We were thrilled to get such a resounding and thoughtful response to our contest asking for solutions to keep our bed from vibrating, that is, to dampen the mysterious vibration coming through the floor. A number of readers suggested suspending the bed, which we WISH we could do. But as with any creative problem, we have some serious constraints to deal with.

The thinking behind suspending the bed from the ceiling is so that no vibration could travel up from the floor, the problem with the bed, above. As we saw with Holton Rower’s plywood and wire shock absorbers, even just touching the wire sent a vibration through the bed.

Holton Rower
Holton Rower

The difficulty with hanging the bed from the ceiling is that our ceiling is sheetrock, placed on flimsy aluminum studs. We’d have to figure a way to make a sturdy hanger that won’t collapse the walls (If any one has ideas about this LET US KNOW)…

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We could hang a bed IF we took down the ceiling sheetrock and anchored something in the concrete slab of the roof 19 inches above. But as far as we know, there might be a danger of cracking the slab if we didn’t know what we were doing. THEN we’d have lower then hanging mechanism below the sheetrock ceiling and replace it because it provides much-needed insulation for our top-floor space. In winter, it keeps in heat; in summer, it keeps our AC bills to a minimum.

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We’ll publish our latest iterations soon, which include testing out a makeshift beanbag pellet bed and a new material called Sorbothane.  A detailed correspondence with an engineer in Wisconsin is yielding a trove of ideas. Stay-tuned.

NOTE: After much trial and error, I did find a simple, inexpensive way to dampen the vibration coming through my bed. You can read about it here.

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16 replies on “Update on Vibrating Bed Solutions: Hanging Beds

  1. I found myself wondering if replacing the wire with sturdy rope (on either the bed in the leading pic, which I submitted, so am partial to :p) would significantly minimize the vibration…wire is a terrible vibration conductor, but rope is much better! While a rope option wouldn’t work for Holton’s bed shocks (no rope I know of small enough to fit in that application would be strong enough), it could definitely work in that hanging platform bed…

  2. Yes, I’ve been wondering that too. Though I’ve tried SO many things that you’d think would dampen the vibration, or minimize it, and…NOT. So I’d have to do a test. A friend mentioned another reason for not hanging from the roof slab or ceiling: the likelihood of the vibration being present in both those horizontal surfaces. Hanging things from the walls seems like a better bet. Stay tuned! And thanks a million for your ideas.

  3. I am somewhat reluctant to even offer this because it is addressing the makeshift pellet bed idea, and not the more important vibration issue. (I kinda feel like the pal fixated on discussing what hat you should wear when the real issue is the bad haircut.) I wonder if you might consider filling an air mattress with the pellets. I was staying with friends last month and they set me up on one of those mattresses with the battery operated fan (?) for inflating it. The mattress also had an enormous opening in it for deflating the bed. Perhaps you could use one of these mattreses and use the large opening for filling it up with pellets. It would create a surface more suitable for your foam bed layer than the bed on top of bean bags arrangement that you mentioned earlier.

  4. I tried a sort of makeshift version of this by filling a garbage bag with pellets. It’s hard to know if this is a possibility. Much would have to do with the depth of the pellets AND if the rubber/plastic of the air mattress would conduct the vibration (EVERYTHING seems to that actually touches the floor). But will keep your idea as a possibility. Thanks.

  5. But who’s going to touch the wire? Other than you? Not your neighbours at least … I’m very interested cos I have HUGE vibrating floor problems rendering my life hell – due to neighbours from hell who use their sub woofer I suspect at all hours to send huge thuds and shaking through my apartment. I’ve resorted to sleeping on kitchen floor – only to find it was like a boat on high seas – thud, thump, brrr, at all hours. What to do? I love the bed above … so aesthetic compared to hanging bed from ceiling … would it be a problem the wire touching? you mean rolling during night? You wouldn’t touch the wires would you? Thanks!! Love this site and discussion. Tamara

  6. I’m so sorry to hear about your vibration issue.

    The concern is not about someone touching the wire. It is that vibrations would travel up the structure, and down the wire to the bed and be felt. As I found from Holton’s wire boxes, vibration is greatly conducted by metal/wire, etc. So then we started thinking about rope…

  7. Hello vibration bloggers, I too have been struggling with mechanical vibration effecting the floor of my apartment for the last four years now. I live on the top floor of a low rise and have developed an issue that is directly related to the HVAC and Exhaust fans that are directly over my apartment. The units are transmitting low frequency sound and the related vibration into the walls and floor of my apartment. Yes, it effects everything that comes in contact with the floor. Everything I sleep on or come in contact with is vibrating, 24 hours 7 days a week.

    It can really be a nightmarish struggle especially when you have a great apartment in a terrible location. Any how, when I get a chance, there might be a few discoveries that I could share. For now I can only recommend trying Gravol. It is not good to be overly dependent on it but in small doses it can really take the edge of and allow you body to be less sensitive to vibration while getting some sleep. I typically break a tab in four and take one every two to three hours.

    Gravol in higher dosages can really help at bed time. One needs to do some personal experimenting but it might help on those desperate for rest days.

  8. Thanks for your advice. Gravol seems to be similar to Benedryl, but used for nausea, vertigo, vomiting etc. The body can become dependent on it (as with just about any drug), so please be careful. I am loath to take a drug as that is what started the sensitivity in the first place.

  9. Me and my wife also have this problem. Our bed shakes both during day and night. We have been suspecting that our neighbours or some stalkers are disturbing us on purpose by using a machine of some sort to make our bad shake. But this shaking doesn’t occur just at home – often it happens also when we sleep at other places. This shaking is really making sleeping very difficult for us. I’ve slept on the floor, on sofas, in a sauna, in a car and outdoors to avoid the shaking. But as said in this thread, the shaking is not caused by the bed but rather the floor is shaking.s

  10. Given that you feel vibration elsewhere, it could be that you have highly sensitive nervous systems.

  11. I lost my natural sense of balance many long years ago, I did brain programing after that and was also blessed by gifts of the spirit and devised tactal and visual as a means, it works very well, but now the geothermal vibrators are causing problems, I desperately need a bed that does not vibrate. I have a 300 pound box bed and have suspended it on trampoline springs and put foam rubber on it and an air bed and it just does not do a good job. and it is dangerously un stable. I don’t know how to stop it.

  12. Really watching your thread as I have tried almost all of the same things you have with the vibration dampening. What a headache.
    I lived in a place for years and was relatively comfortable. Then a skytrain began being built 24-7 (but mostly after 7pm) with a lot of drilling etc. So, we moved after almost three years of prolonged sleep deprivation. It was pure hell. The only time they weren’t doing anything was Dec 25th. Moved to place that was affordable, although unfortunately had a short lease. Although the time there, despite being in an urban area, was great. After four months of regular sleep of more than 9 hours a week, I got my periods back (sorry TMI), ate well and was feeling pretty good.(there was a period of two weeks where a nearby business had a broken down HVAC system, but they fixed it!) So, moving time.
    First 2.5 weeks at the new place were okay, but then a regional project started (Waterworks) that did all of it’s work after 10:30 pm. A lot of drilling, blasting etc. which caused very strong vibrating – even the windows shook overnight. During the day? Construction right across the street. Constantly. When one project finished, another started the same week!
    We have now moved once again and with our awful luck it seems, there are very heavy freight trains all through the night! I don’t mean passing every few hours – they go along for almost 20 hours per day. It’s tough to completely avoid those long freight trains these days where we are, but we did research it before moving in and it seemed too far away to feel the vibrating.
    My nerves are literally completely frayed and my life is not what it could be as I developed cognitive deficits due to all of this sleep deprivation. And, again, hormonal issues.To make the problem bigger, I live in a region (Vancouver/Coquitlam, Canada) where the rental stock is very, very low. It was tough to find the places that I did.
    I just would like somewhere with solid ground where there aren’t projects in the ground continually going! Long wave noise/vibrating have messed with the bees reproduction, so when are people going to realize that it might eventually kill us as well?!
    Anycrazy, thank you kindly for all of the detailed info …..hope you two figure something out.

  13. I am very grateful to you. It is lonely.
    Do you have any contractors who specialize in solutions to dampen a vibrating bed? I have an injured spine, so I can’t do too much physically. I was in heaven when I moved in.
    Major construction abruptly took place. All noise and vibration reducing materials were
    Removed. Vibration hell began 24/7. Please advise. Thank you.

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