How Can I Make this Legless Bed Rise 2-inches?

counselwolf@lemmy.world to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 41 points –

I have a bed that looks like this, doesn't have legs. I have a bed that looks like this, doesn't have legs.

I was looking at bed risers, but they're aimed for beds with legs. Also, the risers make the bed rise too high for my needs.

I only need to make the bed rise for about 2-inches so I can use an overbed table like this.

46

8 hockey pucks

Damn, that's a great simple idea for cheap.

Well done.

If I see something that needs to be 1in higher my first thought is, "I should put a hockey puck under that."

Once in college I had a friend who was tired of having a bed that was too low. He used 8 crates of beer, with empty bottles still inside of course.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

To get that thing under the platform, you're going to need to add stubby legs like the ones on a stuffed chair, unless you want it to look like a dorm room with sticks or bricks. At a guess, I'd say you'll need 1 leg for every 2-3 linear feet that the bed contacts the ground. Don't forget the center support.

Platform beds aren't designed to have legs, so you'll need significantly more legs than a framed bed would have. You've got to spread the additional stresses evenly or it'll all loosen. It'll start creaking and the drawers will get stuck with too few supports.

You could set the bed on top of pieces of 4"x4" lumber

Put some screws in it to prevent it from slipping and you've got yourself a bed on legs

If the bed is only supported with compressed sawdust lumber, reducing the load points would lead to failure.

Maybe finding a differently designed table is the way to go. Perhaps someone makes one where the base is intended to be tucked under the box spring, for example.

Maybe attaching the table directly to your bed frame is the answer, rather than raising your bed.

Regardless, don’t restrict yourself to Amazon. Look at websites for medical supply companies. I would expect them to have more varied solutions.

EDIT:
Maybe something like this https://www.medline.com/product/Pivot-Top-Steel-Base-Overbed-Tables/Overbed-Tables/Z05-PF08581?question=overbed%20table

Disclaimers: I don’t know what your budget is, or what country you live in. Yeah, it sucks that the website makes you log in to see prices, but at least it’s Medline. They’re a big name.

Personally, I would rest it on some sawed-off pieces of a 2x4, but that's just me. It'd probably be a little ugly.

Something like a few red bricks would probably look a little nicer.

If the 2x4 width (about 1.5) is too small, 2x3 lumber is common. Get a bunch and screw two boards together to use three 3 inch (actually about 2.5) so that you don't worry about the board tipping.

Since your current frame is legless, i'd probably do a decent sized frame underneath so not just supported at corners.

Have you considered a completely different style of table? This style might be an option:
https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/Home-Garden/70.9-Overbed-Table-Rolling-Over-Bed-Desk-with-Adjustable-Tilt-Board/37511631/product.html

This is probably the best solution I’ve seen so far.

I’m surprisingly, inexplicably invested in this problem.

Definitely the most low tech solution, but I could imagine reasons why it might not be a good solution. Sharing the bed with another human seems like a pretty valid argument against this style.

As a random tangent, I'm signed up for Google Opinion Rewards, and I got a survey today that was asking me about my search for this. Some of the questions were so awkward to answer because I was like, "I was just trying to help an internet homie on lemny solve their troubles, I don't know!"

The big question that prevents the best answer from being obvious is how the existing bed frame is constructed.

If the material is a compressed sawdust wood and that is the material supporting the entire load, like Ikea stuff, then you shouldn't reduce the contact area with the floor too much. Simply notching the frame with a gentle radius in the area you need the legs to go under the bed would work, the smaller the amount of material removed, the better. So two half circles would be better than one 24" long rectangle with radiused corners. That could be done with a rotary tool or a fretsaw if you don't have more appropriate tools to minimize tear-out. You would want to cover the cuts with some veneer to prevent the legs from eroding the frame.

Already commented about raising the bed. Here's another idea.

Remove the top of the desk from the bottom and rotate it 180°, then reinsert. Put a heavy weight on the foot to stabilize, then cantelever the desk out over the bed.

2 X bed lengths of 2x2, 2 X bed widths of 2x2. Lay them underneath the edges, preferably glued

Really simple idea that's difficult to put into words easily but handy folk will know what I mean

They should not do this without checking where the bed is supported on the floor. Your method only lifts the perimeter of the bed. It is very likely that the bed also rests on the floor down the center line of the bed or at other spots within the perimeter. If they only prop up the perimeter of the bed, it is liable to collapse in the center.

Can you not use one designed for your lap? https://www.amazon.com/LapGear-Office-Device-Ledge-Holder/dp/B089P33W98/

That might cause some neck strain because it sits too low. OP’s table is great for working in bed because you can raise your laptop to eye level.

That's a great point. I never used mine for than an hour at a time

Probably be easier to remove 2 inches from the table. Take to a welder and have them cut a chunk out of the middle.

I think the issue is that the base is supposed to be able to go under the bed to bring the table part over the bed.

I don't think it's the height of the table, it's that it needs to roll under the bed.

The legs of the table need to go under the bed.

Currently there's zero space under the bed, that's why I need something similar to a riser.

Oh the ones at hospitals swivel around so they can go next to things.

Can you take the tube out and rotate it 180 degrees?

You would have to watch the balance a lot though

This isn’t a terrible idea like I initially thought. Permanently attach a heavy counterweight to the base of the overbed table and it’ll be more stable.

I’m hoping OP will be able to find an overbed table for situations where sliding the base under the bed isn’t possible. They can’t be the first person in the world with this problem.

Without the base being under the table it is just a lever. Sure, people run into this, but you basically need a large and solid frame off to the side to keep it from tipping.

I think if you put a 50 pound barbell plate on there it would be pretty secure

Placed at the very end it would be evenly balanced at 50 lbs. It would be OK around 20ish lbs that didn't move, but a little weight plus setting things down would make it wiggle and possibly tip since something moving down has more force than the object itself.

That table telescopes. Looks like it already has a way to adjust?

In any case, you could also add feet to the bed. I’d drop examples, except without knowing more about how the bed is made, the specifics get a bit wonky

Another option is taking a couple 4x4’s and trimming them down to the right height and setting them out in a frame- bed on top. (2x4’s are not quite 2”, but if those are thick enough, even simpler,)

I know people are saying like bricks and wood and stuff, but if you don't care how it looks, reams of paper are cheap and customizable, and even stable if you keep them in the plastic wrap and just slide out what you don't need

You could try deck risers... concrete blocks with a cross cut in top for boards.

Does the bed have sliders under the corners? I'd look for that first to see if it's designed to be either truly held up by the length of the beams or if it's actually already supported by the corners. If it's just the corners, then you only need risers at the corner. If it's making full contact with the floor, I'd prefer to continue supporting it almost fully with longer beams, leaving a gap where this stand goes

Put a hollywood frame under it. You might need to add a wooden frame to the Hollywood frame.

Then the bed would be on wheels...not sure if you want that but it does make cleaning under it much easier.

Luke: All right, I'll give it a try.

Yoda: No! Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try.

[Luke tries to use the Force to levitate his X-wing out of the bog, but fails in his attempt.]

Luke: I can't. It's too big.

Yoda: Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere. Yes. Even between the land and the ship.

Luke: You want the impossible. [sees Yoda use the Force to levitate the X-wing out of the bog and gets flustered when he does it] I don't... I don't believe it!

Yoda: That is why you fail.