Do you Reside in Massachusetts? Are you Moving Here Soon? Get a Split Box Spring!
A split box spring is great for New England. Normal box springs were not made for Boston, or anywhere in Massachusetts, really. As longtime Boston movers we have some solutions, but the most effective is to simply not own one.
Here’s why:
Look, we get it. One of your first major purchases as an adult was a bed set. A nice frame, a firm-but-soft queen-sized mattress, and, of course, a box spring. The box spring is a wonderful invention, to be sure. The box spring raises the height of your sleeping surface to make it easy to get in and out of bed. And it absorbs any shock of tossing and turning, thereby prolonging the life of your mattress. Most crucially, if you have uneven floors or live in a city on a hill, it creates a flat surface on which the mattress can rest levelly.
We spent a good chunk of our lives asleep, so beds and box springs can often be the most important pieces a moving company will transport. By MJ Boswell from Annapolis, Md, USA (Bear Sleeping) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Sleep is Important!
You spend one-third of life your life asleep. You, a well-rested, laser-focused young professional have climbed the ranks of your chosen field — in no small part due to the physical and emotional nourishment your wonderfully crafted sleeping surface provides.
In fact, you’re so well-rested and productive, you earn a promotion that sends you to historic New England! Or, better yet, you’re such a hot-shot that you get to choose where you to work! Fantastic! Where better to spend the prime of your career than beautiful Boston, Massachusetts?!
Now you’re all set to move across the country — your favorite books are packed, your furniture wrapped and protected, and, of course, your bed, box spring and all, broken down and packed away ready to be shipped to Massachusetts.
If you’re moving to Massachusetts, we recommend getting a split a box spring. By pikespice [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Not so Fast!
Of course you want to bring your the sleeping quarters ensemble that provided you the effective slumber that you credit for becoming the success you are today. How will you survive without it?!
There are options. Trust us. There are options.
The Paul Revere House (ca. 1680) in Boston’s North End is one of many old buildings (with narrow stairwells and even narrow windows) in and around Boston. By Jameslwoodward (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons
Boston is a City of Tight Turns!
While Massachusetts may be one of the more progressive states in the country, we are not very welcoming to large box springs. It’s best to leave them where they are.
Many people know that Boston’s streets are notoriously narrow and winding and definitely not arranged in a grid, especially in the city’s North End, home to Paul Revere and other eighteenth-century revolutionaries. (Side note: this is why it’s always a good idea to secure parking permits for your moving truck when moving in the Commonwealth.)
What isn’t as well-known is that our buildings, staircases, door frames, and windows are very much the same. Whether you’re moving to a hip young urban area like Cambridge or Somerville heading out to a quieter Boston suburb like Westwood or Natick, you’ll find some of the narrowest stairwells in America. Everything might be bigger in Texas, but in Massachusetts it’s quite the opposite.
We recommend ditching any queen-sized box spring in favor a split box spring if you’re moving in Massachusetts.
So what are your options?
1. Cutting
Cutting the wooden pieces that comprise bottom of the box spring allows you to bend the item in half, thereby bending the box spring in half so it can be successfully navigated through your stairwell.
However, bending the item takes a great amount of effort and usually at least two people. You then have to secure the bent box spring with a tight ratchet strap to keep it from flying open while carrying it. Once you place it on your bed frame, you’ll need to use the same great effort to prevent it from smashing you in the face once you take the ratchet strap off.
Of course, you can keep your mattress. Mattresses bend enough that movers can finagle them without damage, in order to snake their way through most tight passageways. Box springs are made to be hard and flat. In fact, if you bend a box spring, you’re already compromising what it’s made for in the first place.
2. Hoisting
Hoisting a box spring through a window or porch door is a great solution if you have the tools and expertise. The only issue is that if you’re in an old house with a narrow stairwell, chances are your windows and door frames are pretty narrow as well.
Hoisting a box spring is a great option if you have easy access to a porch or balcony, but your movers can’t help you when it’s simply not possible.
3. Futon/Platform Bed
Depending on your situation, you may want to replace your bed completely. A futon, which only uses a bendable platform and a mattress, is a great solution for younger people moving to a studio apartment. Futons also work for those who might have to move often over the next few years.
Platform beds aren’t too bad, either. In place of a box spring, a platform bed uses wooden paneling to mimic the level surface a box spring would provide. Putting them together can be a little complicated, of course. But platforms are a good option for those who don’t plan on moving very often. (Breaking down and reassembling beds like these will weaken them over time.)
4. Split Box Spring (Yes!)
If you have a queen- or king-sized bed, you should get a split box spring. (In fact, king-sized box springs only come as split box springs.)
It’s exactly what it sounds like — instead of one box spring, it’s split in two. So for your moving company, it’s as if they are carrying two twin box springs. (If your new residence can’t fit two twin-sized box springs, you probably can’t fit much else in there, either.)
You can check out Sleepy’s, Jordan’s Furniture, or Amazon to find a split box spring. If you live in the northeast, it’s definitely worth the investment. Our company is proud of what our movers can do. Seriously, we can get large objects up some of the most intimidating staircases in the state. But we can’t defy geometry, and neither can any other movers. So no matter where you live in Massachusetts — from the tight streets and stairs of Beacon Hill to Falmouth’s famous low ceilings — you should think about a split box spring.
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