I am just moving into the first home I have ever bought, and my first purchase will be a mattress. In Chapel Hill, NC, I was torn between 2 king mattresses (no boxsprings) I saw, one at Sear’s and one at a Sleepys.com mall store. The Sears was a Sealy Gibson Firm (759 coil count), and i was happy with the 50% sale. Out the door for $1030, including delivery and a mattress cover. I had to walk by the sleepy’s store. I tried the Simmons Beautyrest “Angelo” (firm) model there (800 coil), and the sales guy took $400 or so off to get me out the door for $985 delivered & cover. Then I started reading this website, and now I figure you would think both choices are mistakes? both offered ~30 days return exchange program and 10 year warranties.
Like most people I have had my share of back problems, and I have found a more firm mattress is best. Also, all the newer advertised stuff about “cooler” sleeping toppers is interesting but even more confusing. I feel like my body temperature changes during the night, and I always have to change from sheet to blanket and back several times a night.
Can anyone recommend a store around Raleigh/Durham area that could help me make a better choice and/or recommend a specific mattress? w/ some kind of cooler topper??
Yes I would not recommend either of these. The first step in mattress shopping is knowing what to avoid and these guidelines will help you avoid most of the worst choices (like major brands and chain stores).
The next most important step is to find the better outlets in your area that have the knowledge and experience to help you make your best choices and also have a range of good quality and value mattresses. The better outlets will focus more on educating their customers than they will on “selling” them. Generally the best outlets are either factory direct outlets or smaller sleep shops that sell local or alternative independent brands. Both of these tend to use better materials in their mattress and sell for lower prices.
Post #2 here has the better options in the Raleigh area but I would first visit Original Mattress Factory as they would likely have the best value in the area. They make two latex mattresses and a high quality memory foam mattress as well as a range of traditional innerspring mattresses.
If they don’t carry anything that you like … then I would consider the other outlets that are listed although the value there is not likely to be as good as OMF. There are some other good value factory direct manufacturers around High Point as well (listed in post #2 here) that may be worth a phone call and/or a trip if OMF doesn’t work out.
There are also some very good online manufacturers that are members of this site who are listed in post #21 here. There is a wide range of very high quality and value there. They are all very good at helping their customers make good choices … especially if you have done some local testing to get a sense of the type of mattress that meets your needs and preferences.
Hope this helps and feel free to post if you have questions along the way. The first step IMO would be a visit to OMF.
I can heartily second Phoenix’s recommendation for Original Mattress. Both I and my mom have recently purchased mattresses from them and we were both very impressed with the quality of the mattresses that we got and the value for the price. We both ended-up buying the one of their innerspring models (the Regency Sapphire model) but I also spent quite a bit of time laying on their latex models and they seemed to be extremely nice also. Good luck with your search!
I appreciate all your help. I purchased a firm Cal King sized mattress from Original Mattress Factory in Chapel Hill a few months ago. I have been waiting to see how it feels after a few months before providing feedback to the forum. Since I have had quite a few expenditures in moving to my new place, I have still been sleeping on the mattress just on the floor while I decided on a bed frame. After changing my mind from getting a platform frame to a low profile, I went to order box springs. I perused the forums to see if there was any advice on best way to approach, and it seemed the consensus was to purchase from same place as mattress. The box springs alone, however, are $440 delivered! I see box springs for $100 from Sears or some of those other places you do not recommend. Is there enough value in these box springs for the over $300 price difference? The mattress itself was just ~$700.
I appreciate all your help. I purchased a firm Cal King sized mattress from Original Mattress Factory in Chapel Hill a few months ago. I have been waiting to see how it feels after a few months before providing feedback to the forum. Since I have had quite a few expenditures in moving to my new place, I have still been sleeping on the mattress just on the floor while I decided on a bed frame. After changing my mind from getting a platform frame to a low profile, I went to order box springs. I perused the forums to see if there was any advice on best way to approach, and it seemed the consensus was to purchase from same place as mattress. The box springs alone, however, are $440 delivered! I see box springs for $100 from Sears or some of those other places you do not recommend. Is there enough value in these box springs for the over $300 price difference? The mattress itself was just ~$700.
That would depend to some degree on which mattress you purchased. some mattresses do much better and are more durable when used with a box spring (particularly innerspring mattresses that use helicals) and others do best on a foundation. You can read more about the differences between them in post #2 here.
As you are discovering … it’s usually less to buy a box spring at the same time as a mattress.
There is also the consideration that a box spring (vs a foundation) will also change the feel and performance of your mattress compared to how it feels and performs on the floor.
In any case … I would follow the manufacturers recommendations and warranty guidelines (which you can see here) which say that the mattress needs to be supported by a “matching” box spring so I would find out from them what they consider to be “matching”. If they allow for the use of other box springs or even a semi flex foundation … then it would be a matter of finding one that is suitable and better value.
If warranty coverage is not an issue for you … then I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a better value boxspring or a semiflex foundation (with some shock absorbing qualities to help protect your innerspring from damage) regardless of whether it nullified your warranty.