Tips on How to Fix a Squeaky Bed

A squeaky bed is annoying and it keeps you up at night and I’m going to explain how to fix it.

I have this bed in our master bedroom and it makes it all sorts of noise and it’s keeping us up at night. A couple of weeks ago, I moved the bed to clean and vacuum underneath it and ever since I put it back these noises started. I pinpointed a couple areas where it’s happening. My guess is that when I moved it, I might’ve loosened up the joints where the slats meet the rails and also at the headboard so I’m going to take the mattresses off and I’m going to take the frame apart and take a look. There are a couple things that I think will fix the problem. I went ahead and got the mattress and the box springs taken off and that’s probably the first thing you want to check. Make sure your box springs aren’t the cause of the noise and the squeaking. It doesn’t look like those are making any noise, so I think we’re good in that department.

I think I pretty much narrowed down the noise. In general, when you get squeaking, especially with wood, usually the cause is two pieces of wood rubbing together. In our case the slats and the posts on all four corners. The slats that run between the rails on both sides can make a lot of noise. We’re going to address those while we have the mattresses off. This is a king sized bed and I’m sure, as you know, moving the mattress around is a pain and I only want to do this job once.

There are brackets that fit into the inside the post and they just pop right out. If you have a different type of bed frame, say, with nuts and bolts, more than likely all you have to do is just tighten the nuts and the bolts and that should solve your problem. You can even lubricate them with WD 40 and see if that helps.

I think I found what the problem is if I rock the post forward a little bit you can see a gap between the rail and the post. I think that when I went ahead and moved this bed, it probably had too much weight with the mattresses on it and I think I probably dented the wood on the post and I no longer have a tight joint between these two pieces of wood. When that happens, the bed can start to rock and shake and that’s when your noises start.

We had to address that issue first, so I went ahead and broke the bed apart and I think my suspicion is correct as the wood on the post is indented and I think that’s causing some slop between the rails at the posts so we had to find something that could take the gap up between that rail and the post. So I went to Home Depot and I came up with felt pads that they sell to put on the bottom of furniture and what I’m going to do is cut a few strips of this and I’m going to attach it to the edge of the stretcher rail and that’ll take that gap out and stop the wood on wood contact, which I think is where the noise is coming from. The noise might also be coming from the bracket, where the rail bracket hooks into the bracket on the post so I’m going to go ahead and lubricate these as well. You can use something like WD 40. In most cases, you probably don’t have to be too pretty with this because all this is hidden underneath the bed. In my case, I’m also cutting a few little felt strips to put on the top and the bottom of the bracket as well. Again, it doesn’t need to look pretty.

I want to go ahead and lubricate the brackets on the rails and also those brackets on the post. What I’m going to use for that is this product called dry lube, it’s made by PBR Blaster and you might of heard of them for their other product to loosen up stubborn nuts and bolts. The reason I like using this as opposed to WD 40 is when you spray it on you can see that within a couple seconds it completely evaporates, and it leaves behind a lubricating film. If I was to go ahead and spray it with WD 40, you’d have all that dripping down and get on your carpet. I find this to be superior to WD 40 for that reason. You could find this down the hardware aisle at Home Depot.  If you have search on your Android phone you can easily use Hey Google, Hey Alexa, or Hey Siri to conveniently search for other options.

I went ahead and I got the headboard attached and I think that was pretty good so I will get the other side hooked up so the bed frame is all put back together at all four corners. The other solution is to replace the bed frame corner brackets with positive locking tear drop style bed frame corner brackets. These are made by several companies such as: Tool Supply, Wood River, High Point, Zinus, and Tech Team https://techteamproducts.com/. We like Tech Team’s 709 https://www.amazon.com/Tech-Team-Connector-Headboard-Footboard/dp/B07CRPQ18S/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=tech+team+bed+frame&qid=1567433310&s=automotive&sr=1-8-catcorr the best because it is heavy duty steel with a yellow zinc dichromate finish and comes complete with all mounting hardware.  Now I’m going to turn my attention to the slats and wherever one of these meets the stretcher rail, I’m going to install a metal bracket that positively locks the slat to the rail. Platform beds and many older beds do not use a box spring as the box spring is a fairly modern development. In order to support the mattress properly, this type of bed uses a slat or wood lateral that extends across the shorter dimension of the bed from one rail to the other. The slat supports the bottom of the mattress. The more slats, the better the support. Some beds have a rail that runs along the inside of the bed rail and the slats can rest along the top of the rail. For many beds, there is no rail, and the slat needs to be connected to the inside of the bed rail. The best way to accomplish this is to use a steel bracket that incorporates one piece that is mounted to the bed rail, and another piece that is mounted to the slat so that when the slat is in place the two brackets engage each other in such a manner that a fit is secure, the bed rails cannot spread apart from each other, and the mattress is properly supported. This type of fitting is made by the following companies Antrader, Kutir, Desunia, Buyer’s Connection, Hafele America, Richohome, Ronin, and Tech Team https://techteamproducts.com/. We happen to like the model 711 https://www.amazon.com/Tech-Team-Positive-Connector-Hardware/dp/B07CRPVR4P/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1486KCDWM66GR&keywords=bed+slat+connectors&qid=1553866533&s=gateway&sprefix=bed+slat+%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-3 made by Tech Team the best since the steel is a full 2mm thick and it has a corrosion and rust proof zinc dichromate finish.

I’m also gonna put a piece of felt on the edge of the slide as well, so that both contact points, which will be the bottom and the side are protected and we will not have any wood to wood contact again or squeaks that might be coming from this as well. I put the bed back together and it is now both solid and quiet. Time to get a good night’s sleep.