Roommate and bed issues
September 26, 2014 12:59 PM   Subscribe

My old roommate is out of the country for eight months and will be living somewhere else when he returns. He left his bed in my apartment because he didn't have another place to put it. So I have a new roommate. New roommate didn't like the old bed, bought a new, larger one. What do I do?

I proposed leaving the old bed in and using it as a couch-like structure in the living room. New roommate doesn't like that idea. I don't want to pay for storage on a bed for eight months, especially since I figured leaving it in the apartment was a reasonable route to take. I'm certainly not throwing out the old roommate's bed.

Who's responsible for this? What's the easiest way to store a bed for eight months?
posted by LSK to Human Relations (21 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Disassemble it and lean the mattress against the wall somewhere. But I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the get-rid-of-it option. Is the bed a fabulous high quality bed or something? I think storing a bed for 8 months is a lot to ask. Beds are not small and unobtrusive. I would call the old roommate and say "Do you want me to rent a storage space for you, if so, please let me know what credit card number I should use, or should I just get rid of it?"
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 1:02 PM on September 26, 2014 [10 favorites]


Ugh. It was shitty of your old roommate to dump his furniture at your place, knowing he wouldn't return to living in the house when he returned to the country.

Email him, tell him you can't store it for him any longer, and ask if he'd rather (a) pay you up front to store it until he returns or (b) have you dispose of it.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 1:03 PM on September 26, 2014 [36 favorites]


Beds typically disassemble pretty easily. Take it apart and stash it in a closet or something somewhere.

Then contact the dude and tell him thing have changed and see what he wants to do.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 1:04 PM on September 26, 2014


Email your ex-roommate and explain that no-one wants his nasty old bed. Ask him if he prefers to get a storage unit or to have you trash it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:05 PM on September 26, 2014 [6 favorites]


Is old roommate paying rent or just using your place as a free storage room? I mean, he's not even going to be living there when he comes back, right?

If he's paying rent, you need to figure out what to do with the bed.

If he's not paying rent, I would recommend the following as a kind option:

"Hi, [old roommate], hope you're having fun in [someplace]! So, [this situation] came up and there's just no way we can store the bed at my place until you get back. Here are the two options I'm happy to help you with: 1) we move it into a storage facility, the nearest one to the apartment costs $X/month or 2) I put it up on craigslist and take the best offer I get. Let me know what you'd prefer! If we go with 1, just paypal me a few months of $X so I can get the storage situation worked out; if we go with 2 I'll let you know when it sells and paypal you what it gets. Please let me know asap, we're living on top of ourselves here!"
posted by phunniemee at 1:06 PM on September 26, 2014 [4 favorites]


Email him and ask him what he wants to do.

Give him a polite deadline, too.

Dude asked waaaaay too much of you, and you're being a pushover.

It's OK to tell him things have changed. Good luck !
posted by jbenben at 1:07 PM on September 26, 2014


Response by poster: Our apartment has basically zero closet space, which is part of the problem - if it was easy enough to put the bed in a closet and have it done with, I'd have already done it :(

Part of the issue, for me, is that my old roommate bought it under the assurance that I'd be able to hold onto it. It's super new - like three months old - and was purchased expressly for the purpose of being a long-term thing.
posted by LSK at 1:07 PM on September 26, 2014


Best answer: Totally right that new roommate shouldn't have to deal with old roommate's crap.
Totally sucks that it's now your problem.
If his bed is the same size (full/queen/twin) as yours, stack them. Disassemble the taller frame and store it underneath the other, then stack both mattresses on the frame. It'll be a tall bed for you to sleep on, but it won't be "in the way".
When old roommate comes home, demand many favors.
posted by aimedwander at 1:08 PM on September 26, 2014 [24 favorites]


What kind of numbskull makes a long-term life purchase right before skippety doo dahing out of the country for nearly a year, wtf.

Dude needs to pay for a storage facility, there's just no two ways about it.
posted by phunniemee at 1:09 PM on September 26, 2014 [8 favorites]


Response by poster: aimedwander: Oh, man, that's a really cool solution! I'm going to have to give it a try and see if it works out. If so, then we're done :D
posted by LSK at 1:10 PM on September 26, 2014


If old roommate's bed is really new and pleasant, can you get rid of your own bed and sleep on his new one while he's gone?
posted by ejbenjamin at 1:32 PM on September 26, 2014 [5 favorites]


where will the old roommate be living when they get back? can the bed go wait there for him?
posted by domino at 1:41 PM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Wow, your former roommate pulled a very uncool move. Ugh! They should pay for a storage unit.
posted by ablazingsaddle at 2:08 PM on September 26, 2014


Stacking a mattress on top of another mattress is not really a good idea, and it may void one or both warranties on the mattresses, if that's an issue for you. Also, it will probably get really uncomfortable for you to sleep on. Mattresses want to be on solid surfaces -- slats or boxsprings, basically.

However, if one of the frames is tall enough, you could put the extra mattress under the bed, assuming you don't also have another boxspring to deal with. You might want to get a $10 mattress bag to keep it clean if you store it this way.
posted by ktkt at 2:08 PM on September 26, 2014 [5 favorites]


This sounds like your new roommate's problem, not yours. The room came with a bed. He decided not to use said bed. He didn't like your helpful advice about the bed. Ball's in his court.
posted by Sara C. at 2:53 PM on September 26, 2014 [3 favorites]


Stacking a mattress on top of another mattress is not really a good idea, and it may void one or both warranties on the mattresses, if that's an issue for you. Also, it will probably get really uncomfortable for you to sleep on. Mattresses want to be on solid surfaces -- slats or boxsprings, basically.

This is true, but you can fix this by putting a sheet of maybe 3/4" plywood between the two mattresses. But make sure it's nice plywood, or wrap it with a spare sheet or something so your old roommate doesn't come home to a mattress filled with splinters.
posted by aubilenon at 2:56 PM on September 26, 2014 [2 favorites]


Tell your old roommate that the bed, which you somehow loosely accepted responsibility for (?), has now become a problem. If they're willing to pay for storage, great. You will be doing them a favor by facilitating the relocation. Since it's only three months old, you might also want to buy it from the old roommate, or help sell it.
posted by destructive cactus at 4:11 PM on September 26, 2014


To be honest, I think you have assumed responsibility for the best during those 8 months. However, I agree with everyone that you should consult with your former roommate - they may not want to impose and suggest a storage unit or getting rid of it.

How big is the bed?
posted by troytroy at 5:24 PM on September 26, 2014


Honestly whether or not you agreed to store it, you're being treated like a doormat by your old roommate for expecting that. Leaving something like that behind for that long without paying rent is something people do with like, their parents house, if their parents have room. Not to old roommates.

I realize, as i said, you agreed to this... but i think it's totally fair for you to bring it up with them and say "look, this isn't going to work". What did they even expect? Did they really want some random new roommate sleeping on it and sweating/farting/fucking/coughing/etc for 8 months and some change? Or did they just expect you to store it, magically unused and out of the way until they returned.

They really should have gotten a storage unit, or come up with a real plan that wasn't "eh, they'll deal with it".

I honestly wouldn't think you were a dick if, when you* talk to them and they invariably go "well you agreed to it, figure it out!" that your figuring it out entailed listing the thing on craigslist for $50 and buying a case of beer and a new video game.

I don't really think that double-stacking it with your bed, with or without the plywood thing, and making your bed janky and awkward is really a fair expectation on their or anyones part.

Also, the bed-as-couch in the living room thing will destroy the bed and make it nasty, in addition to being the equivalent of a cup of sweet wine to fruit flies as a magnet for friends and friends of friends crashing on it without any real prior notice. You don't want to go that route.


Really, one of two things need to happen here. And one seems like it's kinda already off the table. First of all, if leaving it in the room was the solid plan you should have told the new roommate "this bed has to stay in the room. You don't have to use it, you can strap it to the ceiling or whatever, but it comes with the room and it's part of the deal". Secondly, they need to figure out some family member/relative who can store it, or get a storage unit. This should not be left as some bullshit thing where you are tasked with moving it into that either. helping is ok, but "ok now can you drive this mattress 50 minutes outside of town to my uncles basement and load/unload it?" is not reasonable.

And seriously, if it becomes some "i don't know, figure it out" thing then just fucking give it away or sell it for really cheap. They expected to get away with it being a long term thing by using you as a crutch, instead of making a real plan(or to avoid paying for you know, actually dealing with that). This is shitty and taking advantage of you. If they get flippant, just fucking chuck the thing.

It's worth noting that i regret every single time i didn't cut myself loose from something like this way, way sooner. Get the ball rolling now.

*and bear in mind i have sooo much experience with asshole roommates who want you to hold up their end of the table on things like this.
posted by emptythought at 6:51 PM on September 26, 2014 [5 favorites]


Hubby and I slept on stacked mattresses for a couple of months once and it was pure bliss. A tall bed is beautiful.
Just a datapoint.
posted by SLC Mom at 8:01 PM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


I've done the stacked bed storage thing, and it's great. So nice to have a tall bed, in fact, that I had my husband build a very tall captain's storage platform for the bed when we disassembled the stack.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:48 PM on September 28, 2014


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