# Replacement bed slats



## alwaysared (Nov 23, 2020)

I have a few bed slats that are split and the the end fittings are also broken and the previous owner screwed them in place! So as a full-timer I think it's important to get the bed right, after all we've spent a small fortune on electrics etc.   
So my questions are:
1). Can any suggest a good place to buy replacements?
2). Would I be better off removing all the slats and using one solid piece of ply?
As usual any help and advice is very much appreciated 

Regards,
Del


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## campervanannie (Nov 23, 2020)

Don’t use solid ply it encourages damp from cold under the bed and warm bodies in the bed stick to slats you can get them anywhere eBay, Amazon and IKEA just to mention a few.


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## GreggBear (Nov 23, 2020)

Plywood will sweat & go mouldy unless you drill lots of holes in it. My bed base is 12mm ply, but with rows of 2inch holes drilled in it 2 inches apart. Needed a  3x2 crossmembers every 16ins but its fine.


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## Wooie1958 (Nov 23, 2020)

Replacement Slats 3ft,4ft6 Double,5ft King Sprung Wooden Bed Slats 53mm & 63mm  | eBay
					

Our bed slats are naturally finish from beech wood and it is very easy to fix your broken bed slats. IT WILL FIT WITH SLATS CAP. Sprung bed slats needs central support on the beds if it is bigger than 110cm in width.



					www.ebay.co.uk


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## Bouydog (Nov 23, 2020)

IKEA sprung slats cheap as chips and plenty strong enough.


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## mark61 (Nov 23, 2020)

I've used https://www.bedslats.co.uk before, perfectly good service and prices were ok at the time (few years ago) Haven't compared recently.

Current van has slats, previous van ply with bits routed out. Both methods worked just as well for me.


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## alwaysared (Nov 23, 2020)

campervanannie said:


> Don’t use solid ply it encourages damp from cold under the bed and warm bodies in the bed stick to slats you can get them anywhere eBay, Amazon and IKEA just to mention a few.


My heater is under the bed so I was hoping that would help with the damp?

Regards,
Del


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## campervanannie (Nov 23, 2020)

alwaysared said:


> My heater is under the bed so I was hoping that would help with the damp?
> 
> Regards,
> Del


Not sure but what happens if you don't have your heater on i would still go slats.


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## harrow (Nov 23, 2020)

I would just buy wood for slats from the timber yard and cut it with a hand saw.


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## wildebus (Nov 23, 2020)

Bouydog said:


> IKEA sprung slats cheap as chips and plenty strong enough.


I've always used IKEA slats.   better than flat planks, light but strong, cheap and often found in the bargain corner - so could be just £5 or £10 for a complete set.


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## alwaysared (Nov 23, 2020)

The problem with Ikea and the other suggestions is that I think they are expecting you to have two halves therefore the slats aren't long enough  Mark61's suggestion is the nearest @1045mm long, six of mine are 1100mm long  
I'm looking at local timber merchants and I will ask my nephew who is a carpenter  (Suggested by Diane ).

Regards,
Del


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## korky (Nov 23, 2020)

mark61 said:


> I've used https://www.bedslats.co.uk before, perfectly good service and prices were ok at the time (few years ago) Haven't compared recently.
> 
> Current van has slats, previous van ply with bits routed out. Both methods worked just as well for me.


This company are good and will custom cut to length. I dropped in on the way to a family funeral in July and they did it while I waited. Really good beefy curved slats which have put the support back in my bed on which weaker slats had flattened out under load. Bit like Ducato rear springs in fact.


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## alwaysared (Nov 23, 2020)

So should I be looking for Beech wood sprung or flat pine?

Regards,
Del


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## n brown (Nov 23, 2020)

if you have a centre support ,birch ply sprung ,


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## Trotter (Nov 23, 2020)

Replaced the ones on my side of the sticks and bricks bed recently. Ebay Marco King. £35 for 14 slats. Would have bought the Ikea ones, but the queue was right around the store. I'm not one for queuing. Even if there  was a meatball dinner with jam on offer.


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## The laird (Nov 23, 2020)

Who offers the free grubbb mmmmmmm m


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## Robmac (Nov 23, 2020)

Have you considered the Froli system on a sheet of solid ply?

I've no experience of it but heard good reports. Probably quite pricey I expect.


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## alwaysared (Nov 23, 2020)

Trotter said:


> Replaced the ones on my side of the sticks and bricks bed recently. Ebay Marco King. £35 for 14 slats. Would have bought the Ikea ones, but the queue was right around the store. I'm not one for queuing. Even if there  was a meatball dinner with jam on offer.


Cheers Del, is Marco King the make or the seller?


Robmac said:


> Have you considered the Froli system on a sheet of solid ply?
> 
> I've no experience of it but heard good reports. Probably quite pricey I expect.


 Yes I've looked at the Froli system and it looks the dog's dangly bits but it's really expensive but I might take another look before I make a final decision  

Regards,
Del


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## Trotter (Nov 23, 2020)

Marco King was the seller. Various widths and lengths available.


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## rugbyken (Nov 23, 2020)

made a bed for the grandsons bedroom specific size reqd got a whole sheet of 12mmm marine ply used a hole cutter 3/4” holes at 3” staggered centers still strong enough to take my 17 stone weight and breathable ,


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## Trotter (Nov 23, 2020)

rugbyken said:


> made a bed for the grandsons bedroom specific size reqd got a whole sheet of 12mmm marine ply used a hole cutter 3/4” holes at 3” staggered centers still strong enough to take my 17 stone weight and breathable ,


Did the same, but with 19mm ply, 600mm x 4ft , with 30mm breather holes. After increased shoulder pain and a new pain in the lower back, I changed it to new sprung slats.


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## trevskoda (Nov 23, 2020)

I must be the odd one out here, solid top bunk bed with storage under it, no mould etc and i rather like a solid hard bed.


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## alwaysared (Nov 23, 2020)

trevskoda said:


> I must be the odd one out here, solid top bunk bed with storage under it, no mould etc and i rather like a solid hard bed.View attachment 89378View attachment 89379View attachment 89380


My original idea was to replace the slats with one piece of wood but everywhere you look on the web everyome says not to do it  because of damp and mould 
Yours looks good 

Regards,
Del


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## Robmac (Nov 23, 2020)

On boats I have owned Del, I have used either  holes in the ply or carpet lining glued to it to reduce any build up of condensation.

There is a product called Dry Mat which is a sort of mesh insulation, but again expensive.


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## alwaysared (Nov 23, 2020)

Robmac said:


> On boats I have owned Del, I have used either  holes in the ply or carpet lining glued to it to reduce any build up of condensation.
> 
> There is a product called Dry Mat which is a sort of mesh insulation, but again expensive.


My Truma heater is under the bed at the bottom end so I was going to have a piece of solid ply cut to size and shape with holes above the heater so I still have the heater warming up the bed area. The heater is the most used piece of equipment in my van, I don't like being cold even in the summer  

Regards,
Del


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## Trotter (Nov 24, 2020)

trevskoda said:


> I must be the odd one out here, solid top bunk bed with storage under it, no mould etc and i rather like a solid hard bed.View attachment 89378View attachment 89379View attachment 89380


You think you maybe an odd one, Trev? Mm


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## n brown (Nov 24, 2020)

another method i have used is to use a solid ply top with battens fixed to it , running in whatever direction allows air to circulate . the biggest problem seems to be foam mattresses , they cause sweating  and i reckon this is what causes damp and mould . 
but whatever the cause ,ventilation is the answer.


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## trevskoda (Nov 24, 2020)

alwaysared said:


> My original idea was to replace the slats with one piece of wood but everywhere you look on the web everyome says not to do it  because of damp and mould
> Yours looks good
> 
> Regards,
> Del


Dont pee the bed then.


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## trevskoda (Nov 24, 2020)

Robmac said:


> On boats I have owned Del, I have used either  holes in the ply or carpet lining glued to it to reduce any build up of condensation.
> 
> There is a product called Dry Mat which is a sort of mesh insulation, but again expensive.


Yes my solid bed has carpet on top.


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## REC (Nov 25, 2020)

@trevskoda 
We have solid ply under our bed too and no sign of mould/ damp/ condensation. The foam is fixed to the ply and covered.


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## alwaysared (Nov 25, 2020)

I think my Hymer bed was flawed from the start   because while I've been looking at improving it I've noticed that all the double beds at Ikea etc. (and even Froli) have two lines of slats, one for each person  which when using the spring type wood makes sense, each person is lying on the "springy" bit of the slats 
However my Hymer has only one set of "springy" slats across the full width of the bed, which means you would have to lie in the centre of the bed to be on the "springy" bit  and to top it all there's a centre bar down the full length so the "springy" bit bottoms out anyway  So I'm thinking that I will either see if I can put slats each side of the centre bar or go for something solid with either the dry mat Robmac mentioned or some holes in it. In an ideal world I'd have something solid with the Froli star system on top but I'm struggling to find them at a reasonable price 
Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions so far 

Regards,
Del


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## Trotter (Nov 25, 2020)

Understood. Would it be possible to use the centre rail to support two separate rows of slats? Most double beds using this sprung system do this. All depends on the width of the bed, I suppose. Anything under 4’6” could be problematic


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## alwaysared (Nov 25, 2020)

Trotter said:


> Understood. Would it be possible to use the centre rail to support two separate rows of slats? Most double beds using this sprung system do this. All depends on the width of the bed, I suppose. Anything under 4’6” could be problematic ☹


The only problem I can see is that the centre rail may not be wide enough unless I stagger the slats which I'm not too sure is a good idea  

Regards,
Del


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## Trotter (Nov 25, 2020)

Would it be possible to fix the slats on the outside edge and overhang the central rail by 5cm ?


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## colinm (Nov 25, 2020)

For slats to be inline, with the correct centre holder you can possibly get away with a centre support 1" wide, although 1 1/2" would be ideal. Staggering the slats should be no problem and would definitely work with a 1" wide centre support.
What you do need to be sure of, is the centre support up to the job? At the moment it is possibly not taking the full load, just 'helping' when the slats sink.


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## alwaysared (Nov 25, 2020)

My son has a piece of ply that I will put on top of the slats just try and see if a solid piece would be comfortable enough, I'll let you know tomorrow morning  

Regards,
Del


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## Trotter (Nov 25, 2020)

Cheapest options are usually the better ones.

Must try to remember that next time I get an itchy credit card finger


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## wildebus (Nov 25, 2020)

alwaysared said:


> My son has a piece of ply that I will put on top of the slats just try and see if a solid piece would be comfortable enough, I'll let you know tomorrow morning
> 
> Regards,
> Del


I think having a mattress directly on top of a solid piece of wood could create problems with damp and mould?
If you do want to use a solid base and the bed is fixed, check out the Froli Bed system which gives good bouncy support and also allows airflow underneath.


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## alwaysared (Nov 25, 2020)

wildebus said:


> I think having a mattress directly on top of a solid piece of wood could create problems with damp and mould?
> If you do want to use a solid base and the bed is fixed, check out the Froli Bed system which gives good bouncy support and also allows airflow underneath.


That's the system I've been looking at or the Dry Mat that Robmac suggested  

Regards,
Del


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## Silver sprinter (Nov 25, 2020)

alwaysared said:


> The only problem I can see is that the centre rail may not be wide enough unless I stagger the slats which I'm not too sure is a good idea
> 
> Regards,
> Del


Can you add wood to make centre rail wide enough


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## alwaysared (Nov 25, 2020)

Silver sprinter said:


> Can you add wood to make centre rail wide enough


I will take a look tomorrow, I would probably have to add wood to the outside rails in order to keep everything level  

Regards,
Del


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## alwaysared (Nov 26, 2020)

alwaysared said:


> My son has a piece of ply that I will put on top of the slats just try and see if a solid piece would be comfortable enough, I'll let you know tomorrow morning
> 
> Regards,
> Del


The first night seemed fine, I'll give it a couple more to help make a decision 

Regards,
Del


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## tribby (Nov 29, 2020)

alwaysared said:


> I have a few bed slats that are split and the the end fittings are also broken and the previous owner screwed them in place! So as a full-timer I think it's important to get the bed right, after all we've spent a small fortune on electrics etc.
> So my questions are:
> 1). Can any suggest a good place to buy replacements?
> 2). Would I be better off removing all the slats and using one solid piece of ply?
> ...


Got some from IKEA casualty corner for 2 quid for a full bed worth. Replaced the flat ones and kept the rest for spares.


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## alwaysared (Dec 1, 2020)

alwaysared said:


> The first night seemed fine, I'll give it a couple more to help make a decision
> 
> Regards,
> Del


So five nights in and it all seems good so I will be using plywood to make a base and then I'll cut some holes in it, although I keep looking at the Froli system and may still go for that  

Regards,
Del


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## The laird (Dec 1, 2020)

alwaysared said:


> So five nights in and it all seems good so I will be using plywood to make a base and then I'll cut some holes in it, although I keep looking at the Froli system and may still go for that
> 
> Regards,
> Del


Frail system is costly but I've never heard a bad word against it del 
think I would go for it but our single beds are ultra comfy in the van just now


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## Deleted member 88643 (Dec 2, 2020)

alwaysared said:


> I have a few bed slats that are split and the the end fittings are also broken and the previous owner screwed them in place! So as a full-timer I think it's important to get the bed right, after all we've spent a small fortune on electrics etc.
> So my questions are:
> 1). Can any suggest a good place to buy replacements?
> 2). Would I be better off removing all the slats and using one solid piece of ply?
> ...


Hi,
I'm a new member so here goes. I recently sold a king sized IKEA bed for £35. The frame and 2 sets of slats after 10 yrs were fine. It occurs to me that you could buy spare slats from IKEA, if you know your dimensions. They are pine, bowed & specific to task. Good luck.
Best wishes, Gordon.


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