How to Build a Bed Frame With a Tempered Hardboard

A bed frame prevents your mattress and box spring from sitting on the floor. While you can purchase one from a furniture store in a variety of materials, you can also build your own if you're short on cash. Tempered hardboard is an engineered wood product that is cheap to produce and is comparable to particleboard, but is much stronger. It is commonly used to make furniture for lower costs and is ideal for a do-it-yourself project.

2-by-4-inch tempered hardboard measuring 57 inches long (2)
2-by-4-inch tempered hardboard measuring 80 inches long (2)
Drill
Wood screws
1/2-inch thick plywood measuring 60-by-80 inches
8 wood posts 6-by-6-by-12-inch

Instructions

- 1
  Lay the four 2-by-4 boards in a rectangular shape with the two longer boards on the sides and shorter ones on the top and bottom. Place the shorter ones on the insides of the longer ones. All boards should be placed on the thinner 2-inch sides.
- 2
  Drill the boards together starting in the upper-right corner. Starting at the outside, drill each screw through the longer board into the shorter piece. Repeat for additional screws, placing them 2 inches apart.
- 3
  Add wood screws to the other three corners in the same manner as Step 2 to form the basic frame for the bed.
- 4
  Place the piece of plywood on top of the frame. Screw one screw straight down into the bed frame at each corner, going through the plywood and into the tempered hardboard.
- 5
  Add an additional wood screw in the center of the top and bottom boards through the plywood, and two extra screws along the sides spaced evenly apart to keep the plywood securely attached to the frame.
- 6
  Stand the frame up on its side, giving you access to both the plywood and the boards. Place a post in the corner of the frame where two of the boards meet and drive four screws through the top, going first through the plywood and then into the frame.
- 7
  Drive two more screws for the post from the side of the shorter board and two other screws through the longer board for a total of four screws on the top and four driven through the sides. Do the same for the other three corners of the bed frame.
- 8
  Add a post halfway down the length of the bed frame, placing it flush against the tempered hardboard. Secure it to the frame by driving four wood screws through the plywood into the post. Add reinforcement along the sides by drilling an extra three screws through the side boards into the post. Add an extra post to the center of the other three boards, securing them in the same manner.

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Beds