Broken bed

[thrifty++]

Hi I am hoping to crowdsource some opinions.
I am staying a room in a shared place and the room comes with a single bed. The single bed is on wooden peg legs. When I was laying in the bed I turned over and the bed collapsed on one side and the peg legs turned inward. Its broken. I am going to try and fix it with a hammer and nails but it seems quite far gone.
If I cant fix it does it make sense for me to pay for the bed or not?

[jacob]

Pictures?

[7Wannabe5]

How much do you weigh? Is this a true rendering of the events that led to the bed's destruction?

[Jason]

I'm with 7. This has to be the most suspicious accounting of a broken wooden bed since Pinocchio was afraid to tell Mr. Gepetto that he was up all night playing "sit on my face while I tell you lies" with his girlfriend.

[Campitor]

Since you have zero pictures, it's hard to recommend a solution. But I'll try anwyays.

Tools and materials required:

• Drill
• Drill bit
• Wooden or metal dowel that is 1/3 to 1/2 of the total length of the leg
• Epoxy

Procedure:

1. Flip the bed frame upside down.
2. Drill hole in the mating sections of the broken legs.
   • The holes must be wide enough to accept the dowel but have a bit of play so you have some leeway in regards to aligning the legs.
   • The holes must be sufficiently aligned in the mating sections to get the legs to come together
3. Put epoxy on wooden/metal dowel and in the drilled holes:
   • Don't be stingy with the epoxy.
   • Slide dowel into hole.
   • Slide mating leg section onto dowel.
   • Wipe off any epoxy that oozes out after the legs have been pushed together.
4. Clamp the sections together or flip the frame right side up and let gravity hold the legs together as they epoxy dries.
5. Let the epoxy cure to full strength before sleeping on the frame - don't cheat on this part.
6. Stop doing gymnastics on the bed or buy a stronger bed frame.

[thrifty++]

Trust Jason and 7w5 to make salacious insinuations. Love it. But no. I have had a lot of sex in the last month but none of it has taken are here. I would not let anyone set foot in my skanky room in my skanky apartment with a skanky single bed.

There has been no carelessness. Seriously. The single bed has two mattresses plus me (80kgs) on top of skinny wooden peg legs about 6.5 inches long with a base about 1.5 inch wide with the pegs imbedded into thin balsa wood at the base.. It has probably been gradually cracking over the last month.

I can't work out how to post photos yet. Only phone ATM. Laptop being fixed.

It's too hard for me to fix after inspection. But I took the legs off and put the base on the floor age the mattress on top. So it's not totally buggered.

[jacob]

@Campitor ... Another way would be to countersink a (one or several) lag screw (like Spax) through the leg or in from the top after clamping the stuff together. The screw replaces the dowel---but same basic idea but eliminating the need for tolerance/alignment... in fact going at different angles would be good. This is a couple of Wheaton levels away from hammer and nail though. I fixed a neighbor's bed that way. We're rapidly getting into more experience/more tools needed territory though.

[Campitor]

@Jacob

Your method seems easier. A sufficiently long screw with a lot of shear strength would work well. I would toss some epoxy into the hole to ensure the non-threaded parts of the screw form a mechanical hold to the wood.

[Jason]

A sufficiently long screw with a lot of shear strength

The cure as well as the cause.

[jacob]

I don't even know where to begin ...

[Lucky C]

If I cant fix it does it make sense for me to pay for the bed or not?

Sounds like it was almost gone already and you were using it reasonably, so I don't think you should have to pay for it.

[Gilberto de Piento]

You should be able to find one of those metal folding bed frames on Craigslist or the thrift store for free or next to nothing. They are often out on the curb too. Post a want ad if there is t anything being offered.