Our wooden bed frame is three years old. At first it was perfectly solid and silent. But lately it's started creaking whenever we get in or out of it, and it's become unbearably loud.
The noise comes from the the corner, where the horizontal piece of wood at the side of the bed joins the vertical corner piece. They're bolted together and I assume the bolt had worked loose.
I've investigated tightening the bolt, which only helped a little bit temporarily. Also the bolt has started to wear down from repeated tightening, and I don't have the right tools anyway. I don't know if just making it really, really tight would actually solve the problem as I've been told it shouldn't need to be tightened very much.
My question is: How can I prevent the actual noise of the wood slipping against itself and creaking? I've read about using oil or talc… Or should I take it apart and fit something in between the two pieces of wood?
Best Answer
If you can disassemble the frame, separate the siderails from the head and foot boards. Use a crayon or candle to wax the mating surfaces of the wood. This will help eliminate the squeeks. If the bolt has machine threads apply a small amount of thread lock (Loc-tite) which is available at the local hardware store. Get the smallest tube you can as you literally need four drops. One drop for each bolt. If the bolt has wood threads get some chair-lock. It is a glue designed for assembling chairs. Again apply a drop to each bolt. It also is available at the hardware store. While at the hardware store pick up the correct tool you need to tighten the bolt. Assemble the bed tightening the bolts until no movement is felt at the joints. If you can allow the bed to sit unused for an hour or so your adhesives can set.