That's not normal frank. I've sold and put together over 1,000 beds over the years of every shape, size and with every brand of bedding and have never seen anything like what you describe. The question becomes which unit is off-spec, the bed framework or the mattress and box set. I suggest you measure the mattress, here's the standard industry sizes:

Eastern King: 76" x 80"
California King: 72" x 84"
Queen: 60" x 80"
Double/Full X-Long: 53" x 80"
Double/Full: 53" x 75"
Twin X-Long: 38" x 80"
Twin: 38" x 75"

What I suspect has happened is the bed frame maker put a set of California King rails in the Eastern King bed package. It can easily happen if a worker pulls the pre-cut rails from the wrong bin at the bedmaker's production facility. Thats why your width is perfect (Eastern King) and your length is so long. All they will have to do if this is the case is get a set of Eastern King rails for you and come to your house - swap them out.

I'm curious to see how it all turns out, keep us advised!

Duane Collie

Hello Duane,

I too had a hunch that I might have gotten the CAL King rails instead of the eastern King rails, but here's the latest. I contacted the manufacturer of the furniture directly - Vaughan-Bassett (since my local dealer still has not returned my call).

The tech support person there says that having that kind of gap is standard with their beds. I told them that statement was ridiculous and that if you look at the pics on their website, nowhere does it show any kind of gap of that size. But she did give me some interesting info that might help..

She said she doubts I mistakenly received CAL King rails because they would be considerbly longer than what I am describing. The rails for CAL King are 86". The rails for my bed, which is a sleigh hedboard and a low profile footboard are 82" and she said that they also make rails that are 78" which are for the sleigh bed that has the higher and curved footboard. I have to confirm these measurements but am hopeful that if my furniture dealer ever calls me back, I can ask him to swap out the 82" rails and wood center pieces for the 78" size. That should solve the problem. What's strange is that it appears that I may actualy have received the right set of rails and that the gap in question is "normal" according to their tech support department. Certainly contrary to what you stated in your post.

Interesting! I'd certainly go for the shorter rail swap as a 2" gap is more tolerable. The bulk of the beds I see and set up have anywhere from 1/2" to 1.5" gap tolerances. We don't even see 2" on the length.

I don't understand why they would have a 6" tolerance as there really isn't that much variance in mattress sets from all the different makers.

-Duane

Hi Frank,

Am in the same position/situation as you and I was wondering whether your situation was resolved. I just received my bed from Boyle's and the bed frame is 2" wider and longer on all sides when we use a King mattress. We measured the mattress and it is exactly 76x80 as it should be. The bed frame, however, is 80x82. There is a noticeable gap and I was wondering what the best way of hiding the gap and making it more comfortable to get in and out of would be.

I realize this is an old post, but since it kept on coming up in my search for a solution (antique full bed too long for mattress), I thought I'd share:

http://www.woodbedrails.com/ offers replacement side rails. In my case, I'm guessing someone replaced the side rails on my full size bed with queen size ones. Now, at least I know there's a place that might provide me with the solution!

Sears also had metal frames. I'm sure there are other vendors as well.

~Vivian

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood Bed Rails

Has anyone gotten this issue resolved

I also thought my frame was too big for a cal king in width. however length is fine. I got my bed at macy's furniture clearance and I think the foot board is a king and the rails are a cal king and the headboard is a cal king because the headboard and rails fit perfectly and the foot board is way to wide and is not adjustable. Having said that i went and looked at the same types of beds at macys and many of the like beds are way wider and/or longer than the cal king mattress or king. They just make them bigger. Luckily the headboard adjusts in width but I have a 2 inch gap on each side of the mattress. it will be interesting to see if it moves around cuz that would suck. example cal king dimentions 72 width x 84 length. This is a cal king advertised at macys http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/rosalind-upholstered-california-king-bed?ID=2115123&CategoryID=29391&swatchColor=Cinder&ruleId=97|BS&slotId=23

Dimensions: 85"W x 93"D

I have the same problem with my sleigh bed from Restoration Hardware and Stearns and Fosters mattress. I am really mad, I've spent a lot of money looking for the perfect bed and mattress and now I have to deal with this gap. We got a king bed so we can co-sleep with my son and now this seems more of a safety hazard. I just measured a lot of mattresses of different brands, and they all meassure 79inches instead of 80 when they states it is 80.

A good number of beds have gaps around the mattresses by design. I expect about an inch on the sides and probably 6 inches or so at the head and foot.

And ug, platform beds can be worse.

Now keep in mind a small store like us, we have 6 bedroom manufacturers and 5 mattress companies for suppliers. So they all have to hold each other's stuff!

You know the bed that gives us the most trouble? Its the tight fitting panel bed about 30 feet from me which is too small to hold the power adjustable bases in it. Wish it had more of a FB gap.

And yeah, the mattress folks do like the 2x4 folks with sizes. 79 actual when a king is supposed to be 80 head to toe is common. There IS some expansion of mattresses as they age though.

A good number of manufacturers will use the same headboard and footboard for king and cal king just exchanging the rails. Hopefully the HB and FB have different hooks at least. In Missouri there just isn't much call for the narrow cal king though.

What should you do?

Not much, just inspect display for bed in the store you are at and see if it holds mattresses like you want.

I just purchased a standard king size bed and have the exact same problem! I disagree vehemently with ANYONE suggesting "that's just the way it is sometimes" and suggesting you do nothing! Give me a break! They are just trying to cut their losses. Don't be fooled. Don't be a pushover.

In my case, I had a technician come to my house to actually measure everything in person to see where the gap might be coming from. I had him measure the mattress length TWICE and BOTH times he measured 80" (the correct length). But after he left, I decided just for giggles to measure it again, but with a family member I can trust (because they are a contractor) holding the other end of the tape measure. Guess what it measured? 76"!!! The technician must have PULLED BACK the tape measure 4" when I had to let go of the other end of the tape measure to verify it was 80". He must have done this TWICE. How underhanded can you be?!

Do NOT be a pushover. Fight for your rights as a consumer. If it doesn't match what was advertised, take it to court. That is your RIGHT as a consumer.

I have the same problem with a sealys mattress and Hooker Corsica King bed. At first I thought the rails were mistakenly Cal King rails but confirmed I had the correct rails. Now I measure the Sealys mattress and its 76.5" in length. That coupled with the normal gap on my bed and its a huge gap. About 7". I call Sleepys where I bought the mattress and they told me that Sealys warranty won't cover the fact that its too short. I leave it and dealt with it because it was just me and my wife. Until... Last year we had our first child and she recently fell into the gap and chipped her tooth. I get on the phone immediately to call Sealys which tells me the variance shouldn't be more than .5 to 1". They inform me to call Sleepys. Sleepys is telling me the same thing where Sealys won't cover the defect because its not listed on their warranty list. I'm stuck as to what to do at this point. I pay 1g for a mattress that I will be stuck with and have to buy a replacement. Sometimes I feel common sense flies over these CS reps head.

I have the same problem with my bed. Bed was purchased 40 years ago but I have a new mattress. A carpenter can probably take bed apart, cut rails off and reinstall. For now, I take an old blanket and lay across foot of bed. I then roll up three pillows, one sideways and two lengthwise. Next I wrap blanket around pillows to create a roll type pillow. Then I lay a coverlet across the end of the bed. It works fine and just looks like I have a roll type pillow at end of bed. The only reason I decided I needed to fill in the gap is because our dog sleeps on our bed and I was afraid she would fall through. If anyone is interested in pictures, I can post.

maroper Can you message me? I am designing a bed frame and now have questions.

My husband and I had this happen also. For me, it was a happy coincidence. I pulled the mattress all the way up to the head of the bed, my husband hugs up to a bolster at night, during the day I can store the bolster in the space at the foot of the bed. I hate for the sheets and blankets to be weighty against my feet, so at night I put my large decorative pillows into the space and pull the sheet and blankets up over them so they just gently touch the top of my feet when I am sleeping. I am happy with my situation.

I bought my mattress about 4 or 5 years ago. It was supposed to be a standard king. When they arrived and set everything up, I also noticed that there was a huge gap between the mattress and the rails and the mattress and the headboard/footboard (though, not as much). I ignored it for the longest time because they were in a rush and I just wanted a bed. Over the years, I noticed that every sheet set I bought didn't fit right. So I *finally* measured my mattress! It's not even close to 80"!! It's approximately 76 L X 74 W. Now, I can't seem to find any sheets that will fit and I can't afford a new mattress. So, I suppose I'll have to pull out the sewing machine and make the best of it :) Any thoughts on this situation?

I just bought a queen mattress and custom stained queen bed for my in-laws anniversary. The bed side rails measure 82” which I can understand; need to account for bedding and such. However, the mattress measures 77” - which results in a 5” gap. Either way they push the mattress there is still a considerable gap at either end. Oh, and this bed has drawers so all the cat wants to do is slide down into one of them. Convinced by some articles I’ve read online that’s it a mattress issue and have contacted the store to get an answer.

Queen size should be 80" long. National brand?

We have this problem with our Queen and our daughter’s Twin. For both, I just tuck a body pillow between the footboard and mattress. Works like a charm!

Yes, it should absolutely be 80”. However there are multiple articles online about mattress manufacturer’s “skimping” on the length. I personally have a mattress and box spring. Box spring measures 80” but the matress is 78”, so you don’t notice anything being off. My issue is the in-laws didn’t want a box spring so the gap is clearly noticeable.

I have similar issue with a bed made by Ashley but purchased from Raymor Flannigan. They said the more than 2" gap on both sides of our bed "industry standard ". I am concerned that our toddler will get her foot caught in between the wood rails when climbing on the bed! They took away our box spring when they installed the bed so i can't return the frame! And they are charging a restock fee, which I find infuriating! I need to find a solution, it looks terrible and I don't want my child to get hurt..

Any advice?

Currently having the same issues with my west elm mid century Platform bed, and it’s driving me insane

I either have all my pillows fallimg into the gap at the head which is extremely uncomfortable or I have an ugly gap at the foot of the bed. any suggestions?

My bed is the same, huge gap at bottom! My mattresses slide away from headboard when sitting! Very uncomfortable! Causes back pain! I like the way beds were made before, I think they use these for king/ al king-I hate it!!! Iv tried different frames, no dif! Suffering back pain every time my mattress-every day slides—I’m gonna shop for a bed of my mattress size!! As soon as I can afford it!! Until I’ll have to be totally aggravated with this issue!!!

I'm having exact same issue, bought a bed, used, and I have a 7 inch gap. I have the side pieces that are 84 inches long. My matress is a Standard King, not Cal King.

Thinking of building a bench for the gap. Would be a pain but doable..., no name brand on it, so no one to call. Any advise or info would be greatly appreciated.

dont mind my mess. under construction.

I have the same problem 4 inch gap, today I am going to fix it, remove the hooks, cut off 4 inches, reinstall the hooks, then put them together.

What did you do? i have this exact problem for a bed i bought secondhand. its in almost new condition. insuspect thats why they got rid of it. advice?

The same thing happened to me yesterday. Similar gap at the foot of the bed. When I rang the store they tried to bully me into accepting that this was standard and that the doona (some call it a duvet, it's doona in Australia) would hang over and fill the gap. Well, for the doona to do this on the 35 cm thick mattress, it would have to be 2.2 metres long and standard doonas are barely two metres long. One kind salesperson suggested that their handyman could shorten the rails for me, which I originally thought would solve the problem, but then I was told by someone else that that sort of work is not in his duty statement and legal action could arise if anything happened when he was doing a job he was not supposed to.

Tomorrow I will spend an hour dissembling the bed, shortening the side rails, shifting the connecting brackets along a couple of centimetres each end and then reassembling. A fairly simple job but the shop refused to take any responsibility. The man I spoke with even went so far as to try and tell me that he was doing me a big favour if he took the bed back and refunded me my money because I HAD CHANGED MY MIND!! What a bully! None of my friends will be going to "40 Winks" after this.

Same problem as all on this thread. I have standard king mattress and wood bed frame from Lexington. 7” gap at the end of the bed. Filled it with pillows for now. Later I will have carpenter reduce the side rails so it will fit.
Makes NO SENSE! What’s the matter with bed manufacturers? Can’t they measure a standard king mattress and make a king bed frame to fit? I get a few inches extra but 7! I never had this problem with my queen beds. Good grief.

We have the same problem. Beautiful headboard and storage drawers at footboard, sleigh style. I think that the frame manufacturers can easily resolve this issue by making the frame adjustable. The fame should be made to slide to accommodate a California king extended mattress as well as traditional king size. Simply tighten the bolts to the desired length. The present design is clearly a flaw that could present the manufacturer with a hefty lawsuit if someone gets hurt, especially children getting caught in the gap as a result. Perhaps a letter to their legal department would cause them to correct the design. When a company has actual or constructive notice of a design flaw which results in foreseeable property damage or injury to innocent users of their product, liability may attach.

I have lived with this problem for about a decade. It’s a floor model I bought from Bassett Furniture.

My pillows even fall between the gap between the mattress and the headboard. If I slide the matter up, you can see through the storage drawer at the bottom. Since the bed is too long, I have not been able to place the bed in the direction I want.

Now that I am renovating, I’ve decided to find a woodworker to cut side panels and shorten them about 6.5.” I am waiting for quote from a local shop….