If you have little kids in the house, chances are, jumping on beds will be a common sight in your daily routine. If your beds are new and the mattresses are thick enough to withstand the jumping, you probably will have no problem except to make sure they don’t fall off and hurt themselves. But what happens if one of the slats gets broken beneath the mattress? Don’t worry, you may not have to spend a fortune on a new bed, as these slats can be easily fixed with your own do-it-yourself skills.


Step 1 . Examine the slats to see which ones were broken. Whether it’s one slat or two, you will need to replace the slat with a new piece of wood. Even if the slat is only cracked, it is best to change it and not just glue it. Some people wonder if there is a type of glue that is strong enough to hold the slat back together, but experts advice against it, as glue will never be strong enough to support a bed slat.

Step 2. Measure the length of the slat you need based on the broken wood slat. As much as possible, remove the broken piece and take it along with you to the local hardware store so you can be sure to get the right thickness.

Step 3. Consider the weight that the bed will be supporting. If the broken bed is a kid’s bed, and if your child is already old enough not to jump around as much, you can get a 1 x 3 piece of wood. This is enough to support the weight of the child. If the bed is an adult’s bed, a 1 x3 will likely not be enough; in that case, get a 1 x 4. This would also actually be a better choice, since it is usually not certain that you could definitely keep your kids from jumping on the bed again. An important point to note is that these sizes, despite the 1-inch thickness in the name, typically actually measure three-fourths of an inch in thickness; this is why you have to bring along the broken slat. If you want to save on money, you can find scrap pieces from the scrap bin at the local hardware store.

Step 4. Alternatively, you can opt to do a process called “sistering.” In do-it-yourself lingo, this means attaching a sort of splint to the broken piece. You can do this by gluing the cracked portion of the wooden slat together. Then get a piece of wood that is about the same length and width. Bolt, screw, or nail this new wooden slab to keep the broken piece in place. In terms of bed slats, this would translate to bolting or nailing the new piece of wood underneath.

Step 5. Another option would be to get a piece of plywood to put over the wooden bed slats. This serves to distribute the weight evenly across the bed, and it may be a good fix for most beds.