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My kids bed broke. Apparently jumping on it caused the thin material on the connected surface to split. The special furniture side nut things just tore right through.

Broken Bed

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oc8fEiHFfExwxHX86

Any suggestions on how to fix this?

UPDATE I decided Jasen's answer was best but it was still too complicated for me.

Here is what I did bed which is kind of fixed Maybe good enough?

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  • I guess the implied question is "how do I fix this" ?
    – JPhi1618
    Jan 24, 2020 at 19:52
  • That is a statement, not a question. It is also worded unclear. (on the connected surface broke through) Welcome to parenthood.
    – Alaska Man
    Jan 24, 2020 at 19:54
  • you may want to see if there's any consumer protection that can help you, a child's be should be child proof.
    – Jasen
    Jan 24, 2020 at 20:55
  • nice to see the update. it looks like you piloted new holes and then used a bunch of particle board screws and wood glue. Might be as strong as before now that you have wood glue in there - will it be impossible to take apart now?
    – Fresh Codemonger
    Jan 29, 2020 at 21:19
  • Yeah it might be. I'll make it firewood if it comes to that. Bed was $160. Not a huge deal
    – gooddadmike
    Feb 6, 2020 at 14:58

3 Answers 3

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That looks pretty busted up, and I'm guessing you want to fix it, and making it stronger than it was it more inportant than making it look good as new.

MDF and chipboard are weak in edge-grain, so for durable connections screw into (and preferable through) the faces not into the edges.

What you do is get some 20mm x 2mm aluminum angle that's as long as the join, and some chip-board screws.

Place the aluminium inside the failed corner, drill small holes (eg 1/16" or 1.5mm) through the "wood" into (and through) the aluminium then screw through that hole. do that though both pieces in every 2" or so along the join.

There'll be sharp screw points through the aluminium, but chripboard screws are hard steel, so if you bend them a bit you can break them off fairly easily (eg using pliers)

enter image description here

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    Why not face the screws the other way? The screw heads, rather than the threads, would hold the aluminum in place, and you could use screws shorter than the thickness of the boards to avoid poking hazards.
    – Nuclear Hoagie
    Jan 24, 2020 at 20:50
  • it's stronger this way because the screws are clamping the wood. admittedly it looks nicer the other way. but particle board is weakest near the edges
    – Jasen
    Jan 24, 2020 at 20:52
  • This is pretty good. I like the angle all the way down.+
    – JACK
    Jan 24, 2020 at 22:20
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    The head of the screw provides plenty of clamping force -- there's no need for it to have thread engagement to the wood. Therefore, use a machine threaded screw and drill a hole through the wood and aluminum large enough for the screw to insert easily. Finally, install a nut on the screw and tighten things up. A "furniture connector bolt" is a good choice because it has a flat and large-diameter head, and nicer appearance than a basic bright zinc plated screw.
    – Greg Hill
    Jan 25, 2020 at 17:35
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    file or scrape the edges of the aluminium to blunt them , snap the screws off, cover with fabric tape and.or grind any rough spots.
    – Jasen
    Jan 25, 2020 at 20:17
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First I'd try to cosmetically repair the footboard as good as possible with some wood glue, especially the top part. Then position the footboard like it originally was and drill through the sides into the footboard about 2 or 3 inches from the damaged areas and about 4" deep. Get yourself some lag screws and screw the bed back together. Normally I'd say to recess the screws but you don't have enough material to do that. You can add extra screws if needed. You could also just use corner brackets but those screws are pretty short and probably wouldn't hold.

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I'd add 2 horizontal pieces of 2x4 to the exterior of each side piece. One at the top and one at the bottom. These pieces would extend past the end of the foot board by 1.5". I'd then add two vertical pieces of 2x4 to the exterior of the foot board. Then I'd screw the verticals to the horizontals.

Then I'd chip out all the broken crap and fill it with bondo. Sand all sharp corners and then paint the rails to match the bed.

That or I'd chuck the whole thing in the garbage and make the kid sleep on the mattress on the floor and hope they don't break the floor.

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