How To Fix an IKEA Bed Frame Fail 
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It couldn’t come at a worse time. Just tonight you’ve given your new IKEA mattress a test run, and you got lucky – you’re finally going to get a good night’s sleep. Then, suddenly, as you blissfully turn over in your sleep, you come crashing down to earth. Or to the floor, anyway. #$@%!! What just happened?
Your bed slats fell through your bed frame, that’s what happened. The question is why. And the answer is inside…
See additional IKEA Bed resources at the end of the article, after the jump!
IKEA Bed Frame Fail
Think you need replacement bed rails? Or maybe a new bed frame center support? Probably not. You may well have neglected to purchase (IKEA doesn’t do a great job of informing you that you need this piece) or install the cross-brace support which is intended to help provide support underneath the slats and prevent the kind of fail shown below:
According to Chuck Shapiro of APART/Together in the Philadelphia area who is one of our resident experts, and a veteran IKEA installer with over 23 years of experience,
The slats shouldn’t be sliding off – either they are the wrong size, or the bed was assembled incorrectly.
When you install the slats, they should be rolled out from one end to the other, with the first and last slat “hooking onto” the small plastic piece at either end of the “L” rail and mid-beam. This will be tight in the beginning, but over a short period of time, the cloth webbing will stretch out enough to allow the slats to sit flat and properly.
There are also metal cross braces which should be installed between the mid-beam and “L” rail, to keep the sides of the bed from bowing out and allowing the slats to fall through.
When all of this is done properly, you shouldn’t have any more problems. If you do, you might consider using a piece of plywood instead of the slats.
But if you’ve assembled your bed frame correctly and the bed slats are still falling through, there are some simple fixes dreamed up by IKEA Fans members and posted in our forums. Check it out: Bed Slats Keep Falling Off: What Should I Do?
See also: How to Find Storage without Getting Out of Bed or Twin Bed Storage
Tags: bed slats, IKEA Bed, IKEA hacker, IKEA Mattress, IKEA Mattresses
These slats are dangerous junk. I purchased and correctly installed the cross support which worked for about a week. The fabric connecting the slats is so flimsy that it’s impossible to get taut without breaking, and doesn’t stay connected to the slats.
The Ikea call center treated me very contemptuously when I called, insisting not only that the problem must be my error but that they had never ever heard of anyone else having a problem. When I offered to send them links to the many web sites complaining of this they refused to accept the info. If so many people have a problem then you can’t just blame user error.
I filed a complaint with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and found that it was quite easy to build better slats myself. Measure the FULL width of the bed – the two part design is part of the problem, then subtract maybe a quarter inch. For a queen size Aspelund 60″ worked perfectly. Go to a lumber yard and get 10-12 pieces of 1×4″ wood cut to this width. The next complication is that the midbeam is a bit higher than the sides, which may be the reason for the two part design. I bought 3/4″ wide by 3/16″ thick insulation tape with one sticky side and attached it to the sides of the of bed. This probably would have been enough, but to be extra sure I got 3/4″ Velcro and ran it on top of the tape and on the slats. It’s very sturdy now and the whole fix was less than $35, less than the $50 Ikea charged me.
I’m very depressed about this. I loved Ikea – it was virtually the only place I ever buy furniture. Not sure what I am going to do now.
I AM NOW HAVING THIS SAME PROBLEM. N I HAVE THAT SAME BED PICTURED IKEA ARE THEIFS N THE BEDS R NOT GOOD THEY JUST LOOK GOOD!I WAS SO DEVASTATED LAST NIGHT
We had this problem with our king sized Hopen bed, after we’d had it for about 3 years. The screws holding the cross-braces stripped their holes and so our bed sides were bowing and the slats were falling out. We took a strip of old towel and wedged it between the slats at the mid-beam. This pushed the slats to the bed sides so that they are bearing properly on the brackets at the bed sides. The towel allows for some give, so that the slats aren’t actually pushing the bed sides out more. It’s worked for about a year now!
I need the metal cross braces, does Ikea offer those on its own?
Yes – most everything at IKEA is sold as components.
I had the exact same issue here in Holland, and I fixed it by adding a frame of horizontal wooden slats over the full width of the bed, with appr. 15 inches between them. Then you can easily lay a fixed frame on top of that with no risk at all anymore. Still a very poorly designed bedframe…
These beds are garbage. The L bracket side rails are held by tiny screws and they apparently expect said screws to support two adults on a king size. Mine ended up pulling out after 3 years of normal use. I complained to IKEA and they were rude and condascending. Ended up filing a formal complaint with the government on this unsafe product. This definitely should be a recall. Shame on IKEA for making unsafe trash and not supporting it.
If this were a baby crib?
Just a further point, the L channel screw stripping problem can be solved by removing the screws and channel. Then, apply PG Plus urethane glue (in a caulking tube) in a continuous bead on the mating surface. WEAR GLOVES, this glue will NOT come off. Re attach with the screws and that thing is never coming off again! The screws are just there then for the glue to dry and no longer serve any structural purpose.
These beds are shit!
I too need the metal cross braces but IKEA have told me they are not for sale separately. They will only let me have them if I can produce a sales receipt. As I bought the bed second-hand, I can’t do that. They will not let me buy an item they have in stock in their spare parts department, but want me to continue to sleep in an unsafe bed – ridiculous!
Does anyone have any ideas on how to make your own metal or wooden braces and how to attach these to the metal rails and centre beam to stop the sides bowing out? Thanks.