Home DIY

Inching slowly forwards. I hope!

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Are you then fixing moldings to the treated(?) timber?

Moldings is a stretch. It's pretty agricultural - basically 2x4 with a half circle cutout on the door jam. But yeah, rebuilding the fucked portion of frame on the left from construction timber.

Spent most of Sunday afternoon building up the substrate as it was totally fucked.

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The combination of the decking sitting so close to the external wall and north facing has a lot to do with the death of the woodwork I suspect.

Pukes on cock

Better upvc it then - easy wipe clean.

All the work chasing seems to have paid off. Everything is hidden and the plasterer seemed happy. The trim thing has come out cleanly too.

Not looking forward to wiring up the sockets though.

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Not looking forward to wiring up the sockets though.

Perhaps these?
https://www.screwfix.com/p/mk-logic-plus-rapid-fix-13a-2-gang-dp-switched-socket-white-with-white-inserts-5-pack/313ph

Cheers.

They look clean and simple. I found some mk ones which a review said were easy to wire. Will cross reference. I only need 3.

They sell individual packs too.

Toying with making a bed (starting another project that'll never be completed like the kitchen / wardrobes etc).

Was amused by this quote for walnut cut to size: £1225735699.36 + VAT
https://www.timbersource.co.uk/

On that note, is there a reason the two long side panels of most bed designs are vertical 2x4 style beams instead of 4x4 other than keeping costs lower? I want something I can basically jump on and a square seems stronger in my head than a rectangle but physics isn't my first language.

Entered lengths in mm not m?

Exactly : ) though correcting it still gets me to £1225735.70 + VAT

Costs and weight I'd say. Somebody who understands material science better than me will likely correct me, but a rectangular cross section (with the long edge vertical) will be stiffer than a square cross section of similar cross sectional area. So I'd rather use a 2x4 in that fashion than a 3x3 for the same/similar volume/weight of timber.

But would a 2x4 be stiffer than a 4x4? I want to be able to stand on the edge in the centre and possibly jump.

My reasons are my own.

A 4x4 would be stiffer, but at least double the cost, IME.

A hardwood 2x4 will be on the limit for withstanding bed time activities. A 2x6 would be better than a 4x4 and I'm sure still cheaper. Consider that you'll need to add rails for the slats which will add a bit of stiffness, and if you have a really wide rail, it will be quite a step between the frame and the mattress.
What will matter most is the joinery. Wobbly joints are more common than bendy frames.

Yep, not thinking specifically 2x4 / 4x4 etc just using those numbers for illustration of the question 'what is strongest'.

In my early days of thinking about it head I imagine a kind of L / J shape for the slat panel to rest on. So a 4x4 (or whatever) with a third cut out of one corner so there's still a solid structure but there's not so much frame on show. Or something.

It would be a huge waste of money to buy a beam that big and cut so much away. Buy a nice thick board of your preferred wood, and glue + screw a cheap structural timber to the back of it to add stiffness and rest the slats on.
In general, more is stronger, but more thickness in the vertical direction is more important (to the power of 3).

Same reason as ovalised seat stays.

Wide timbers will resist movement in a direction that is not relevant to a bed.

Your challenge will be the strength of any mattress support whether that is slats or a sheet of plywood.

This is the reason I ended up making a 5-legged bed.

5-legged

ménage à deux et demi

Our current one (from Made I think and probably bought in winter 2018) had a leg in the middle underneath a metal supporting beam. The bed was dragged by my father in law when he, uninvited, decided to look at a plug socket behind it. The middle leg snapped. He didn't mention it. When I sat on it a bit too heavily the bed frame cracked. In fairness I weigh a lot more than I did at 23 but still. My ambition is a rock fucking solid bed that I can throw myself onto from time to time - so think a diagonal and downward force. And importantly one that doesn't squeak at the slightest tremor and one I can mount without having to spread my weight like I'm crossing quicksand for fear of it collapsing.

FWIW, I made my bed from 2 layers of 18mm birch ply about 20cm wide, with a 2x4 screwed to the inside to support the slats. Each of the 5 legs are about 60mm square, there's another 2x4 running down the middle of the slats (for the 5th leg) and I put a small triangle brace in each corner to prevent racking or twisting. It's all held together with 3mm wood screws so that it can be easily disassembled. 10years later it's still rock solid.