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Old 06-16-2021, 01:16 AM   #1
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Supporting a memory foam mattress?

If you are using a memory foam mattress, how are you supporting it?

Solid plywood surface?

Slats? If so, how wide and how far apart?

Some other method?

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Old 06-16-2021, 06:18 AM   #2
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I fabricated a bed frame for my 6" memory foam mattress out of 1.5" angle steel and expanded steel sheet: https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/r...tml#post430042. Very solid and costs almost no storage space underneath the bed.
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Old 06-16-2021, 07:30 AM   #3
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Both of my 8” memory foam are supported with plywood bottoms & sides. the top mattress is the sofa. My storage space under the sofa/bed is the other extra long twin. Need all of the space I can get !!
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Old 06-16-2021, 08:17 AM   #4
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Both of my 8” memory foam are supported with plywood bottoms & sides. the top mattress is the sofa. My storage space under the sofa/bed is the other extra long twin. Need all of the space I can get !!
The detail in your bus is gorgeous!! Did you do all of the painting yourself?
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Old 06-16-2021, 09:36 AM   #5
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The detail in your bus is gorgeous!! Did you do all of the painting yourself?
My wife did all of the ceiling. I did a the rest.
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Old 06-16-2021, 10:05 AM   #6
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I did plywood on 2x4s, but I think it’s overbuilt
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Old 06-16-2021, 01:34 PM   #7
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Plywood deck with Den-Dry on top. I'm going to put vent holes in the plywood and somehow evacuate the air with an small exhaust fan.
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Old 06-16-2021, 02:07 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by musigenesis View Post
I fabricated a bed frame for my 6" memory foam mattress out of 1.5" angle steel and expanded steel sheet: https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/r...tml#post430042. Very solid and costs almost no storage space underneath the bed.
Thank you. I really like that idea. Nice air flow but good support.
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Old 06-16-2021, 02:09 PM   #9
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Plywood deck with Den-Dry on top. I'm going to put vent holes in the plywood and somehow evacuate the air with an small exhaust fan.
How has the den-dry worked for you so far? Any issues at all?
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Old 06-16-2021, 04:20 PM   #10
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I tried just plywood. BIG MISTAKE! I lifted the mattress one day and the underside was so disgusting that I wanted to throw it away.

I did manage to clean and sanitize to the point that I was able to keep it.

I promptly built a new platform with LOTS of ventilation. Five years, so far, without issues.

The expanded metal idea mentioned above sounds perfect.
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Old 06-16-2021, 06:03 PM   #11
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Has anyone that used plywood as the bed base paint it with something like Kills? If you did, has it helped with mold?
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Old 06-16-2021, 08:42 PM   #12
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Has anyone that used plywood as the bed base paint it with something like Kills? If you did, has it helped with mold?
I think the problem is that you get condensation between the mattress and the plywood, so even if the plywood is protected from the moisture, the mattress isn't.
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Old 06-17-2021, 07:38 PM   #13
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Queen size memory foam, 2x4 frame on hinges (can be lifted, aided by struts), yellow pine slats across 3/4"x2", 2" apart, 1 middle 2x3 in the length for rigidity.
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Old 06-17-2021, 07:47 PM   #14
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How has the den-dry worked for you so far? Any issues at all?
Not installed yet. Using the bed to stage the electrical. I'll post updates on the build part.

I'm up to three dedicated exhaust fans in the bus-Composting Toilet; Fridge Compressor (to evacuate heat); now the bed.
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Old 07-01-2021, 12:06 AM   #15
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I was a traveling Physical Therapist for three decades.
I full-timed in a series of RecreationVehicles.
Irregardless of type, factory RecreationVehicles tend to hold moisture from breathing, cooking, and showers.
With the mattress laying on a sheet of plywood, some of that moisture can be trapped under the mattress.
Damp is bad, roving hordes of shambling fungus is worse.
.
So, 'yes', I went with a different bed base on my ExpeditionVehicle conversion in 2003.
.
I fabricated a metal mesh platform using 'expanded' steel welded to a steel frame.
This type of material is similar in appearance to window-screen... but on a larger stouter scale.
.
It comes in steel or aluminum.
It comes in a variety of mesh openings; I vaguely recall I used something close to one-inch.
.
Besides under-mattress ventilation, I built in steel because we tend to prefer rough logger tracks to remote mountain lakes for summers.
Winters are on isolated Baja beaches.
Based on my years of full-time in factory RecreationVehicles, screws into wood inevitably fail... and some inevitably fail sooner than others.
.
For my ExpeditionVehicle build, I had the advantage of a different experience:
* we delivered RecreationVehicles manufacturer-to-dealer and dealer-to-shows.
In a couple years and a hundred thousand miles, we accumulated decades of experiences with the 'quality' of Quality Control at RecreationVehicle manufacturers.
In every instance -- cheapest disposable to BillionBuxBus conversions -- I came to the conclusion:
* the customer doing warranty work is the only Quality Control.
.
That, plus most assemblers on the factory floor could never afford the RecreationVehicles they build, so there might be an occasional fit of envy manifesting as purely unintentional sabotage.
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