We had yet another opportunity to put together a Zinus platform bed, this time for our King size mattress.
That’s right; we didn’t learn from our experience a couple of years ago. We did it because we got rid of the old bedstead, the disassembly of which led to my left ankle injury in June. Since then, I’ve either slept on the mattress which was on the floor or on a lumpy hotel bed.
Actually, the assembly wasn’t all that bad. It did take longer than I expected, given that we went through this routine with the other bed in 2022. Again, we had the benefit of that handy little ratchet hex head wrench although I did get a charley horse in my right thumb after we got the frame assembled.
The bed was delivered in the early afternoon, I don’t remember exactly when because I was delirious by the time we finished a little after 4:00 in the afternoon. Some reviewers said one person could finish the job in a half hour. You know, time gets distorted when you’re delirious from overuse of a little ratchet hex head wrench.
When all is said and done, the choice to go with the DIY knock down furniture again still made sense. It can cut the total cost by hundreds of dollars for a similar product shipped preassembled from XpensiveStuffStore.
But a lot of sweat equity is involved, especially when the parts have confusing labels. For example, the 4 sides were labeled Left (L) and Right (R) but there didn’t seem to be any way to tell what the frame of reference was. Was it the head or the foot of the bed? Why did we end up putting both R and L sides on the same side of the bed? And why did that even work?
Don’t answer that question unless you have assembled this frame and know the correct answer. I still don’t.
It took more time and effort than it should have because I forgot to postpone tightening all screws until all the parts were screwed together. If you decide to do your own assembly and start getting the idea that a sledge hammer should have been included in the hardware box—loosen all the screws.
What comes to mind is the phrase “Once more unto the breach,” a phrase from Shakespeare, about which I know almost nothing. I think the whole quote is “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more or hang up the hex head wrench before you get a charley horse.”
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