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Greg Cuetara
12-08-2009, 5:09 PM
Ok so I have had my mattress for about 10 years and it has lived it's life. The LOML has determined she needs a better nights sleep. I have gone to 5 or 6 stores and looked at I don't know how many mattresses.

I am looking for a good mid-line king size mattress preferably pillowtop and soft. I am going to build a platform bed so that i don't have to buy the box spring, I know that the platform bed will stiffen up the mattress a bit over what I feel in the store.

Any recommendations on what to stay away from or what has lasted in your home? I went to mattress discounters and saw a Kingsdown bed which is a little more expensive side for us but doable. I did some research on the bed and it says that within 2 weeks you should expect indentations where you sleep and they can be up to 2" and are ok. That seems kinda weird to me.

I looked at the sleep number beds and they are expensive and seem expensive for a glorified air mattress but if they work then it is worth it. Anyone have one that can comment on it?

I am also looking at the typical sealy and serta and also Stearns and Foster. I just want something that is going to last for 10 years and not give out in a year.

Thanks for any advice.
Greg

Colin Giersberg
12-08-2009, 6:18 PM
We have a Select Comfort Sleep Number Bed, that is quite nice and you have the benefit of increasing or decreasing the firmness on either side at the touch of a button. While not cheap, they definitely don't cost as much as some beds do. It comes in several boxes that allow you to put it together yourself. It took me around 1 1/2 hours to do ours, but if you want, they will come out and assemble it for you. When we got ours, that cost another $99.

Regards, Colin

Steve Rozmiarek
12-08-2009, 6:22 PM
I've got a sleep number bed, and it worked great for the first 4 years or so, but going on year 6, it's now completely ruined. The internal foam dividers around the air bags fail, and it gets really uncomfortable. I'm interested in a Tempur-pedic, I hope someone voices an opinion on one of them.

Mitchell Andrus
12-08-2009, 6:52 PM
Like a good pair of shoes.... quality and a warranty count. Spend the money once.

I'm not a fan of pillow-tops. I'd rather use a poofy pad that I can replace when it goes flat.
.

Mark Engel
12-08-2009, 6:56 PM
The Wife and I had been sleeping on a waterbed since before we got married, 30 years ago. When we moved recently, she said it had to go.

My Daughter and her husband have a memory foam mattress that they love (Tempurpedic is memory foam). We decided to take a chance and get one. We ordered a California King size mattress from Bed in a Box, on-line. We got the one with the down mattress pad.

I gotta tell ya, this is the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on! We both love this mattress. It is a little difficult finding sheets for the California King size (72*84 instead of 76*80), but Amazon has them.

So the Wife decides we should get another, queen size mattress for the guest room. She found a queen memory foam mattress at Wally World for like $269.00. That mattress is also very comfortable.

.02

Augusto Orosco
12-08-2009, 7:26 PM
Like a good pair of shoes.... quality and a warranty count. Spend the money once.

I'm not a fan of pillow-tops. I'd rather use a poofy pad that I can replace when it goes flat.
.

+1 on the pillow-tops. One gets charged a premium for all those fancy springs and support only to have a poofy thing on top that muffles everything. They also charge some huge premium for the fancy embroidery and whatnot for something that will be covered by a mattress pad (probably) and a mattress sheet (for sure).

Jim Becker
12-08-2009, 7:58 PM
Sleep Number here...the "mid-grade" model with the mild pillow top. I'd never go back to a regular mattress and neither would Professor Dr. SWMBO.

----

Mark, Overstock.com can also help you with California King bedding.

Robert McGowen
12-08-2009, 8:17 PM
One more vote for the Sleep Number bed. We have had a king sized one for 4-5 years now. The only complaint is that you can tell where the dividing line is between the 2 sides (my wife's side is on 35 and mine is on 80) and there is not much meeting in the middle. It is more like your side or mine...... ;)

The above post about the water bed brought back fond memories. We had one when my wife gained about 45 lbs. with our twins (full-term) and would yell every morning for me to come pull her out of the bed. I would sometimes just leave her there for a while, but she never found it as funny as I did. Go figure...... :D

Brian Brown
12-08-2009, 8:20 PM
Can't comment on longevity yet, but the wife and I just bought (3 months ago) a tempurpedic style bed. It is actually made by Englander. Long story short, we call it evil bed, because when we get in, we never want to get out.

Matt Meiser
12-08-2009, 9:27 PM
We came very, very close to buying a Sleep Number or Tempurpedic this summer but before we did we decided to stop at The Mattress Firm and try some others. For about 1/2 the price we got a pillow top Serta that we really like. Ours had gotten bad enough that I was sleeping better in hotels--not the case any more.

Larry Frank
12-08-2009, 9:32 PM
I agree with spending the most you can to get the best that is comfortable for you. It sounds like you are doing the right thing in trying out all of the different ones. Find one that you like and has a good reputation.
I have a bad back and hip and have metal parts in both. We got a Tempurpedic several years ago and it has been the best for me. It certainly was among the most expensive but for me worth every penny. After almost five years of sleeping in the same place and position every night, there is not even a dent in the mattress.

Joe Pelonio
12-08-2009, 10:02 PM
Yes, the wives like the pillow tops, ours was $1,100 for the queen size and it did make a big difference to her sleep (and disposition). Oh, I hope she doesn't read this! :eek:

Bob Borzelleri
12-08-2009, 10:20 PM
In 17 years of marriage, Deb and I have owned 4 mattresses. 3 came in the first 10 years and one for the next 7 years. It is the best bed we have ever slept on and it feels the same today as it did when we first set it up.

It comes with or with out a separate pillow top. I didn't want the pillow top and Deb did so I agreed thinking we could always try it both ways and maybe I''d win out. As it turned out, I grew to like it.

They are not inexpensive, but buying good stuff once is better than trying it again and again, in my view.

The mattress is latex and made by Dunlop. Ours is the Mediterranean with the slat box setup. We bought ours in Folsom, CA. Here is their website.
http://www.sleepdesign.com/

...Bob

David G Baker
12-08-2009, 11:52 PM
I tried the memory foam and found that it was soft enough to be uncomfortable in warm weather and hard as a brick in cold weather. In the warm weather it would make me sweat a lot if it didn't cool down at night. Still sleeping on an uncomfortable inner spring mattress and thinking about Sleep Number.

Greg Cuetara
12-08-2009, 11:55 PM
thanks for all the thoughts so far. i think a sleep number would be nice but not sure it is in the budget right now. had some things happen at work so have to reevaluate the budget.

Greg

Bonnie Campbell
12-09-2009, 7:45 AM
I've got a Tempur-pedic, and though not cheap, in the long run it will be. It has a 20 year guarantee on the foam not 'squishing' out of shape. We'd had a waterbed for years, so got the CA King to fit inside the waterbed frame. Had to get a 'custom' mattress for the fact the standard was a couple inches to thin. No extra charge for having an additional 2" thickness of foam added.

Mitchell Andrus
12-09-2009, 8:27 AM
I tried the memory foam and found that it was soft enough to be uncomfortable in warm weather and hard as a brick in cold weather. In the warm weather it would make me sweat a lot if it didn't cool down at night. Still sleeping on an uncomfortable inner spring mattress and thinking about Sleep Number.

Radiant heat. I had not considered this. Some foams do return body heat?
.

Alan Zenreich
12-09-2009, 8:44 AM
When shopping for a new bed 8 years ago, we decided that it was worth putting resources into a mattress that will see us into our senior years.

And as you know, mattresses can demand considerable resources.

We made the decision to visit a Duxiana store first, and take a look at the DuxBed line.

This was either a great thing, or a big mistake, as it pretty much spoiled us for looking at other beds. We did our due diligence, looked at about a dozen other upscale mattresses (Select Comfort, Tempurpedic, Sealy, Simmons, etc. etc), and then bit the (large) bullet for the Dux.

We could not be more pleased. We consider it an investment in our health, so it was money well spent.

David G Baker
12-09-2009, 9:06 AM
Mitchell,
You can get mattress pads that help stop the body heat from reflecting back at you in hot weather. My parents used lambs wool over their foam mattresses and it seemed to work for them.

Bruce Volden
12-09-2009, 10:02 AM
One other thing worth mentioning~~~~most of these "premium" mattress manufacturers will let you try them out for 30-90 days. At the prices they ask for these, I see nothing wrong for taking a "test drive"! We have been on a Temperpedic for several years now (I hate the pillows though) and look forward to coming home after extended trips just to get a good nites sleep.

Bruce

Dave Ogren
12-09-2009, 10:26 AM
I know several people that have the Tempurpedic made in Kentucky and are real happy. I don't have one.

My local foam and fabric supply house said that the high grade memory foam, green in color, is the same thing.

I used it to expand a matress in my motor home about 8 + years ago and am very happy with it.

When I replace my matress that is what I am going to do.

Cost for a California King is about $300.00 my kind of number.

Dave

Carlos Alden
12-09-2009, 10:34 AM
We bought a Simmons Beauty Rest about 10-13 years ago. It's very firm and has a soft pillow top, which I did not think I would like, but it's very comfortable with the firm matress underpinning, and a good fit for both my wife and I. I'm big - 6' and 240 lbs., and sprawl like modern suburban development when I sleep. The mattress has held up very well.

Carlos

David G Baker
12-09-2009, 1:16 PM
Bruce V,
Try to visualize packing your Tempur-pedic for a return to the seller. :D I have read on the net that there is a stiff charge for returning memory foam and Sleep Number beds due to the re-packaging that will probably have to be done by the seller or an independent contractor.

Bruce Volden
12-09-2009, 1:43 PM
Bruce V,
Try to visualize packing your Tempur-pedic for a return to the seller. :D I have read on the net that there is a stiff charge for returning memory foam and Sleep Number beds due to the re-packaging that will probably have to be done by the seller or an independent contractor.

You're probably right :eek: !!!! I assumed since we have local retailers that they would take care of that. But I suppose money would have to change hands for something.

Bruce

Jim Tobias
12-09-2009, 4:32 PM
Another vote for Tempurpedic. After 2 nights of getting accustomed to the feel, I woul dnever go back. It actually does conform to the shape of your body(regardless of how strange that may be) and helps wiht back and neck stress(IMHO).
Jim

Mike Conley
12-09-2009, 5:46 PM
If you consider a Sleep Number bed from Select Comfort, also take a look at ComfortairDirect.com.

After doing some research we went with the Optima from ComfortairDirect.com.

http://www.comfortairdirect.com/index.php?p=product&id=1&parent=2

Dave Schreib
12-09-2009, 7:45 PM
I dont like our pillow top because the matress cant be flipped over. As a result it got indentations in half the time of a non-pillow top. It's maybe 3 years old and I am ready to replace it.

Tom Godley
12-10-2009, 9:53 AM
Greg -- I purchased a platform bed a few years ago and spent a lot of time trying to find the proper mattress. The lack of a box spring completely changes the feel of the mattress.

I went with a platform bed because I needed to have the bed built into cabinetry to fit in a strange sized and shaped room. If I had to do it again I would have had a regular bed designed into the space.

John Shuk
12-10-2009, 11:40 AM
I have a Kingsdown from Sleepy's.
King size about $2k new.
Now it is uncomfortable and wehave only had it about 3 years. It has deep indentations so we called Sleepy's to look into warranty service.
They sent out a contractor with a digital camera and a laptop. He took pictures from various angles and layed straight edges across the bed very clearly showing the defects.
About a week or two later we were notified that our claim is denied due to some staining. It could be seen in the photos but it was not as though our mattress looked like it had been out in the elements just normal wear and tear kind of stuff.
I can't figure out how this caused the springs to break down but we are denied. It is stated on the website but it excludes a huge group from getting service from them.
Buying from the is buying a mattress with no warranty. Lots of other folks on the internet who tell a very similar story to mine. Google it.
I would buy from Sears or some company that stands by it's product.
I would never under any circumstance buy from Sleepy's again.

Matt Meiser
12-10-2009, 12:07 PM
John, that's on everyone's warranty I looked at. Any stains-no warranty.

Bonnie Campbell
12-10-2009, 12:09 PM
John, that's on everyone's warranty I looked at. Any stains-no warranty.

That's why I purchased a water-proof mattress pad immediately after buying the mattress.

Matt Meiser
12-10-2009, 12:24 PM
Same here. They sold us a really nice one that actually fits and stays in place. I believe its got a layer of microfiber which is "grippy" and says in place.

John Shuk
12-10-2009, 5:22 PM
I have a friend who was once in the mattress sales business(regional version of Sleepy's)
According to him it is really a shady business. I don't care for Sears for the most part but I would buy a bed from them or someone like them. I think they might be more likely to accommodate to some extent.
Mattresses DO get stains on them and when it comes to the structure the stains are insignificant. So these (insert descriptive) are free to build beds to whatever spec they choose and void a very high percentage of warranty claims with impunity.

Matt Meiser
12-10-2009, 7:25 PM
Pretty much what I read into it too.

Shawn Pixley
12-12-2009, 9:11 PM
We bought out Beautyrest 18 years ago. We need a new one now but, I think it has held up very well. I would consider it again. I might check out the Dux beds too...

Eric Franklin
12-13-2009, 7:13 AM
I have a select comfort and have been happy with it. They will provide extra foam for the center if you have a gap in the center. One benefit of the select comfort beds are that they can be taken apart and cleaned. When my wife was pregnant with our twins, she throw up on the bed. It was nice that we could just unzip the top and wash it.

Select Comfort sends out fliers with refurbed beds with big discounts to existing customers. Haven't seen one in a while though.