In an ideal world, a bed iron is installed as shown in figure 1.

Important points to note:

• The iron is mortised into the rail.
• A slat is used to support the wide span of the box spring.
• The top of the box spring is 1/2" - 1" below the top of the rail to prevent the mattress from sliding.
• The length of the iron is approximately the same depth as the box spring.

The downside of the ideal installation is that in most applications the bed iron, and box spring, shows below the rail. To avoid this problem, many people opt for this alternate installation:

Notes on this alternate method (figure 2):

• No slat - a slat is not needed for strength, in that our irons have the strength to support any box spring. Slats are used to prevent sag. Modern box springs can sag in the middle over time.
• The box spring rises above the top of the rail. If the box spring and mattress are both very deep, the top of the bed may be very high off the floor. The height of the mattress may obscure the headboard.
• The length of the iron is approximately the same height as the rail (4 to 6 inches). This way the bed iron does not show below the rail. This also allows storage space below the bed.

Return to bed irons.