New York Renovator

I always wanted one of those *real* memory foam mattresses. I’d endured the spring coil for many decades before the darling husband shelled out the big bucks for a memory foam. We got a Tempurpedic on sale, and I did a review shortly after. It remains one of my most popular blog posts, surprisingly.

We’ve had ours for almost two years now! Has it really been that long?! But I’m happy to say that it’s still very, very nice. And SO comfortable.

Because of herniated spinal disks and sciatica, I was in a lot of pain with the regular spring coil bed. Since we have had a memory foam mattress, I have not had one “big” bout of back problems. So I’m very partial to the memory foam.

What really stinks is the foundation. We got a generic brand name foundation for the set, and after 6 months, it started squeaking like crazy. Apparently, the foundation is constructed of cardboard and plastic ribbing! Very cheap. We’ve replaced the foundation set every 6 months for 18 months (warranty) until the furniture store said they wouldn’t replace the foundation anymore, and we’d have to buy a new set. :-p I won’t get into how much that totally stinks. I guess I could sue them for breach or warranty, perhaps….

Anyway. The memory foam mattress itself is outstanding. After two years, here are some things I’ve learned.

The memory foam mattress IS a little hot. It’s constructed of some kind of plastic something or other, and therefore retains heat very well. I am a hot person by nature, so I get overheated sometimes. It’s not blistering hot as some reviewers would have you believe, but it’s a pretty toasty mattress in the winter, and warm in the summer. On the plus side, if you live in a cold climate or your house is cold all winter, this is THE mattress to get.

Livvy loves the mattress

The complete bed set sits lower than the average bed. So you drop into it at night and crawl up out of it in the morning. I’d rather have a higher bed. Someday, I’m going to build a bed frame out of solid lumber. This will raise the bed and replace that lousy, squeaky foundation.

The memory foam does soften over time. When we first got it, it was firm. It’s loosened a little. It’s still very comfortable, but it is softer. Also, when it’s cold, the bed is firmer, and when it’s warm, the bed relaxes. The material is sensitive to temperatures.

The mattress is extremely heavy. VERY heavy. It takes two guys to haul it up the stairs, and even then, I wondered if they were going to spill back down again….

Overall, I recommend the memory foam mattress. You can no doubt get much better deals online than retail. It was expensive, retail. You cannot use regular box springs with the memory foam, though– it must have a solid foundation. I recommend you stay far away from the generic no-brand labels and stick with the big names for the foundation. Or, build your own solid wood bed frame.

Have you noticed it these days? Consumer products are so junky these days! What is going on?

We bought some beds for the kids about 5 years ago. They seemed very nice (and cost nice, too). But now, they are totally junked. I remember in the Good Old Days that beds would last many years before the mattress and box springs gave out. These new things are awful. They are lumpy, bumpy, torn… what gives? This seems to be the plague of modern shopping today– nothing is built to last like it once was.

Anyway, I’m skipping the box spring and mattress stuff from now on. It’s so uncomfortable. The Hubs got me a Tempurpedic mattress from a local retailer a few years ago and I love it. (Although the foundation we got has severe defects and we’ve had 3+ replacements so far). If the memory foam mattress is on a solid, firm foundation, it’s the BEST bed ever. If it’s on a creaky, shifting foundation, it’s horrible. Needless to say, we’re going to get a better foundation box that doesn’t break down every 6 months…. and I’m going to be getting memory foam for the kids as soon as I can. I think it is better for their spines. And they will definitely sleep better.

Memory foam mattresses are not exactly cheap, though. The local store sells them for about $1000! I have four kids, you can see where this would lead me…. but once again, it’s Buy.com to the rescue. They sell memory foam mattresses, can you believe it?! There’s a nice 10″ model (twin size) for about $300. And the shipping is free. VERY nice.

The best thing to do with the memory foam mattresses is to place them on a solid base. I have plans to make very simple bed bases, out of lathe stock wood pieces, a wood frame, and a slab of thick plywood. This will provide the foundation as well as the bed frame. And it will be as solid as anything. The kids can even paint them or decorate them in any way they desire. I had a bed like that when I was a teen (we had a regular foam mattress, not “memory foam” back then) and it was solid and comfortable. These kinds of beds are also very durable– no cheapo particle board and Chinese glue!

So that ends one problem. I love Buy.com. I have ordered tons of stuff through them over the years, and I have never been displeased! They ship fast, their service is incredible, and they don’t sell me junk! Plus, they always have one outstanding sale or another. Even on memory foam mattresses! Kudos to Buy.com!

This is a continuing saga… you can read my first review of our TempurPedic mattress and foundation set here, and then the problem with the horribly squeaky foundation here, and then the story about getting the replacement here.

Whew! This entire story is almost a year old and as drawn out as those weight loss supplement reviews! OK… To backtrack: In October 2008, we paid over $1000 for a TempurPedic queen-size mattress and foundation set, to help my back (herniated disks). The mattress has been WONDERFUL for my back. But in January 2009, the foundation started to squeak. REALLY LOUDLY. I mean, fingernails on chalkboard kind of noise here. I procrastinated for a few months, but finally called the furniture store and got a replacement foundation set in April 2009. In May– two weeks later- the squeaking started up AGAIN! Since writing about this issue on this blog, I’ve received dozens of similar complaints by other TempurPedic customers. The mattress is really great, but the foundation STINKS.

So today, after procrastinating a few weeks, I called the corporate office of TempurPedic in Lexington, Kentucky. The number is 800-821-6621. The lady I spoke with was exceptionally courteous and helpful. After explaining my situation, she said that TempurPedic has recently come out with a new and improved foundation set design, and they will be happy to replace my foundation, free of charge, according to my warranty terms. I had to write a letter including my name, address, phone number, and state the reason for my claim. I also had to make a copy of my sales receipt, and send it to the Lexington office. From there, it may take 2-4 weeks to process the warranty… but they will call me when they have processed it and within 24-48 hours after that, I should be getting my new foundation set, free of charge.

This was good news! I quickly typed up the letter to go out into today’s mail. I will post an update here when I get one.

Doing some research on the web, I see that a lot of people have problems with the squeaky foundation set. Many of them have requested exchanges for new ones, only to experience (as I did) that the noise returns within a few weeks. I am convinced that this issue is caused by a defect in the design of the foundation. Problem is, I’m stuck with using the TempurPedic foundation– if I build my own flat bed (which I have been very tempted to do), then I void my warranty on the mattress. I don’t want to do that. I’m really hoping that this “new and improved” foundation is the solution for our woes.

So that’s my update. I hope this is helpful to you! I’ll have more news when I get it.

Our old Sealy Posturpedic mattress had seen better days. I also strongly suspected it as the reason for my spate of back problems. I would wake up in pain every morning and stiffly stagger around most of the early part of the day. I’d researched all sorts of mattresses available, but the number of choices were overwhelming. Reluctantly, I headed over to the furniture store to see what was on the floor (I say reluctantly because I always like to do my homework before encountering a salesman).

I tried all sorts of beds there, and the most comfortable was the Tempurpedic. Tempurpedic is just the brand name for the “memory foam” mattress. Tempurpedic was the first to come out with the memory foam, and they held the patent on it for a decade or so before other companies could manufacture it. Too bad they didn’t name their foam “Disney”; maybe they could have gotten an eternally-renewing patent. :-p

The temperpedic foam is really neat. The foam condenses with the contour and weight of your body. This is said to relieve pressure point pain while sleeping. The mattress is incredibly comfortable.

I’d spent a lot of time lookinf for and reading online reviews about the mattress. The biggest complaint I’d read was that the mattress makes you feel very hot. Apparently, the foam doesn’t disperse body heat very well. One person complained of waking up in a “pool of sweat” (ewwww) because it was so hot.

Here in Upstate New York, I didn’t think this would be a terrible issue. It is FREEZING for six months out of the year… I’ll give another update come July, but for now I am really thankful for the heat-retaining properties, especially since I have a teeny-tiny heater vent in my room that just barely oozes warm air. I just love how warm and cozy the bed is. But if it does get too warm in the summer, all you have to do throw a mattress pad on it, and be sure to spray the foam with Febreze once a month. (Yes! I found another helpful use for my Febreze!)

I love the fact that the Temperpedic came with a split foundation. When we moved to this house, we couldn’t get our Sealy queen-size mattress and box spring up the stairs (it’s an enclosed hallway and has a very low ceiling). How did we get the bed into the upstairs when we moved here? Our moving buddies removed the bedroom window and hauled it up with a rope! LOL! Hey, it worked! However, now that we want to get rid of the old bed, we, um, can’t. I don’t think the window could handle being taken apart again (it’s a century old). So we have to bust up the old bed… joy.

New-fangled beds come in pieces. You can see the new split foundation in the photos below. We got a frame with a center bar to support the division between the two. I had feared that I’d be able to feel the division when laying on the bed (the Princess and the Pea syndrome have I), but I don’t. I LOVE the bed.

You can also see that there are two layers of foam within a lightweight fabric bag. The mattress is supposed to come with a heavier fabric bag that zips up, but we are still waiting for ours. Back on delivery day, an overzealous stockboy sliced through the cardboard box and into the cover when the mattress was being prepped for delivery. I really, really wanted the mattress when scheduled, so the store delivered the bed on time with the promise we’d get the cover by FedEx. Hmm, I’m still waiting for the cover. I think they need to check out their Stackers. Gotta call them about that… (I’m using a store-bought mattress pad for the bed right now).

So my opinion? I love Tempurpedic! It’s so comfortable, I haven’t had any back pain since using it, I sleep better, and it’s warm. The cons are it’s somewhat difficult to ship and install (the foam is extremely dense and heavy, and the lightweight fabric bag is very filmy and thin), and it’s pricier than your “average” mattress. However, I will say that we got a terrific deal on this. It was on sale already, and the furniture store was willing to haggle with us. So we paid the same price for this bed as we would have with a spring-coil mattress and foundation. Definitely haggle if you can, it’s worth it. Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons:

Pros
Extremely comfortable
Warm
No dust mites with this!
Easy to clean (Febreze spray)
Great for people with sore backs

Cons
Expensive
Cumbersome when moving
Needs a special cover

The Tempurpedic memory foam bed gets a thumbs up from Mrs. Mecomber!