Hi Lawsonmh15,
All of the outlets that I listed have good value IMO and from that perspective I would consider them all as potential members although there’s more to a membership information that just the price of their mattresses (and there’s LOTS of memory foam outlets or manufacturers that I haven’t listed for example out of the many dozens 'm aware of). I listed them because I have talked with them enough to feel quite comfortable with them.
I tend to look at much more than just price alone because there is more to a mattress than just the top layer of memory foam and there are many parts to “value” depending on what is important to each person. Part of this too is the willingness to disclose the materials that are used in the mattress which all of them do.
All memory foam is soft (to different degrees) which is why it’s only used in the upper layers of a mattress because none of it is firm enough to be used as a support core. Part of how firm a memory foam mattress feels as well has as much to do with the thickness of the layers and the softness/firmness of the polyfoam layers below it as it does with the memory foam itself. It’s highly unlikely that a mattress with 4" of memory foam over a “typical” support core would be too firm for most. Different people will also call the same mattress either too soft or too firm depending on what they are sensitive to (either pressure relief of the comfort layers or how deeply they sink down into the support layers and the level of support) and how their own body weight and shape interacts with the mattress. A mattress needs to be both soft and firm (rather than soft or firm) but in most cases … when people refer to medium-firm (which is really misleading because it only refers to an overall feel) … they mean soft on top for pressure relief and firm underneath for support. Because your weights and sensitivities may be different … you may each use “soft” and “firm” in different ways but the adjustability of the mattress would give you more options to get to a feel that both of you preferred. They are pretty good at giving ideas based on what others in your position have preferred.
IMO … they are already ahead of most of their competitors on price when you compare apples to apples. More expensive and higher quality foams and materials cost more so it’s misleading to compare them to lower quality options that use lower quality materials. In many cases … cheap prices simply means cheap materials that don’t last long.
In most cases the “failure” you read about is the failure of the foam (which is not a defect but normal for very low density foam) rather than the failure of a foundation although of course both are possible. This is rarely covered by a warranty because before a claim can be made on a warranty the foam has to have typically a 1.5" impression with no weight on the mattress and in almost all cases … the foam can soften so much that it is unsuitable for sleeping on long before it develops an impression which is covered under warranty.
There are a few posts on the forum which have a wide variety of foundations. Post #4 here has some inexpensive suggestions and some links to other posts with even more options as well. Most outlets sell a foundation which is suitable for their mattress but ordering one separately can also make sense if the value for a similar model is significantly better.
I don’t know of any set of plans to build your own although I’m sure there are probably lots that will come up with a google search. If you find any that look particularly good, it would be great to post the link in the thread as there are probably others who may want to go in this direction. With good wire grid foundations available for well under $200 and slatted wood foundations available for under $300 … there would need to be a real financial incentive to build your own but it may be well worthwhile for some who likes going in this direction.
Phoenix
PS: Rocky Mountain Mattress became a member of the site on April 16th, 2012 *Note added later: Fast forward to 2024 Rocky Mountain Ceased Operations 