planner mill almost forty years ago

[Derek Meyer]

That's a great looking bed, Jamie. If I had room I'd look at building a similar one, though I think I'd want the overhang even wider, wide enough to sit on, and the platform at chair height so that it could be used as a seat. Then we wouldn't need the small sofa at the end of the bed and the dogs would have an easier time getting up on the bed. Also, our mattress is quite deep (18") so the scale would be better with a wider overhang.

I really like the lighting, too. Excellent work!