Is a mattress which is on a box spring, harder when placed flat on the floor as opposed to on a bed frame?  My old bed (head and footboards with metal rails and 3 metal slats across the rails) has gotten so rickety and squeaky it was driving me nuts so I took it all apart and put the mattress and box on the floor.

Is it my imagination or did it seem much firmer, to the point of uncomfortable. I was awake quite a bit although I did get some sleep..

For those who remember this is a brand new beautyrest mattress/box (bought about 3-4 weeks ago) that I'm still breaking in and tryiing to get just right, so I don't expect it to be perfect. It's just that I wouldn't have thought putting it on the floor, since it's on a boxspring (such as they are these days!! what junk!), would make a difference in the firmness. It seemed to.  But since I'm still messing with mattress pad/topper configurations..I don't know.

Any thoughts? Am I just imagining this?

Probably real.  The box spring might sag slightly down.  I doubt it would be much though, if the metal slats are thick and the box spring has a well built frame.  A piece of metal or wood will bend a bit if it is long and thin.

Many,many months ago I think someone said they could notice a difference with a boxspring that was sagging 1/8".  I am a little skeptical of that, but they seemed to believe it.

Probably time for a new frame or a can of oil?

sandman wrote:

thanks sandman. Tried Wd40. Worked for a few nights, then the squeaks came back.

There's also a bend in one rail. (don't ask how that got there). I managed to get the bend out but the bed did indeed sag about 1/2" to one side due to it. And yea, I noticed it when lying in bed.  Dunno about an 1/8" though..but an inch is noticeable. I'm not too heavy so the rail didn't rebend, but with enough weight it easily would.  I know that, but it was a temporary fix to use the rails.

Yep, time for a new bed.  This one is over 25 years old. Too bad because the solid oak head and footboards are still nice..except the slots where the rails go in are worn out or something I guess, causing the ricketyness and squeaking. Nothing lasts forever.

If you want - you can kill the squeak with petroleum jelly!

 

Gunman

requin wrote:

Why get a whole new bed, if the headboard and footboard are good solid oak?   It sounds repairable.  Get new rails and center supports, and fix how the rails mount.   You can get anti-wobble shims, and all new wooden rails or metal rails.  Or adapters to convert from hook-on to bolt-on rails.

http://www.bedframeparts.com/hookplates.htm

http://www.meritindustries.com/bed.htm