Best Wood for a Bed Frame

September 18, 2022

Hardwood, softwood, and composite woods like plywood and fiberboard may all be used to make wood bed frames, each with its advantages. It is widely accepted that the finest timbers for a bed frame are hardwoods such as maple, mahogany, walnut, cherry, and oak. The capability of softwoods such as fir, cedar, and pine outweighs the strength of these timbers. Synthetic materials and adhesives may be used in composite wood frames, so they don’t appear exactly like an actual wood frame. However, they’re less expensive and less likely to be damaged than other options.

Major Concerns for Choosing Suitable Types of Wood for Making Bed Frame

Weight

Depending on the style and wood used to construct them, wooden bed frames may weigh anywhere from 20 pounds to over 100 pounds. In contrast to heavy, ornate wood frames have more straightforward methods, lighter and easy to transport. You should think about your priorities while assessing the structure’s weight and remember to consider the possibility that larger frames may accommodate greater loads.

Noise

Wood expands and contracts with changes in temperature and humidity, so sleepers may hear creaking coming from their wood bed frame after a time. With deeper woodcuts and more minor metal components, wooden bed frames are less unlikely to have weak spots or friction areas, making them noisy.

Quality of Wood

Pine, oak, maple, and walnut are just a few of the woods used to make bed frames. Fiberboard or plywood is the standard composite wood product used by certain manufacturers. A bed frame’s benefits may vary depending on the kind of wood used, such as being more robust, lighter, more lasting, or less likely to fracture. Wood bed frames sometimes contain metal or plastic components and the wood itself to make them more sturdy.

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Best Types of Woods for Building Bed Frame

1) Poplar Wood

Poplar is an excellent wood for constructing a bed frame in general. It’s easy to work with, has a low cost, and will last for years. Because it’s so lightweight, staining and painting it is a breeze.

Poplar wood is an excellent choice for your bed frame since it’s both affordable and readily available.

Poplar wood is an excellent alternative to pine because of its durability, affordability, and strength.

As a result, since poplar wood is so inexpensive yet very sturdy, I suggest utilizing it to build your bed frame.

2) Pine Wood

Pinewood is an excellent kind of wood for constructing bed frames on a budget because of its affordability. It’s rugged, versatile, and reasonably priced. Any color or stain you want will work. Because it’s soft, it’ll dent or deform easily if not sealed properly, and taller slabs of pine wood don’t hold as much weight as shorter ones.

Because of its popularity, pinewood is among the most often used woods. For the price, you get a product that is both strong and flexible.

Pinewood also has the advantage of being naturally resistant to rot and decay.

While it may not be as robust or long-lasting as other types of wood, cedar is a sturdy wood that will not deform or waste away for decades.

Even with two mattresses, a few pillows, and blankets on top of it, it’ll comfortably support two prominent individuals. So there’s enough for a basic bed frame or even a queen-sized bed for two people.

Also, working with pinewood is a cinch.

As long as you don’t care about the texture, knots, or anything else, you can plane and sand it with no problem.

The color of the stain you choose for the pine will depend on the aesthetic you’re aiming for in your bedroom.

It’s worth considering if you’re looking for a low-cost bed frame that’s also robust.

3) Walnut

Walnut wood, a different kind of hardwood, is prized for its rich brown color and fine texture. Since it’s such a durable wood, it’s ideal for furniture that will see a lot of wear over the years. There are a variety of brown hues of walnut wood to choose from to match your home’s décor. Walnut may be more difficult to come by than other common hardwoods, but its long life and ability to retain its form make it a sound investment.

4) Rosewood

With its usage in furniture, musical instruments, and the production of rosewood oil, rosewood is one of the world’s most heavily exploited tree species, putting the species’ extinction in jeopardy. Due to the scarcity of rosewood resources, prices have been rising steadily.

Rosewood has become a byword for luxury and high-end design in the furniture industry. The intense red color and great texture give depth to a room. For finely constructed bed frames that can withstand a lot of use, rosewood is your best option. Rosewood has traditionally been used to create exquisite tables. Rosewood is rare and highly regulated timber to guarantee that your purchase is authentic and produced responsibly and ethically by the producer.

5) Douglas Fir Wood

Although being a softwood, it has been discovered that Douglas fir produces outstanding results when used in furniture manufacturing. The reason for this may be because it’s almost as hardy as the hardwoods. It’s also possible that it’s due to the grain’s vertical length or a combination of the two. The fact that the wood has been finished to be sleek, smooth, and aesthetically pleasing is also a bonus.

For the most part, Douglas Fir is an excellent choice for bed frames because of its strength and stability. While this wood is strong, workable, and relatively inexpensive compared to Pinewood or Poplar, it is also more difficult to find. However, if you want a more natural appearance, Douglas Fir is a good choice.

6) Red Oak

Red Oak is a great wood to choose for your bed frame because of its durability and low cost. This kind of wood is a little more costly than others, but it has a stunning natural appearance. It’s simple to paint or stain, and it’s very lightweight.

Hardwoods such as red oak are plentiful throughout the United States. Its strength and durability on par with other woods mentioned here make it more stable than lighter woods like pine and poplar because of its weight.

Cuts for a typical amateur carpenter will be simpler to make with a hand saw or electric saw because of the reduced resistance.

Red oak is a beautiful wood even in its natural state. Using red oak for the construction of your bed frame eliminates a lot of the finishing work.

It’s a lot less expensive than oak or walnut, which are more expensive.

Due to its ease of use and lack of sanding requirements, this is the most common wood used for bed frames.

Because of its tight grain pattern, red oak has a very smooth feel and thus works well in any treatment, whether stained, natural, blackened or otherwise. You will have many selections to choose with Red Oak.

7) Teakwood

Teak is renowned for its sturdiness and resistance to water. Teak has the essential oil content of any natural wood product, making it resistant to deterioration. Teak is utilized in various products, including boat building, yacht construction, outside furniture, veneer, carvings, and picture frames.

Teak wood promises long-term strength and toughness if adequately cared for. There’s something extraordinary about the golden-brown hue of the wood against the clean, straight grain. Termites and other pests have a hard time eating through teak wood because of the natural oil content.

8) Maple Wood

It’s hard to go wrong with maple wood when you don’t mind spending some money. Maple is solid and durable wood with a beautiful natural appearance. However, compared to other kinds of wood, it is more costly.

When it comes to woodworking, maple is an excellent choice because it combines strength and lightness and its ease of maintenance.

However, it is more costly than other types of wood, such as pine and poplar.

No stains or paints are needed to give it its distinctive appearance. If you like the formation of a plane, this wood may be a good option for you.

It’s possible to paint or stain maple, but the process takes longer.

What about using maple wood for the frames of the beds?

If you don’t mind paying a premium for it, this specific wood species has all the strength and endurance you need.

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Woods to Avoid When Making Bed Frame

Cedar Wood

Cedar is not a good choice for a bed frame since it isn’t sturdy or long-lasting. As a result, using cedar wood to construct your bed frame is a bad idea.

As a result, utilizing Cedarwood to construct a bed frame is not something I’d suggest. Cedarwood may be replaced with better and less expensive options like pinewood.

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Wooden Bed Frames FAQs: What You Need To Know

Is It Better To Build A Bed Frame Out Of Hardwood Or Softwood?

Wooden bed frames may be made from any wood, including soft ones. How much wood you select is mainly determined by your budget. If your bed frame is well-built, any wood will endure for many years. For those who know what kind of wood to use, of course!

However, when cutting or drilling into softwoods, be careful since they splinter more quickly than other kinds of wood.

As a general rule, choose the kind of wood that best suits your budget; both may last just as much if appropriately constructed.

What’s The Average Price Of A Wood Bed Frame?

Some high-end hardwood bed frames cost $1,000 or more, but most good ones cost $300 to $700. Solid hardwood bed frames are more costly, but they last longer and are thus better investments in the long run. The price may be affected by the size and design.

What are the Cause and How to Stop a Bed to Squeak?

Mattress squeaking, box spring squeaking, and frame squeaking are all possible causes of unpleasant sounds. To find the root of the problem, test each component independently.

As mattresses age, they tend to squeak more, especially those that use innerspring or composite materials. When the metal coils in these types wear down, they make noise because they scrape against one other. Metal components are absent from all-foam and all-latex mattresses. Therefore they won’t squeak.

Innerspring mattresses and box springs squeak because of the metal coils in both, which may scrape against one other more as they age. It will help if you change squeaky mattresses and box springs immediately.

When it comes to bed frames and foundations, excessive noise is almost often the result of friction between the various parts. The wooden corners of the box spring may chafe against the foundation’s wooden frame. Excessive friction and noise may also be caused by poorly tightened joints connecting frame components.

Friction between the bed and the floor or adjacent walls may also produce squeaking. This is a rarer source of noise. A shaky base (such as a wobbly leg) or inadequate cushioning between the bed and the floor are the most common causes of this problem.

There are several methods to silence the squeaking of the bed frame. To begin, pinpoint the source of the hum or buzzing. Make sure that no slats are damaged and tighten all nuts and screws. Add plastic washers or lubricant to the screws and bolts. The use of wax on trouble areas, cork to fill gaps, or raisers’ insertion beneath the legs may also help decrease friction. Keep water and heat away from your hardwood bed frame to prevent it from expanding.

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Recommendation

Many different types of wood may be used to build a bed frame. Hardwood is favored because of its durability, although poplar, the most affordable and softest of all hardwoods, is used by many bed makers. This kind of wood is easy to work with for machines and cheap to manufacture. Some furniture makers utilize polar as secondary wood in the hidden sections of the pieces, such as the legs and drawer fronts.