WTF? My bed is made of cardboard

[donquixotedelamancha]

Bought an ottoman divan bed about 2.5 years ago from a company with excellent reviews. It's been well looked after, but the top surface sank completely on one half of the bed (it comes in two haves).

I contacted the company and they initially wanted to charge me for a replacement but (after a rather blunt email) we settled on them sending a new top piece and me fitting.

Before fitting I cut the fabric off the old one to see what had gone wrong because I presumed I was lying on plywood and figured I might be able to add an extra support without pulling the new one apart much once I'd seen inside.

• It only has 3 slats supporting the solid sleeping surface.
• They run lengthways rather than the usual widthways, so you are lying between them.
• The top surface of the bed is made of 3mm cardboard, stapled to the frame- so between the wide gaps has completely given way.

I am agog. Surely this isn't normal? I don't know whether to laugh or scream.

Why? Most are split like this and linked together by a screw and catch.

If fact all our doubles are the same.

It’s for easy of moving

An example

It's always cheap wood which tends to need a bit of tlc after a few years but at least it is wood! With a basic bed nothing is hidden.

Apart from the last two this is what we've done. The expensive treak one I mentioned upthread only failed because the (not on show) pine central support under the bed was far too small and poorly attached. It would have been resolved by about £5 for an extra strut and an extra screw in each one. If I had noticed how bad it was prior to a catestrophic failure at an inoportune moment it would have been trivial to reinforce.

The only part of the divan which is hidden is the lid. The rest is perfectly solid wood- you can climb inside. Saving on a bit of ply or a couple more slats at the cost of the bed being no use whatsoever seems nuts.

I can see why those slats would sag. I have never lengthways slats on a bed.

The slats are fine, but the cardboard has failed because there is nothing under it for much of the bed space and it was only held to the frame by staples.

When we broke my dad’s bed up I managed to put most of it into recycling. It was mainly cardboard. We burnt the wood, but that took an hour because there wasn’t much of it! Doesn’t surprise me at all. He bought it in the 90s!

Sorry, @BluebellsGreenbells — I meant I can’t picture an ottoman like that. I’m not doubting the OP, I just can’t get the image in my mind. How does the top half stay together?

All my divans have been made with reinforced cardboard top. It’s very common. Now bought a reinforced one with is plywood

I had exactly the same. Someone sat on it and that side collapsed. I was speechless it was cardboard, would never have bought it.

I agree it's awful.

We recently had a catastrophic collapse of our cheapy wooded slats. We were getting comfortable one night and there was an almighty crash and 50% of the slats just fell off their straight bits and the the mattress slid through the hole. I screamed as we rolled straight into the trough and we were basically entangled together in the dark unable to move for laughing for ages

Everyone else in the house heard it (4 other adults) but no one came to help!

DH screwed one end of each slat in place the next day and now they don't shift.

Sounds normal to me. A lot of furniture is made this way. Cheap and cheerful.

It's a double, split width ways- so the two parts are not singles. The 3 small slats would run the length of the bed if it was one piece.

• It only has 3 slats supporting the solid sleeping surface.
• They run lengthways rather than the usual widthways, so you are lying between them.

Silly question but my first thought is, did you set it up crossways when you should have arranged the two halves lengthways?

Even so, the quality sounds shitty and I hope you get proper recourse

I discovered my (bloody expensive at the time) console table was made of cardboard the other day after it got a lump knocked out of it. I was not impressed that I’d basically got a massively overpriced LACK table. In fact I should have just bought a LACK table, the one I had when I was a student lasted years and was tough as old boots!

@SomewhereInbetween1 I think it was Wayfair and very much like this one

www.wayfair.co.uk/furniture/pdp/metro-lane-windemere-upholstered-ottoman-bed-lsss1284.html?piid=37178263%2C37178264

The base inside the bottom isnt very sturdy from memory buy it's fine for chucking things under the bed. Just dont try move it while full

I once bought a couple if expensive arm chairs from Habitat. The house rabbit accidentally escaped from his room and I returned from work to discover that he had chewed his way into the back of one and had comandeered it as a new house. The sides of the chair were made completely out of cardboard and the chair was hollow inside.

Yes, we have a divan that's covered in fabric and has drawers. The bed sunk a year in and then, upon lifting the mattress you could see it had just completely fallen through and upon closer inspection the board underneath was just thin cardboard.

Unfortunately, this very well known company went into administration and pissed me off no end because it wasn't cheap at all. I now know to look out for this in future.

It was about 2 years ago and my DH reinforced it by slotting in and securing in two thicker sheets bits of hardboard wood across the two separate sides of the divan and it's been fine. Could you do something like that?

OP do you mean chipboard rather than cardboard?

WHat does the original description of the bed on the vendor website say in terms of what it's made of?

We had this with an expensive bed from Bensons that my parents gave us (only a month old but they ordered the wrong size).

I was shocked when we opened it up a year later after it broke, expecting to find that a wooden strut had split when actually it was the cardboard that had ripped and collapsed.

Wow. I’m tempted to start prodding my ottoman now and see if I can work out what’s under the fabric.

I've just replaced a bed like this my son stood on the edge and fell in ive gone for a wooden one with storage tubs under it

There are a number of firms that produce sturdy cardboard furniture. DH has a cardboard office desk he bought when we moved into our second flat in 1999 and a friend sleeps on a cardboard bed.
For exaple: www.pappmoebelshop.de/

But of course you know in advance.

Silly question but my first thought is, did you set it up crossways when you should have arranged the two halves lengthways?

No, wrong shape. It's put together fine, it's just crap.

OP do you mean chipboard rather than cardboard?

Nope. I mean cardboard. Crafting or package strength, rather than cereal packet, but still cardboard.

I've had a look at your photos, it's pretty standard.

That seems an awful shame and a lesson learned for me. Still I can't think it complies with the consumer rights act so I'll have a go at resolving it tomorrow.

There are a number of firms that produce sturdy cardboard furniture.....But of course you know in advance.

Indeed and they use clever design and a lot of cardboard to spread the weight. Much better than this white for a fraction of the cost.