Fold Your Box Spring

Kay Steiger had some difficulty fitting her box spring up her staircase and found some instructions about how to cut it and reassemble it. I actually had a similar problem with my own box spring when moving into our current abode. Kriston and I were, however, able to solve the dilemma with the following technique:

1. Try for a while, fail, and give up.
2. Finish moving the other stuff with the help of your friends.
3. Enjoy post-moving beers with friends.
4. Watch friends leave.
5. Enjoy a couple more beers.
6. Try again, this time pushing really hard.

Our way sounds more fun.

Comments

Cutting things in half is always way more fun, duh.

Posted by JoeF | September 4, 2007 6:47 PM

One of the wiseest purchases I ever made was a split box spring. I bought a queen set and asked if they had split box springs, they said sure $20 extra, a no brainer. Way easier to move!

Posted by Eric K | September 4, 2007 6:50 PM

Split box spring is definitely the way to go.

Posted by Misplaced Patriot | September 4, 2007 7:05 PM

Hindsight is always 20/20.

No one could have predicted that the box-spring wouldn't fit up the stairs.

Posted by Dung | September 4, 2007 7:11 PM

No one could have predicted that the box-spring wouldn't fit up the stairs.

LOL

Posted by eRobin | September 4, 2007 7:23 PM

For a queen bed, buy 2 twin box springs. Works great.

Posted by Slippery Pete | September 4, 2007 7:27 PM

The word "jornaleros" springs to mind for some reason; after all, why not enjoy the fruits of your advocacy? Either that or a winch.

Posted by TLB | September 4, 2007 7:37 PM

What the hell is a box spring? Please explain to those of us who have bedframes manufactured since 1968.

Posted by Toady | September 4, 2007 7:38 PM

I haven't been able to fit a queen sized box spring up the stairs at 3 of the last 4 places I've lived. So I have a split box spring, and I cart around the extra full size queen which I then keep stored on the main floor. Although that has worked so far, it doesn't seem very practical - but I can't bring myself to throw out the full size, and I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy it...

Posted by McKingford | September 4, 2007 7:44 PM

Toady,

It's the thingy with springs in it underneath the mattress. And modern-era beds can have them too. I bought my cast-iron queen size bed from Sleepy's in 2000 and it has a box spring. I don't remember if it came with it or not. I think I had to choose the mattress separately. I forget.

Posted by Fred | September 4, 2007 7:47 PM

Pete,

I think it is a King that equals 2 twins, my Queen boxes are a little smaller than twins

Posted by Eric K | September 4, 2007 8:22 PM

Toady,
The internets tell me:

The box-spring serves three main purposes: To help raise the mattress's height, making it easier to get in and out of bed; to help absorb shock and reduce wear to the mattress; and to help create a perfectly flat and firm structure for the mattress to lay upon. Some beds do not need a box-spring, but most traditional frame or four poster beds require one.

And as Fred notes, they are still quite common; I'd guess a fair portion of - or even most - mattresses are still used with box springs. Look in the ads and you will see a lot of package mattress + box spring deals, especially now, as students move into apartments.

Posted by Warren Terra | September 4, 2007 8:59 PM

Oh the humanity. Yglesias has never heard of a split box spring!

Posted by fnook | September 4, 2007 11:30 PM

You, sir, need a time machine.

Posted by Dirk Gently | September 5, 2007 12:47 AM

So what's the deal with box springs anyway? Until recently I just slept on a mattress on the floor, but then I got this notion about living like adults do or something and I got a a bedframe and a box spring. The former created some handy storage space, but I don't know what I'm getting out of the latter. The bed feels just the same as before. And they're #2 behind giant couches on the "hardest things to move" list. Giant couches are clearly worth the trouble, but I'm not at all convinced box springs are anything more than a conspiracy eminating from the mattress warehouse-industrial complex, to line their pockets while the proles suffer a bit more every time they move.

Posted by djw | September 5, 2007 2:32 AM

Dirk is right.

Douglas Adams has the scoop in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

Posted by Doug | September 5, 2007 6:38 AM

I threw out my box spring when this happened and bought a new split one. I feel very decadant now. I threw money at the problem!

On the other hand, "pushing really hard" definitely wasn't going to do it unless we took a sledgehammer and basically knocked out the ceiling first.

Posted by mq | September 5, 2007 8:44 AM

On the other hand, "pushing really hard" definitely wasn't going to do it unless we took a sledgehammer and basically knocked out the ceiling first.

We suffered only very minor ceiling damage.

Posted by Matthew Yglesias | September 5, 2007 8:47 AM

Several years ago, we bought a queen size mattress and box spring and the mattress guys had no trouble delivering it to our apartment. The following year, we bought a house and it was not possible (trust me, Mr. JMS even made a hole in the ceiling over the stairs) to get the box spring up the stairs. So it went to the garage and I constructed a platform out of boards and plywood that fit in the bedframe and over which the mattress would go. It was sort of creaky, but worked well enough, and I actually preferred the mattress closer to the ground (I'm short).

But we got to the point where we wanted a new mattress, plus I wanted a headboard, which wouldn't be at the right height without a box spring, so we bought a new mattress and split box springs, the mattress guys took away the old mattress and the old box spring was finally sprung from the garage and voila...

If there's a lesson in this, though, if you are buying a queen or larger mattress and box spring, always get the split box spring unless you are sure the regular one will fit in your domicile (e.g. your bedroom is on the first floor) and you have no plans to move before you replace the mattress. I've heard this sad story many times and I'm pretty surprised the mattress people don't automatically mention it to customers in areas that have older, multifloor houses--unless they are hoping the customers have to come back to re-order the higher priced split box springs--which would be a pretty sleazy thing to do...

Posted by JMS | September 5, 2007 8:53 AM

Years ago my wife and I had to do the "saw in half and reassemble" thing with our queen bed to get it up a iron spiral staircase in our condo. Fresh out of school, buying a new split boxspring was not an option (and, frankly, I didn't know until reading this thread that it was an option at all on queen sized beds, as opposed to a king). I was sort of ashamed to tell anyone at the condo complex that we had done that, expecting them to say "geez, dumbass, all you had to do was turn it THIS way." But as we got to know people there, we found that the problem was universal to the complex. One guy just set up his bed downstairs in what was supposed to be the living room.

Posted by Jeff in Texas | September 5, 2007 9:56 AM

A box spring is a totally unnecessary thing. As a commenter pointed out above, sleeping on a mattress on the floor is perfectly comfortable. If you want your bed to be higher just put the legs of the bed frame on top of some wood blocks or something (you can even buy bed-raisers made specially for this purpose).

Posted by BP | September 5, 2007 10:11 AM