Replace cushions on jack knife sofa with futon mattress

[jbeshears]

I can't seem to find much online about this. People talk about replacing their jack knife sofa with futons and such, but is there any reason you couldn't just the frame and just take the cushions off a jack knife sofa and put a futon mattress on it? My wife doesn't like how the current sofa is a little different height front to back, and has a gap between them. Or if this won't work, how do you guys fill the gap?

[Lynnmor]

sgfrye wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
We wanted to retain the jack knife sofa, so we beefed it up where needed and replaced the garbage foam with good stuff. If the foam doesn't squash to nothing, the gaps are not much of a problem.

im following this post closely.
due to my loud snoring wife sleeps in front bedroom and i sleep on jack knife sofa. i have been using a twin size 4 inch foam cushion to build up the seat side of sofa. helps a little but by morning im usually about to roll off it.

what type of foam did you use in the cushions?

I live near York, PA and went to these folks for the foam. They will offer your choice of foam by letting you test samples right there and then cut and install the foam into the cushions. I chose about the firmest stuff they had.

[mobeewan]

I hate my cheap Flexsteel jack knife sofa. I removed the front fabric covered plywood panel to make the storage space easier to access and use plastic storage tubs under it. It was always a PITA to access the storage space under it and would only lift high enough for small items. A couple of the wavy "springs" came loose too and had to be reattached.

Since it is only about 60 inches wide it isn't useful as a bed for adults to lay out on so I plan to remove it and use the wood ledges it is mounted to, to frame in the space to make a bench seat with a framed in sloping back. I'll try to find some outdoor furniture cushions that will fit or cut some memory foam and have covers made at a boat upholstery shop.

The sloped back will have a hinged piece of plywood allowing access for storage of small items. I plan on using Velcro on the back of the original fabric covered plywood panel to reattach it to the front of the newly framed bench seat for easy access to the storage beneath it. I may even add an auxiliary water tank in part of the space.

[sgfrye]

Lynnmor wrote:
We wanted to retain the jack knife sofa, so we beefed it up where needed and replaced the garbage foam with good stuff. If the foam doesn't squash to nothing, the gaps are not much of a problem.

im following this post closely.
due to my loud snoring wife sleeps in front bedroom and i sleep on jack knife sofa. i have been using a twin size 4 inch foam cushion to build up the seat side of sofa. helps a little but by morning im usually about to roll off it.

what type of foam did you use in the cushions?

[Lynnmor]

We wanted to retain the jack knife sofa, so we beefed it up where needed and replaced the garbage foam with good stuff. If the foam doesn't squash to nothing, the gaps are not much of a problem.

[Solo]

We did pretty much what you are describing in our previous Class C. I removed the cushions from the jackknife hardware, built a wooden 2 section platform that then was installed back onto the original base for the sofa using the jackknife hardware. We then used a full sized futon mattress that would fold up and then down in a similar fashion to what the old sofa did. We could not remove the original base as a water tank and other plumbing was contained below so this was about the best solution. Much more comfy as a bed, avoiding the dip you are mentioning. Not so comfy as a couch as it was a bit bulky, but that was the trade-off.