To attain a high level of comfort and support from your luxurious mattress, you need a flat surface base rather than bed slats with gaps to help maximize the mattress’ features. However, with two excellent foundation choices – Bunkie board and plywood – it becomes challenging to pick one.
A Bunkie board is designed to be an excellent alternative to box spring, as it helps retain your mattress’ low-profile look. Further, it has proven useful in situations when the available vertical space has to be maximized.
On the contrary, plywood foundation is often sought after due to its relatively low price and easier accessibility. At this juncture, with several pros and cons, making a choice – Bunkie board vs. plywood is a bit challenging.
Nevertheless, in this guide, both strength and weakness of both products will be considered to help you make the right choice for a beautiful night rest.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT PLYWOOD?
Primarily, the plywood features a simple build construction which includes joined veneer’s layer and glued together to form a sheet material. This unique construction of platform by using thin wood layers has a long history dated back as far as 1500 B.C. This adjoined layers are rotated 90-degrees in a process called cross-graining, which is responsible for the platform endurance.
The cross graining plays a vital role in helping the platform become highly resistant to any splitting form, and also, minimize expansion and shrinkage resulting in an increased level of stability, when nailed to the edges. Typically, a wide range of layers in always involved in the cross graining, which makes it possible to have balance sheets, which are unsusceptible when wrapped.
The product appears stronger due to increase gap levels of the outer part of the plywood, where stress is always intense and helps make it repelling to bending. Plywood offers the same effectiveness and quality irrespective of the size and comes with options to meet your specific requirements.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT BUNKIE BOARD?
In simple words, Bunkie boards are a flat board made with wood and are trimmed to fit your bed size or dimension. Bunkie boards are often placed underneath your bed to maximize your level of support experience. They are designed to be an excellent alternative to box spring. This type of foundation works well with foam and latex mattresses.
The unique construction of Bunkie boards helps optimize the durability and comfort experience while you sleep on your mattress, as it attenuates the imposed effects of slats. With Bunkie boards, you get an increased height about 2 – 3 inches, which may not be recommended for some height-restricted bunk beds to ensure the safety of the sleeper.
Without doubts, there will always be an option to suit your bed size providing an excellent alternative to slats for the just acquired or possessed best bunk beds. This sleep equipment is new, and most people are yet to take advantage. It is available in various forms, with the thicker offering better support and strength compared to the thinner ones. If you want to replace mattress for your bunk beds, check out the best mattress for bunk beds on the market.
BUNKIE BOARD VS. PLYWOOD REVIEW – PROS & CONS
THICKNESS AND STRENGTH
For buyers looking to get some about an inch thick, then purchasing a Bunkie board is the right choice, since they come in various levels of thickness. All-in-all, Bunkie boards are more durable except for those built using low-quality materials, which are often not as supportive as expected.
On the other hand, plywood sheets feature a thickness, which often ranges from 1/8” to 3”. This is always a great choice if you don’t need a specific platform thickness.
PRICE
This factor is essential and helps decide whether Bunkie board or plywood will best fit your budget. Also, you have to put into consideration if you would prefer a platform you would like to build yourself or buy already made.
For those looking to spend few extra bucks, without worrying about cutting anything, then going for Bunkie board may be all you need. They come with a specific size and thickness.
FINAL VERDICT
Clearly, Bunkie board is designed to meet all your needs – thickness and size. But, if you want to save more, then going for plywood is advised. Note, with plywood platform you shouldn’t mind doing some trimming to ensure you get the desired size and thickness.