Got a Cold Sofa?Since getting our Rear Bath Lazy Daze, DW has complained in cold weather about the chilly draft coming up around the couch when it is pulled out for use as her bed.
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Here is the problem: when the sofa is pulled out into the bed position, the bottom of the mattress is exposed to the cold air inside the storage compartment below. And actually, the problem is even worse than this picture indicates, for here, although the wooden platform has been pulled out, the mattress has not. When it is, there is nothing above the slot, which allows the draft to freely flow. |
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My solution was to build an insulated box around the slot and slide mechanism. Here I am test-fitting the two side pieces of the box. |
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I decided to trim about half an inch from each side of the plywood piece on the bottom of the slide. This would give me enough room to put 1" thick insulation on each side and still have clearance for the slide mechanism. On the left side of the bottom piece you can see the cut I'm making. |
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Here are the three main pieces - two sides and the bottom. The two side pieces are notched at one end to fit over the paneling on the rear wall of the compartment. |
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I cut a strip from a scrap piece of extruded polystyrene foam insulation and glued it to the inside of the side pieces. The part of the side at the top with the three holes will go against the wood framing of the slot. |
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The two insulated side pieces are installed. |
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This is the bottom of the box with its piece of insulation glued in place. When the bottom is put in position, the piece of insulation will be a press fit up between the insulation on the side pieces. |
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Before sealing up the end of the box, you can see how the foam fills the space around the slide mechanism and its slot. |
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The completed project, with a cover over the end of the box. Now all we need is some cold weather so we can assess the success of this project. Update: It works very well - DW is much happier! |
