How to Fix a Bed Frame

By michael On July 29

Are you annoyed by the frequent squeaks coming out of your bed at every move? A squeaky bed is a sure sign that the bed frame has become loose overtime. Wood on wood contact of wooden bed frames along with loose bolts, screws, and connection points are common sources of noise. Here is how to quickly and/or permanently fix a bed frame.

One does not know how to fix it until he find the cause, would he? Let’s look at the most common sources of bed frame noise and how the can be typically fixed.

Pieces of metal grinding against each other
Fix: Carefully lubricate the metal parts and insert a piece of plastic between the two parts to prevent them from grinding against each other. A more permanent fix is to tighten the two parts together with a few screws.
Wood on wood contact of wooden bed frames
Fix: While applying some wood wax or a piece of plastic in between the two pieces of wood may provide you a quick victory my recommendation is to find a way of bringing the two pieces closer together and prevent them from moving against each other.
Loose bolts and screws
Fix: Tighten bolts and screws. To prevent screws from becoming loose again use elastic flusher or nuts with interior plastic coating. I also recommend replacing bent screws.
Loose or bent bed rail hangers
Fix: Gently shattering the frame will give a a good sense if the hangers are squeaky and lubricating them may provide some relief. Visually inspecting the railbed hangers will reveal if they are bent in any ways. If they are, do not try to repair them as they will quickly become loose again, just replace them with some sturdier bedrail hangers – look here for bed rail hangers
Springs inside the mattress foundation brushing each other
Fix: Carefully lubricate the springs or replace the mattress foundation if it is very old

Case Study:

My wife started complaining of our squeaking bed frame. The bed frame was made out of solid wood assembled with some typical bed rail hangers, as one can see in this pictures

I removed the mattress and mattress foundation and after gently shattering the bed frame I realized that the bed rails where slightly loose and moved against the headboard. I unmounted one of the bed rails and by visually inspected the hangers I realized that they where bent.

I have straightened the bed rail hangers and declared victory for the day, knowing that they will become loose in a matter of weeks if not days.

In the mean time, after looking at my Ikea European bed (which never ever squeaked), I realized that the bed rail hanger system used in our North American bed frames can be made more robust relatively easy.

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European bed rail system, view from within the bed frame

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European bed rail system, view from the headboard/outside the bed frame

By cutting and drilling a few pieces of metal allowed me to end up with a far more robust wood bed frame and a happier wife. Using a few screws here is how I secured the bed rails to the head and foot boards. The added advantage of this solution is that if the bed frame ever squeaks again all I have to do is to tighten a few screws.

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