A delayed plan

Today’s plan was discarded when we received a telephone call from the mattress maker to advise our mattress had been manufactured and was ready for collection.  There was some muttering from Jan about “I’ve just finished making the bed!”

This is the borrowed bed we have been using since arriving in Perth.  Note the position of the pillows.  This will be relevant when you look at the last photo.

The new mattress consisted of the following components

• soft sponge foam frame
• outer material casing
• fake sheepskin topper
• waterproof liner
• heater element and control (2)

The first task was to remove the old bed from the room and make a start on fitting the drawers back into the new bed frame.  I had to do this before positioning the bed otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to reach the runner screws at the bedhead end.  In the end I decided to fit all the drawers before positioning the two halves of the bed.

The two halves we clamped and then screwed together

The next step was to fit and screw the 12mm plywood tops to the base

I decided to run a length of duct tape down the central join.  It probably isn’t required and I’m likely to be ‘over engineering’ the project.

Jan and I fitted to soft frame inside the material outer case and I then installed the two heaters.  But not before first testing they worked!  Again I used duct tape to secure the heater and cables.  It wasn’t in the instructions… but that’s just me!

The waterproof membrane then goes over everything.  The idea is it will contain any water should a bladder develop a leak.

We then spent 45 minutes filling the water bladders using the garden hose.  Each bladder was ¼ filled in turn.  Then ½, ¾ and full.  Don’t fill one bladder first as it can push the other bladder out of alignment.

 

With the bladders filled to within 10mm of the top of the frame it was time to ‘burp’ them.  Jan sat on each bladder at the bedhead end forcing the air to the foot of the bed where I attempted to extract it.  There will be plenty of remaining air bubbles so we are going to need to burp both bladders a few more times.  I then added the supplied water conditioner to each bladder.  We don’t buy water conditioner from water bed shops as it’s rather expensive.  Instead we go to the chemist and buy copper sulphate crystals which do a very similar job and are much cheaper.

The sheepskin topper was zipped on before we made the bed for the first time

Remember I mentioned the position of the pillows on the original bed.  Jan thinks Keith & Jo (nb Hadar) could sleep sideways in the bed.  Actually there’s probably plenty of room for Paddy and Marmite to join them!

I’m waiting on the drawer handles to arrive from China before continuing with that part of the project.  I also have to visit the local timber merchants to look at a sample of Jarrah panelling for potential use on the headboard.

Oh, Jan has stated she thinks the bed is too high and might struggle getting onto it.  I might need to make a ladder or stool.