I had a customer contact me about building a California king bed.  She had an idea and a picture but I’m a little uncertain about the construction of the frame because of theweight of the mattress and box spring.  Any of you guys every build a California king that could offer some insight?

Never built one but ours is that size. Boy, the guys struggled getting the mattress and springs up stairs. 

I think the weight is almost the same as a regular king. It is a little longer but not quite as wide

I think Lew is correct (I've never built one). I would think the weight is not so much as to be much of a problem. I suppose you could check at a mattress store to see if the frames look different on the 2 sizes, but I'm betting it's very little.

I looked under our bed (no Jimmy Hoffa wasn't there) there is a center support built into the frame.

My son had a king size that was 2 twins for the foundation and a king size top mattress years ago.

Here is a link that might help you some.

https://www.diffen.com/difference/California_King_Size_vs_King_Size

 

Herb

a  CA bed is just a little longer for taller people.  Now a Water Bed  has some serious weight.

Why is it named a California bed? Always wondered that. Why not a Texas bed?

or an Alaska bed. I've often wondered about that as well.

Thanks guys!  Y’all have been very helpful.  I think a center support is definitely in the plan. The hardest thing about this project will be getting it in my shop.  

12 minutes ago, Ron Dudelston said:

Thanks guys!  Y’all have been very helpful.  I think a center support is definitely in the plan. The hardest thing about this project will be getting it in my shop.  

Shoulda grabbed that house next door. 

Mattress and box spring come to about 100#.  Occupants, dead weight, might be 600#-plus.  If they're, uh, moving the impact loading might double the stress.  Maybe more.  If you research the web, you might find source documents on minimum standards, but if I were calculating it, I'd start at about 1500# design load. 

@Ron Dudelston

 

I would build it like any other King sized frame. Typically, the California King (Western King, et. al.) are a few inches longer then the standard King (or Eastern King). The one thing to be careful of, is that they are sometimes narrower then the typical bed. So, they can be longer but also narrower then the regular King size mattress. In actuality, they both have the same surface areas.

 

So, the important variable here is to make sure of the actual mattress dimensions before you make the frame.

 

I ran into that with my mother's bed a few years ago. She and my father purchased a California Queen (my father was 6' and needed the length) in the early 60's. My mother was still sleeping on the same mattress 35 years later. It was so uncomfortable I insisted on buying her a new mattress. It would have had to be special ordered and cost prohibitive. I ended up buying her a Select Comfort air mattress.

 

However, because the bed frame WAS narrower then the regular Queen I had to buy her a full size and shorten the bed frame rails.

 

The center supports are normal on most frames larger then the average Queen. Add the center supports and you should be OK.

 

Hope this helped.

9 hours ago, schnewj said:

@Ron Dudelston

So, the important variable here is to make sure of the actual mattress dimensions before you make the frame.

I second that notion.  When I converted a 3/1 cribs to full size, I found that "full" is standard width between mfrs, but different lengths.  One crib has a 4" gap at the foot, the other fits the mattress because I try not to goof twice the same way.  (Goofing twice in different ways is par for my course!)