Best bed for a very heavy person?

[rookiemere]

Hi hope it's ok to put this here - wasn't sure where else would work.

We are in the process of getting a new double bed for visitors, but it's slightly delicate situation as BIL is pretty heavy - we think >20 stone - and we also think responsible for breaking some slats on our previous mattress frame.

So I'd be grateful for suggestions of frames and mattresses that would be best - we don't want to spend a huge amount for a bed that will be rarely used.

NB there isn't really an option to increase bed size - the room will be quite tight as it is, and also to add to the issue DH would like to continue to store his large bags of mountaineering equipment underneath so a Divan may not work.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Some of the slatted beds from Argos for example have slats which are softwood and weak , they are flat . They look a bit like pieces of wood from pallets and are very weak.
Slightly more expensive slatted beds have curved slats made from beech they are far stronger.

We've used an IKEA bed for years for a 20 stone plus adult, it's been fine.

Me and DH have one of these metal heavy duty bed frames from Amazon. Made by Zinus they do a 35 or 46 inch height. They come apart into 2 singles and fold up so really easy to store and move around. We bought the separate headboard brackets and a second hand headboard. We have the king size and weigh about 35 stone together. Very quiet bed as well, no squeaking! ZINUS 35 cm SmartBase Heavy Duty Mattress Foundation | Metal Platform Bed Frame | Easy Assembly | Under Bed Storage | King | Black amzn.eu/d/hiMvRO8

I do think some people are ridiculously hard on beds though. One of our daughters had at least two new beds a year - we tried reinforcing the slats with mdf, and even laminate floorboards. We tried metal beds, wooden beds, divan beds, even bought a really expensive super solid bed second hand. She weighed nothing like 20 stone. She’s 21 now and 8 stone, and this was happening from aged 7/8 - she’s always been quite small for her age. She lives with her boyfriend now, and seems to have stopped whatever she used to do (I don’t think she was jumping on it but we never found out). It’s funny how it stopped when she was responsible for replacing it…

I've got an antique bed frame with springs instead of slats. The springs had seen better days and we couldn't easily get replacement slats to fit.

We therefore got a big sheet of wood cut to size that we laid across the frame, which the mattress lies on top of. We've drilled some holes in the wood to allow air to circulate.

This is very sturdy!!!!

Metal frame?

I have an amazing ability to break beds, and did so even when I only weighed 10 stone, Im just a massive fidget.

The worst was a bed with wooden slats held in plastic slat holders, I had to buy new slat holdersin the end as so many had snapped!

Be careful with using mdf to reinforce anything, it has a tendancy to warp due to not having a grain.

I have a super king metal bed that's really sturdy. I've been 18 stone, and had a partner who was 22 stone and it's fine
Had the bed maybe 17 years and it's perfect still! Can't even remember where it's from but the entire thing is metal basically

www.reinforcedbeds.co.uk/pages/strong-heavy-duty-beds#

I’d ask him to contribute saying he is the only guest that needs a reinforced bed due to his weight and it’s an extra expenditure for you.

When you come to the mattress Nectar mattresses have an extremely high combined weight capacity and lifetime guarantee - also 365 day trial. I thoroughly recommend them.

Ah thanks all for the additional comments.
I have been looking at the reinforced bed website so it's good to know about the Nectar mattress @NonJeNeRegretteRien .

To be fair it is for very occasional use only- when the whole squad come BIL and SIL now stay in a Travel lodge so no problem there- so just when the two of them come.

DH thinks we should just get in the sheet of MDF if it is needed, but I think the reinforced beds were on a par with the other ones he was looking at.

Dreams do personalised mattress fittings but they are a bit more expensive than most

@diaryofadyslexic that wooden solution sounds good - DH loves a bit of DIY.

@Stressybetty that metal frame looks great plus loads of underbed storage.

No DIY involved. Just got a local timber merchant to cut some wood to size and laid it on top of the frame. That's it!

We bought this bed July 2020 still going strong. Combined weight as a couple around 40 stone. DH Is slim but heavy and 6’2. I’m also a larger lady with no issues. We broke 2 normal divans over 2 years as there’s no support, slatted beds are awful as they just fall through. I would never buy one and will Joe always opt for this. Plus wasn’t too expensive and bought a lovely headboard on eBay divanbasedirect.co.uk/products/reinforced-divan-bed-base

If you do get a slatted base and decide to reinforce it, remember the legs as well. If he is flopping down with his full weight it can twist the frame.

I say this as a larger person so not fat bashing.

We've ordered a metal frame from Amazon as recommended by someone below.

It has loads of storage space underneath and has the distinct advantage of being cheap, so can be easily replaced if it gets broken.

Some really helpful suggestions , so thank you everyone.

Fantastic, hope it withstands BIL

@Stressybetty it is a Zinus, so hopefully will be as good as yours.
After all this, it's entirely likely they may not come to stay

We have 3 Zinus ones now, all the heavy duty ones. Very easy to put together and move around. The separate brackets you can get for headboards work well as long as you measure up.

Dreams do mattress fittings if you have one of their stores nearby. I did it and ended up with a brilliant mattress for me. (I like em firm but not rock hard). You lie on their "fitting" the bed the way you normally sleep and tell them whether you prefer firmer or softer mattresses. They came up with four for me to try - the first two were slightly too soft but the third was perfect

@ManAboutTown we have a very nice ( expensive as it was exchanged from a Tempur back in the day when they did 30 day guarantee) expensive Dreams mattress.

As this is the guest bedroom that's likely going to be slept in maybe 7-10 nights per year, we've bought a cheapie sleepeaze mattress.

@rookiemere - oh hadn't realised it was for a spare room with low level of usage - sounds like you have the right approach