Theater Seats replaced with Modified Futon

Newly installed and modified futon

April 30, 2019

Hello, and thanks again for reading our blog!  As we briefly noted in our last blog (4/9), we purchased a futon to replace our theater seating.  While the theater seats were fine, on occasion like to lay down, and that is impossible with the theater seats.  And the original "couch/bed" wasn't the size needed for me to lay my 6'5" big frame down on, so that wasn't even considered for this spot.

The original couch we were thinking of getting was way out of our price range - a Love Sac Sactional.  This would have been awesome; as the Sactional would have arrived at our door in many smaller boxes.  They takes very little to set up and could have been anchored to the floor.  Great setup, but cost prohibitive.

So we decided for the time being to go the way of a futon, knowing that the problem with futons is that they are very low to the floor and have a steep rake angle to the back.  Since we are not planning to use the futon as a sleeping bed, we decided to lift it up in height and reduce the posterior angle.  After a lot of thought, we decided to try to use PVC pipe of different sizes to both hold the oblong frame that goes to the floor and to elevate it with inserts in the PVC pipe.

We purchased 3" and 2" PVC piping with the 2" being used for the interior of the three inch to perform the "lift".  Additionally, 1 1/2" piping was needed for the center supports.  It was our thought to also use some aerosol foam insulation between the three and two inch piping to make it a more stable platform.  We lived with the setup (without the spray in foam) for a couple of months to see if we liked how it was sitting, after which, we agreed on a slight modification to increase the rake to the back just about one inch.

The night before the finishing work was to be completed, we thought that since we had a hole saw from the desk project, why not use a round piece of wood as the top of the interior stack.  We believed that this would help produce a more stable platform for the futon legs to sit on.  On April 27th, modification work on the PVC started with the cutting of some 5/8" plywood with the 3" hole saw and another test fitting.  

All 6 of the lifts being painted, the two center lifts are being held up by their little brother lifts

With the additional 5/8", the back part of the futon's lift would have to drop a little more.  Once we were happy with the result, we started gluing the PVC parts; spaying the foam insulation between the pieces (not as easy as thought!); installing the wood platforms and painting.

Painted PVC lifts with wood platform and some spray insulation showing

If you notice, the bases are actually PVC toilet flanges with the center parts intact.  These flanges are sturdy and provide holes for mounting screws to help secure everything to the slide out floor.

The final product looks pretty good, not perfect, but definitely workable.  We are still considering whether we should spray foam up to the top of the PVC pipe and paint it the same color.  We may put a cloth bed sham around it in the future.

We are happy with the outcome.  The modifications done too our fifth wheel are not for everyone, but this is our home and the mods make it feel more like "home"

Let us know your thoughts, and until next time, God Bless!