I’m 5’7" 187 side sleeper with pressure sensitivity. I bought the 8" tps 15.5 gauge in the queen size maybe 3 or 4 weeks ago.
No matter what I do, I roll to the middle. I have made sure my metal and plywood platform is straight. I have used this platform before with no issue on 3 beds in the last several months.
If I lay directly on the coils, I roll to the middle right away. No amount of layering of latex, hybrid or poly changes this. When I sit on the edge of the bed, I tilt backwards. I can feel the coils firmer on the edges. I tried both edges and the rolling happens immediately. If I lay at the foot of the bed, there is no rolling to the middle. I tried putting a center strip under the middle of the bed, but that just made a bump. I’ve been relying on a pillow against my back to stop the rolling.
Clue: I did have the coils a few weeks before buying and installing the case about 5 days ago. The rolling became more noticeable around the time I got the case, but I’m not sure of the relative time frame. Before I got the case, I remember finding what felt like a slot where I could lie almost in between coils or I broke in a couple columns. Before the case, the bed was 63" wide and after, it measured the desired 60."
Unless someone has some kind of miracle idea, I’m looking for a coil unit that doesn’t funnel me to the middle. I can’t sleep like this many more days. It’s probably causing my foam to wear unevenly has I have a lot of soft foam (serene, soft talalay then medicum talalay). If I put foam directly on the bed, it just sticks up in the air on the edges. I guess this is because the coils are softer in the middle/foam wearing in the middle.
I see this Leggett & Platt coils on their site, but they seem to have a lot of them. Do they have any that don’t have these hard edges? On my current tps coils, I can literally feel the difference with my hand between the middle and the 2 side edges. I’m reading this is supposed to stop sagging, bit it’s definitely causing a center of the bed sag.
Anyone have this experience or have a suggestion of what coils to look at? I’m ready to rip this cover off, let everything spread and just find a soft spot.
That seems odd. Unless there was a manufacturing issue, that definitely is not normal. If youre sure your bed frame is strong and structured, the firmer edge coils shouldn’t really be pushing you to the middle, they should just help you not to fall over rhe edge, because the standard coils have each other for support, but the edges do not have other coils for help on the other side.
Im 220 pounds and never had an issue of rolling to the center, and thats interesting to hear thats happening for you
Dealing with a “trench” in the middle of a DIY bed is a common headache, but your description of the timeline actually points to a few specific issues.
The fact that the coils were stretched out to 63 inches for a few weeks is likely where the trouble started. When pocket coils aren’t contained, the individual columns have room to lean or splay. When you squeezed them back into a 60-inch case, they probably didn’t line up vertically again. If those center columns are leaning even slightly, they can’t support your weight properly, which creates that funneling effect.
The firm edges you’re feeling are likely a result of the case being too tight. It creates a “drum-head” effect where the perimeter is pulled into a stiff wall, while the center stays loose and sinks. Since 15.5-gauge wire is so light and responsive, it’s going to be the first thing to react to that uneven tension.
Before you give up on these coils, try a total reset. Take them out of the cover and give the whole unit a good shake from the sides to help the columns find their vertical center again. I’d also flip the unit head-to-foot. If the foot of the bed felt fine, putting that “fresh” wire under your torso might solve the rolling issue immediately.
It’s also worth noting that at 187 lbs, those 15.5g coils are very soft. If you’re putting several inches of soft foam directly on top of them without a firmer transition layer (like a 1-inch piece of medium latex or high-density polyfoam) your weight isn’t being distributed across enough coils.
If you do decide to swap the unit, the Texas Pocket Springs 14.75-gauge is a great middle ground. It’s significantly sturdier for a side sleeper of your weight but doesn’t have the hard perimeter that some of the Leggett & Platt units use. It should give you the support you’re looking for without making you feel like you’re being pushed into the center.
I did wonder about the coils spending time outside the being an issue.
I don’t know if the case is too tight. I got it from the TPS people that made the coils.
About the reset, I spent a few hours stripping everything off and I did notice my metal base that sits under the plywood did have some spots where it was sagging. I thought it was straight, but I didn’t level enough spots and not under load. Some spots were 1/3" sagged. Not sure that’s enough to make a difference or not. I did shim the base a bit, but only as a test. I actually overcompensated about a 1/4" biased toward the edge I sleep on. I dunno what I’ll learn because my layers might already be compromised.
I thought about flipping the coils head to toe, but I didn’t want to change too many things at once. Maybe I will try that tomorrow. It’s a lot of work every day and at about 3am when my comfort layers need to be switched out.
About the coils and my weight. Yes I can notice a nice giving cradle in the middle. I like it, but not sure if that’s good long term. I asked TPS if they had just 15.5 without the reinforced edge, but they don’t have any of those left.
My transition layer is 2" of medium talalay 30-32 ILD. Then usually an inch of serene, then 2" soft talalay, then 1" memory, then 2 inch serene. It does change often, but that’s the idea.
Even though everything is good atm with the metal base, I don’t trust what appears to be cheap metal. I might as well get a better sturdy base to put my plywood on if you have any suggestions. I’m more interested in quality and speed of shipping than cost.