A female friend of mine, recently divorced, yesterday asked for help with a few fix-it things around her place. After installing a deadbolt and new washing machine hoses, she said she wanted to attach her bed’s headboard to the wall. (Let me just say that we are totally platonic and she is about as appealing to me as Ms. Hathaway was in the Beverly Hillbillies.)
But I digress. Apparently, she has just met a guy and I’m guessing she is concerned about disturbing her mother during sex. Her mother, FTR, has been staying with her during a difficult post-divorce adjustment.
After sizing her up, I suggested slamming in a couple of toggle bolts and calling it done. But now I wonder if they are substantial enough. We’re talking drywall and interior wall studs spaced every 24" on center, I believe. Give the slim possibility that Ms. Hathaway is a real bedroom tiger, should I opt for a few 3-inch lag screws firmly bolted into the studs?
I assume that we’re talking about a metal “Hollywood” bed, with a decorative headboard attached.
My guess is that directly attaching the headboard to the wall will make things louder on the otherside, as the bed would be directly coupled to the wall. Instead, I’d secure the bed to the bottom of the wall by attaching the legs to a block that rests on the floor and in turn attaches to wall at the base moulding. The difference would be like the difference between hitting a drum in the center of the skin and hitting it at the rim.
Of course, the best option would be to bolt the bed to the floor. I wouldn’t do it to my floor either.
Two possible suggestions: One, remove the headboard from the bed and mount it to the wall however you like and leave it unattached to the bed. Just keep the bed up against it and no one will know the difference. Two, (if it banging against the wall is the issue) just pull the bed away from the wall another inch or so. Wait, Three: (When I was living at home, my headboard was noisey, this long before it was loud becuse of another person, just general moving in the bed, getting in and out of bed etc…) I just shoved a tennis ball between the headboard and the wall and that did the trick.
Another method would be to make the headboard self-supporting. Build or buy some sort of feet for it, extending along the sides of the bed, or even underneath. I’ve seen large shelf brackets used, the kind with two arms at right angles and a diagonal brace. Paint or stain to match, and maybe put in blocks to keep the bed away from the headboard. The tennis-ball idea is good too!
This is how I mounted my bed. Oh man that sounds bad! I made my own bed a few years back, platform style, but it wasn’t strong enough to float, it needed to be attached to the wall. Plenty strong up and down, and side to side, not strong front to back.
I lag bolted a 2x4 across 2 studs, then used a couple of small lag bolts, well below the mattress line, to attach the headboard to the 2x4.
