Buying a new mattress and box-spring. Ideas?

[thefed]

Well, the time has come. Our $300 special we bought the day I moved from home has served it's useful life (8 years). Time for an upgrade...my lower back has been killing me!

I'm totally unsure what to do now. Do we go with a tempur-pedic style bed? I've laid in them and love the feel...but hear complaints of them being too hot, etc.

An air-bed with a pump?

Maybe a DIY tempurpedic to save a few bucks?

Or stick with a classic bed? Ours now is a pillow top which I think feels nice, but doesnt help with the support....but maybe that's because it's a cheap matress?


I'm a stomach sleeper....not good says the doc, but that's the way it is. So i need something that wont sag and turn me into hammock-shaped person by the end of the night.

What should I expect to pay for a GOOD bed that will last me more than 10 years?

There's an ad right now that if you buy any Sealy bed for $999+ you get a free 32" LCD at a local store. My wife was all excited til I explained that the cost is wrapped into the bed! Plus, we dont NEED a TV! We have 3 LCD's as it is!! She kept coming up with places to put the 'free' tv and i scoffed. No more than ONE HOUR LATER..I hear a tremendous BANG. Our son had managed to get our30" RCA Tube tv to topple over off the stand....all the plugs stayed in, and as such, ripped the inner board free and rendered it useless. Very wierd. Also very lucky he did not get crushed by this 120 lb TV!!



What to do?

[Sue J]

Fed, I can recommend Original Mattress Factory. Original Mattress Factory | Mattresses | Box Springs | Bed

Our first purchase was 2 twin beds for our sons, over 10 years ago. They have held up so well that when DH and I needed a new queen set that's where we bought it. Bedding prices change all the time in the dept stores, but Original Mattress Factory has fair, decent prices year round. Good quality stuff. Go take a look (and a nap) in one of the stores.

[Rustic23]

I had lower back pain starting in 1978! It lasted through the last 10 years of Air Force flying and another 10 years into retirement. About 10 years ago we bought a Serta Perfect Night. The queen cost us about $1,100! However, about four weeks after the purchase I awoke with no back pain, and have not had any since. It is a pillow top but the sales man said the firmness people talk about is the foundation and not the topping. Anyway, it works for us.

[Orchidflower]

In 2001 I purchased only the mattress as I had the box springs already at a discount store for $650 total (just found the bill and that includes tax and delivery) for a $1,000 mattress.
This was a Serta pillow top mattress that was THE finest mattress I have ever been on Queen size. It is almost 10 years old and should easily go another 10 or 15 years. Worth every single penny.
My son has the mattress now, and it is just so good as new still. That should give you some idea to start with.
Spend the money and buy the best mattress you can find at a good discount store would be my advice. If your back hurts it's like when you have bad fitting shoes on...and can make your life really miserable. Plus, the really good mattresses should last 20 years at least.
(But maybe I just got lucky with this purchase.)

[Cattusbabe]

During our travels hubby and I got to sleep on the Sleep Number bed....hated it, and the Temperpedic.......meh. The Heavenly bed was the best but we always enjoy getting back to the old Serta pillow top at home. My point is to try before you buy and those fancy new fangled beds are not all they are cracked to be.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed There's an ad right now that if you buy any Sealy bed for $999+ you get a free 32" LCD at a local store. My wife was all excited til I explained that the cost is wrapped into the bed!

Exactly! TANSTAAFL. If you paid for lunch the beer would be cheaper.

[calmloki]

Very pleased with the $600(?) king sized Foam & tempur-foam in-a-box we got from Costco. A big plus is that either of us can roll around or get up from the bed without disturbing the other. Figure if it lasts 5 years or so I'll be good with getting another if need be - ever read how many pounds of dead skin and sweat and debris people leave in bed?

[Achiever51]

We have the Sleep Number bed and love it! DH likes a really firm (i.e, rock hard) mattress and I prefer a medium firm bed for my back problems. I like the ability to adjust the firmness just by pressing a button on a remote control, and not feeling the mattress move when DH gets up before I do. The Sleep Number bed also comes with one of the best warranties available.

Suggest you try one at a Sleep Number store...but if you do plan to buy one, call the company's 800 number and ask about closeouts. We saved hundreds by buying one with a discontinued cover pattern.

[bbbamI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefed I'm totally unsure what to do now. Do we go with a tempur-pedic style bed? I've laid in them and love the feel...but hear complaints of them being too hot, etc.

We got one of those over a year ago, and yeah for me it was too hot. However, I remedied that by placing a towel under the fitted sheet 'protecting' me from my chest to my hips. That helped a great deal and I love it. It's difficult for me to sleep on any other type of mattress now.

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI We got one of those over a year ago, and yeah for me it was too hot. However, I remedied that by placing a towel under the fitted sheet 'protecting' me from my chest to my hips. That helped a great deal and I love it. It's difficult for me to sleep on any other type of mattress now.

+1

We got ours in 2004 and cannot imagine switching to something else. Never had a problem with it being too hot. We've had various mattresses including air beds and water matresses since I had back surgery in 1990

We don't have it a box spring - just sits on top a flat wooden cabin style bed.

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

my lower back has been killing me!... I'm a stomach sleeper....not good says the doc, but that's the way it is.

This is your problem, not the mattress. I used to be a stomach sleeper. I know this sounds weird, but changing to being a side sleeper was one of the most difficult things I've done. But it's worth it.

We bought a super cheap mattress for our guest bed. All the guests raved about it, so we ended up switching it with our fancy memory-foam type.

The mattress industry is a shady business.

The Mattress Scam | How to Buy a Mattress

[omni550]

I'm going to be buying a new mattress soon, so this thread has my interest. Salespeople always tell you that you must buy a matching new box spring along with a new mattress (IIRC they say it's to keep the warranty applicable or some such.) Does anyone know if a box spring really 'wears out' like a mattress does? omni

[grumpy]

I bought a VERY firm mattress a few years back thinking it would help with chronic lower back pain. It turned out to be too firm. I bought a 2" memory foam topper on line for $70 and got a deeper fitted bottom sheet for it. Works great.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by omni550 I'm going to be buying a new mattress soon, so this thread has my interest. Salespeople always tell you that you must buy a matching new box spring along with a new mattress (IIRC they say it's to keep the warranty applicable or some such.) Does anyone know if a box spring really 'wears out' like a mattress does? omni

My son, who worked for Sealy for 20+ years, says no. He said the only thing a box spring adds is cost. The recommended method is to place the mattress directly on an appropriately sized platform, i.e., a sheet of plywood. If you think about it unless you are a princess and and bothered when someone places a pea under your mattress... well, you know.

[tryan]

We went with memory foam (latex) years ago and will NEVER go back to a coil mattress.

Framed out a box with 2" x 6" instead of a box spring. The metal frame for the old box spring was a squeaky nightmare.

[mn54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sue J Fed, I can recommend Original Mattress Factory. Original Mattress Factory | Mattresses | Box Springs | Bed Our first purchase was 2 twin beds for our sons, over 10 years ago. They have held up so well that when DH and I needed a new queen set that's where we bought it. Bedding prices change all the time in the dept stores, but Original Mattress Factory has fair, decent prices year round. Good quality stuff. Go take a look (and a nap) in one of the stores.

I agree. We also bought a new mattress from the OMF and it is great. Very high quality at a reasonable price. We had a Sterns and Foster for 25 years, which also was a good mattress, but it was time for a new one.

[Zoocat]

I bought a queen size latex mattress five years ago and LOVE it. Never ever have a achey back in the morning. It's hypoallergenic too. You don't use a box spring, just a box that costs $150. But the latex mattress costs about $1K. Worth it!

[Nova]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmloki Very pleased with the $600(?) king sized Foam & tempur-foam in-a-box we got from Costco. A big plus is that either of us can roll around or get up from the bed without disturbing the other. Figure if it lasts 5 years or so I'll be good with getting another if need be - ever read how many pounds of dead skin and sweat and debris people leave in bed?

+

About 6 months ago we bought a 12" Night Therapy Pressure Relief Memory Foam mattress from Sam's Club, lots of layers of various foam. I did quite a bit of research before I ordered the mattress and I still felt a little odd ordering the mattress without seeing/trying it. The reviews were so good that I ordered it anyway. Glad I did. I have had some back pain...no more! I am a light sleeper and I no longer wake up when DH rolls over or gets up during the night. Sweet!

[W2R]

It helps me to test mattresses at a store. A quick, casual test is no good. Go sometime when the store is not crowded, and insist on trying out each mattress for at least five minutes or more. Go back and re-test the ones you like best. Pay attention. Compare. Imagine sleeping on the mattress all night.

That seems to work for me. It is a lot easier to do if there aren't many people there, and if the salesman isn't a pest.

I wouldn't pay a lot of money for any mattress I hadn't tested myself.

[calmloki]

looks like prices have gone up - betcha it's cheaper in-store. Costco - $649.99 after $150 OFF NovaForm® Pure Comfort Grand™ Queen Mattress