Why the bed creaks: how to find the cause and correct the situation

Frame

Over time, the elements dry out and small gaps appear in them.
This leads to movement of parts, friction, etc. To stop the furniture from creaking, it is enough to tighten the fasteners, but this is a temporary measure. It is advisable to further strengthen the frame. Lubrication helps a lot. Various antifriction agents are used. Rubbing parts are generously lubricated with the selected composition. Manipulations with lubricant are carried out regularly, since the effect is temporary. Large gaps are eliminated using gaskets. They are cut out of felt, rubber, etc. The parts are glued to the base. Strengthening or gluing the structure helps a lot:

1. Let's disassemble the frame.
2. Wash the elements, completely remove dirt and dust.
3. We degrease the surfaces of the elements.
4. Coat the joint areas generously with glue and assemble the structure.
5. Leave the furniture until the adhesive has completely cured. Additional reinforcement with furniture corners is possible.

Orthopedic base

Loads gradually destroy the orthopedic system. She has many vulnerabilities. First of all, it's armor. Each of them needs to be inspected, pressed on both areas of attachment to the frame. Double structures have twice as many elements, each one is checked. Deformed lamellas, with cracks or chips must be replaced. The intact but “sounding” armor is carefully removed from the fastenings. Their ends are lubricated, after which the parts are put in place.

All lath holders are inspected. Among them there may be broken ones, which will cause a creaking bottom of the orthopedic system. Unusable parts are replaced. Some models do without plate holders. The fasteners may become loose here. They are being pulled up. In large gaps, place spacers or just soft cloth.

The main causes of bed squeaking

What causes bed squeaking? Most often, creaking is a consequence of friction of wooden or metal elements, resulting from partial wear of the parts and components of the bed.

A quality bed is the key to a sound sleep!

Techniques for eliminating squeaks can be divided into three groups:

• strengthening of the structure due to additional fastenings;
• sealing joints with porous elastic materials;
• reduction of friction through the use of anti-friction lubricants.

Creaking can occur in various structural elements of the bed. Most often, creaking occurs in the following nodes:

• joints and places of fastening of bed frame elements made of natural wood or chipboard;
• bed base or frame with wooden slats;
• lifting mechanism;
• spring or polypropylene mattress.

Why might the bed squeak?
Methods for eliminating unpleasant sound vary for different bed elements. An incorrectly chosen repair technology will not only be useless, but will also lead to further abrasion of materials and increased sound.

Video - Why does the bed squeak?

How to determine the source of a squeak

To eliminate squeaking, it is important to understand which element of the bed needs repair or replacement. The sequence for determining the source of the squeak is given below.

Step 1. It is more convenient to examine the bed together. Sit down, lie down on the bed, get into a position where you can hear a creaking sound. At this time, the assistant can identify the problem area by ear.

Try to find the source of the squeak by ear.

Step 2: Rock the bed from side to side in all directions and also listen to where the sound is coming from.

Rock the bed from side to side

Step 3: Remove the mattress from the bed and place it on a flat floor.

Remove the mattress from the bed

Step 4. Try sitting and lying on the mattress, and also rock the bed without a mattress. By ear, try to determine which part of the bed is creaking.

Checking the mattress and frame separately

Step 5: If the bed frame and mattress do not squeak, the problem may be with the slatted base. The slatted base consists of wooden slats secured with lath holders to a frame made of metal or wood. Creaking usually appears at the place where the slats are attached. To check, inspect the slats and press each one with your hand.

Checking the slats

Step 6. If you find out that the problem is in the wooden frame, inspect all joints, check the tightness of the mounting screws or self-tapping screws. Fine wood dust, abrasions and chips on the surface of the wood will indicate wear of individual elements - they are usually the source of creaking.

Checking the reliability of frame fastenings

Step 7. A bed with legs may also creak at the joints between the frame and the legs. You can find out this by ear by rocking the bed with the mattress removed.

Attaching the leg to the bed

Step 8. For beds with a lifting mechanism, the source of squeaking is often the mechanism itself. As a rule, it cannot be repaired and requires replacement.

Bed with lifting mechanism

Advice! Before you start disassembling the bed and repairing it, make sure that it is the bed that is creaking, and not the floor underneath it!

Remedies at home

To quickly repair a bed, you need to understand in advance the main ways to eliminate squeaks.

Metal

To eliminate any extraneous sounds from metal structures, you need to check the lubrication of connecting elements and fasteners. First you need to disassemble the products to get to the transformation mechanism. To do this, you will have to get rid of the side panels and, if necessary, remove the rear backrest. Then they check whether the creaking comes from the transformation unit. To do this, you need to try to unfold the sofa.

If noise occurs during unfolding, all connecting and moving parts of the mechanism are lubricated with ordinary machine oil.

After lubrication, the bed is re-checked and reassembled if the squeaks have completely disappeared. Sometimes it is not possible to independently determine the exact cause of the creaking. In this case, call a furniture repair specialist.

Wood

It is no secret that creaks in wooden structures appear due to cracking and drying out of the wood material from which the side panels or frame are made. Therefore, to fix the problem, it is necessary to replace the cracked part.

The easiest way is to replace the wooden side panels. To do this, you need to unscrew the mounting bolts. This must be done carefully so as not to accidentally damage the bed frame and joints. After unscrewing the damaged panels, new ones are installed in their place.

How to fix a creaking bed frame

A wooden bed frame usually begins to creak after several years of use. In the dry air of an apartment, wooden elements dry out, their sizes decrease and micro-gaps form at the joints. When loaded, the wooden parts rub against each other, and the contacting surfaces gradually wear away, which further increases the gap. The creaking intensifies.

Advice! If your new bed squeaks, contact the manufacturer. Perhaps this is a manufacturing defect and it is better to replace it under warranty.

The easiest way to eliminate frame squeaking is to tighten fasteners: bolts, screws or self-tapping screws . This technique will give a temporary effect, the creaking will decrease or even stop completely, but with a high probability the fasteners will weaken again, and the wear of the wood will increase. Therefore, when a squeak appears, it is better to immediately resort to fully strengthening the frame.

Tighten fasteners

For small gaps, the use of lubricants . Anti-friction lubricants reduce friction and eliminate squeaking of wooden parts, and also reduce their wear. Lubricants are applied to all rubbing areas of the frame. The types of suitable lubricants and methods of their application are indicated in the table.

Use lubricant

Table. Anti-friction lubricants for wooden parts.

Advice! Do not use grease and similar fatty lubricants. They will eliminate the squeak, but may leave stains on the mattress and linen.

If the gaps are more than 0.5-1 mm, use sealing gaskets . The pads are cut out of foamed polyethylene, rubber or felt of suitable thickness and placed between the rubbing elements of the bed. On vertical surfaces you can additionally secure them with glue.

Install felt pads

If the bed frame is not strong enough and sways even with a small load, you can use additional fasteners . The frame is reinforced from the inside using furniture corners and self-tapping screws. This method allows you to increase the rigidity of the structure, thereby reducing the mobility of individual parts and reducing their friction against each other. The connections remain collapsible, which allows you to disassemble the bed in the future during repairs or moving.

Install additional fasteners

Advice! Before installing additional fasteners, check the equality of the frame diagonals using a tape measure. If necessary, level it. Otherwise, the frame and mattress may lie crookedly, which will also cause squeaking.

In particularly difficult cases, they use glue to install the frame . Wood glue or PVA is suitable for gluing wooden parts. The frame is completely disassembled, dust is removed from all surfaces, the glued surfaces are degreased with alcohol or gasoline. Apply glue to the joints of the parts, as well as into the holes for fasteners and dowels, and assemble the frame. You can use the bed only after the glue has completely dried.

Assemble the frame with glue

Advice! Remove excess glue in a timely manner, before it dries, otherwise stains may remain on the assembled frame, which will ruin its appearance!

If the bed lift mechanism creaks, you should first check the tightness of all fasteners. If they become loose, remove the mechanism, apply WD-40 lubricant to the mounting holes and hardware, and then attach the mechanism back. If the mechanism itself creaks, it will have to be replaced to eliminate the creaking.

Bed lift mechanism

Advice! It is better to use lifting mechanisms on gas elevators; they are more reliable and less subject to wear, so they creak less often.

How to eliminate frame and slats creaking

A frame with orthopedic slats takes on the entire load and redistributes it. That is why it wears out quickly and is often the cause of squeaking. Both the slats themselves and the places where they are fastened - the lath holders - can creak.

First you need to carefully inspect the slats for cracks, chips and deformation. Some of them may need to be replaced.

Replacing slats

Note! The slats are made from hardwood, usually birch. But the best wood for orthopedic slats is beech; it has high strength and, moreover, elasticity.

Lamellas - what are they?
The cause of squeaking can also be broken lat holders. They are also subject to replacement.

Broken Lat Holders

If all the lath holders and lamellas are intact, you need to tighten the fastening screws on the lath holders. At the same time, avoid excessive force so as not to create internal stresses in the plastic, otherwise it will crack.

Pulling screws on the lath holders

Next, you should load each of the lamellas in turn, pressing firmly on it with your hand. Having identified the creaking slats, remove them from the fastenings, treat the ends of the slats with silicone grease, and if the gaps are large, wrap them in foamed polyethylene or felt. After this, put the slats in place. The creaking should stop.

Silicone grease to eliminate squeaks

The slats on inexpensive beds can be attached to the frame using self-tapping screws, without the use of lath holders. In this case, to eliminate the squeak, you can use additional screws, and place gaskets made of any soft material under the slats.

Fastening the slats to the frame with self-tapping screws

In some cases, the frame itself may creak, even if it is metal. This occurs when the frame rubs against the bed support slats. The best way to eliminate this problem is to secure felt pads to the frame or supports where the frame contacts.

Video - Eliminating bed squeaks using polyethylene foam

If your bed has storage drawers, you can create additional support points for the base and mattress by stuffing the drawers tightly with clothing. The slats will sag less, and the creaking will also decrease.

Creating additional support for the frame and mattress

How to eliminate a squeaking mattress

Not only the wooden elements of the bed can creak, but also the mattress, spring or with polymer filling. Sometimes squeaking is caused by an incorrect position of the mattress, in which case it needs to be leveled on the base.

The mattress should lie on the base without distortion

Cheap models of mattresses with dependent springs - Bonnell blocks - squeak due to friction between the springs. The creaking of such a mattress will sooner or later arise and can only be eliminated by replacing the mattress.

Mattress with Bonnell spring system

More reliable and expensive models of spring mattresses are equipped with independent blocks. In them, each spring block is placed in a waterproof case, which plays two roles at the same time: it eliminates friction of the blocks against each other and does not allow moisture and sweat to destroy the steel of the spring, weakening it.

Mattress with independent blocks

Advice! If a mattress with independent blocks begins to squeak, it needs to be turned over - this will help reduce the load on the worn blocks and temporarily eliminate the squeak.

The mattress needs to be turned over from time to time.
Springless mattresses with polyurethane foam filling can also make sounds similar to squeaking. This occurs if the seal of individual bubbles of the foamed polymer is broken and air flows from one to another when a load occurs.

Springless mattress with PPU block

The appearance of extraneous sounds in a PU foam mattress indicates that the polymer has lost its properties and it’s time to think about replacing the mattress.

Necessary materials

If you find that your sofa is creaking a lot, you can fix it at home. For repairs you will need:

• upholstery material;
• batting or other soft cushioning base;
• springs (or a whole block);
• PVA glue;
• plywood board;
• metal corners, etc.;
• bolts and other types of suitable fasteners;
• staples.

The reason is often fastening defects - rusted or loose bolts.

The sofa can be repaired using various materials not listed, since each model is individual.

It is likely that replacing elements or lubricant will be sufficient.

Squeak prevention for a new bed

Like any damage, squeaking is much easier to prevent than to fix. When buying a bed and its further use, you should listen to the advice of experts.

The frame is made of natural wood, coated with varnish, and is practically not subject to deformation when air humidity changes. A chipboard frame is less durable, dries out faster, and under heavy loads begins to crumble at the fastening points.

Natural wood bed

When purchasing a bed with an orthopedic base, pay attention to the fastening of the slats in the guides - they should not dangle.

The slats must be well secured

It is better to choose a spring mattress from a number of models with independent blocks; they are more durable.

Mattress with independent blocks - device

When installing the bed on an uneven floor, try to level it and avoid distortions of the frame. If there are significant distortions, the load on the frame will be uneven, which will lead to premature wear of individual elements, and then to creaking.

Bed assembly

It is necessary to monitor the fastening of the bed and tighten it if it becomes loose, avoiding excessive tension on the wood. If wood dust or scuffs are detected, the bed must be repaired immediately.

Wood dust is a sign of wear on the mounting holes

The mattress must be periodically turned over on the bed to ensure uniform wear of all groups of spring blocks. Sitting and standing on spring mattresses for a long time is not recommended.

Preventive measures

Sometimes some people have a reasonable question: What can be done to prevent the new bed from squeaking? Well, with regret we have to admit that this problem is not so rare, like any problem, the following simple recommendations will help you get rid of the one mentioned above. First of all, you should give your preference to beds that were made from expensive types of wood, which in turn are stronger and more durable. Similar breeds include:

• Oak. Oak wood is practical and durable, in addition, it is distinguished by a characteristic beautiful pattern of wood fibers, so an oak bed will fit perfectly into any interior;
• Red tree. Mahogany wood is distinguished by its noble color, extremely original appearance, and we must not forget about the high quality of the wood itself. Furniture made of mahogany is very moisture resistant and is not afraid of ultraviolet rays. In addition, having a mahogany bed in the bedroom, you can forget about various insects, since its (furniture) unobtrusive aroma repels them;
• Rosewood. Luxurious interior items made by craftsmen from rosewood are very expensive. But this fact is offset by the fact that rosewood furniture has exclusive qualities. And if you rub the wood a little, you will feel the delicate aroma of violet. High-quality rosewood furniture will delight its owners for a long time.

It is important to note that all the details of the solid wood bed frame must be securely and firmly fastened; there should not be the slightest hint that any of its elements are dangling in the fastening unit.

If you are going to buy a mattress, then it is best to give preference to a mattress with an independent spring block, since they are much more reliable and will last you a long time. But do not forget that every item requires care, which will significantly increase its service life. In the case of an independent mattress, you will need to turn it over from time to time so that the load created by your body during sleep is distributed evenly over its entire surface.

When installing your new bed, try to position it as level as possible. An uneven load on the bed frame and base will subsequently lead to loosening and distortion of parts, and as a result, creaking. All fasteners must be tightly tightened so that the bed forms a solid structure. Metal products will be more durable. Another plus is their cost. Metal beds are cheaper than wooden ones. They also look beautiful and will suit almost any setting. Forged beds do not creak, they look stylish and elegant.

All wooden beds begin to creak during use. You can get rid of the annoying sound at home, the main thing is to correctly determine the cause and choose the appropriate solution.