Hello fellow mattress researchers!
Some background:
I purchased a dreamfoam ultimate dreams, in a king size, about 2years ago. Its a 5 on their rating scale. I have a bed frame that is made of wood. The side rails have a wooden lip on them that allows me to lay slats down. I purchased some 1/4’s and cut them to their appropriate length. The bed also came with four 1/3’s that have two legs that are attached and planted on the floor. The slats are about 3in from each other.
My current problem:
I wake up in pain in my lower back region and right leg. Its a more of a sciatic pain because I feel it in my butt and the right side of my calf muscle. My assumption is that my lower back is sinking too low and pinching that nerve somehow. I can see a great amount of flex on the slats when my wife at 115lbs is laying down. I imagine its a greater amount of flex when I lay down at 5’10, 218lbs. I have slept on the floor the past few days and my back feels fine now, and I have no pain in my leg. My question is - am I not getting enough support from my foundation? Is the flex really causing the polyfoam not to engage at the support level? I noticed in the foundation thread, Phoenix mentioned a center support for a slat system, which I’m assuming the supplied 1/3’s with the legs are fulfilling that requirement, although I could be wrong. Would a foundation like this help with the issues I am having? I can see where this type of foundation would be way more sturdy and most likely wouldn’t flex at all. I have attached a few images of my slat system to help give context of what I am describing.
Please help!
Hi azngeek,
A mattress with a polyfoam support core (regardless of the material in the comfort layers) will generally do best with a firm, flat, and evenly supportive support surface underneath it that has minimal to no flex under the mattress and for larger sizes with at least one center support beam that has good support to the floor to prevent any sagging in the middle of the mattress. The components (either a bedframe and foundation or a platform bed) need to be strong and durable enough to support the weight of the mattress and the people sleeping on it without some of the parts bending, sagging, shifting, or breaking with extended use. The support surface under the mattress (which may be slats or a solid surface or a steel or wire grid) should have enough surface area to prevent the mattress from sagging through any gaps or spaces in the support surface over time but still allow some airflow under the mattress. If a foundation or a platform bed has a slatted surface then I would suggest that the gaps between any slats are no more than about 5" (with 1 x 3 slats) although less than 4" would be much better yet.
Your support system only has center support for 4 of the slats and with a king size bed it’s not surprising that the other slats are sagging because the span between the load bearing surfaces on each side would be too wide and need to be reinforced. If you slept better with your mattress on the floor then it certainly points to the flex in your slats being the cause of your issues.
Your bedframe was designed for use with a foundation which would have a center support beam that rests on the 4 legs and if you are converting it to a platform bedframe then you would need a center support beam from head to foot to provide center support for all the slats instead of just a few of them.
If you wish to keep using your bedframe as a platform bed instead of using a foundation or bunkie board on top of your current slats then to provide the center support you need and prevent the slats from flexing under load you would either need to add a center support beam with legs to provide good support to the floor that supports all the slats in your bedframe or alternatively you could use T-slats like this for the slats that don’t have legs to prevent them from sagging in the center.
Phoenix
[quote=“Phoenix” post=65420]
A mattress with a polyfoam support core (regardless of the material in the comfort layers) will generally do best with a firm, flat, and evenly supportive support surface underneath it that has minimal to no flex under the mattress and for larger sizes with at least one center support beam that has good support to the floor to prevent any sagging in the middle of the mattress. The components (either a bedframe and foundation or a platform bed) need to be strong and durable enough to support the weight of the mattress and the people sleeping on it without some of the parts bending, sagging, shifting, or breaking with extended use. The support surface under the mattress (which may be slats or a solid surface or a steel or wire grid) should have enough surface area to prevent the mattress from sagging through any gaps or spaces in the support surface over time but still allow some airflow under the mattress. If a foundation or a platform bed has a slatted surface then I would suggest that the gaps between any slats are no more than about 5" (with 1 x 3 slats) although less than 4" would be much better yet.[/quote]
That’s good info! Thanks for breaking that down for me. Do you believe that this may be the reason I am not feeling supported on my current setup?
[quote=“Phoenix” post=65420]
If you slept better with your mattress on the floor then it certainly points to the flex in your slats being the cause of your issues.[/quote]
I slept better on the floor without the mattress, just the floor. I tried the mattress on the floor for a few days and it still had the same pain, although I am not sure if I gave it enough time?
[quote=“Phoenix” post=65420]
Your bedframe was designed for use with a foundation which would have a center support beam that rests on the 4 legs and if you are converting it to a platform bedframe then you would need a center support beam from head to foot to provide center support for all the slats instead of just a few of them.[/quote]
This is very interesting. So my bed is designed to have a foundation placed in it? So by design, I should have the four included slats with legs and then place a foundation on top of those and it would have the center support you are talking about? I get confused bc if I bought a foundation then it wouldn’t sit on the bed side rails it would be sitting on top of the included slats. Would that be ok? Also, what do you think of the foundation I linked to? Ghostbed foundation? Is there a better option for my current bedframe?
Thanks!!
Hi azngeek,
It’s certainly possible that it could be the reason either by itself or in combination with other factors that can lead to the loss of comfort and/or support over time. There is also more information in post #4 here that includes some of the other reasons that could account for your experience.
It would certainly make sense to sleep on your mattress on the floor for a little longer to help you identify any longer term changes in your “symptoms” that would help you track down the reason or reasons for your experience. That way you can identify any longer term consistent patterns in your sleeping experience rather than going by your experience for just a few nights which may be an anomaly or the result of adjusting to the change itself.
If sleeping on the floor improves your experience then it would point to your support system being either part or all of the problem because a suitable support system would provide support for your mattress that is similar to the floor.
If it provides a partial improvement then it could be pointing to your support system being part of the problem but perhaps not the only reason for the problem.
If it makes no difference at all then it would point to some of the other possibilities being the major cause of the problem (although I would still make sure that you reinforce your support system anyway since it’s not really suitable for your mattress and could lead to more issues over time).
Yes … although it would have been better yet to have a center support beam and 5 slats rather than only 4. There is also more information about bedframes that can be used under a foundation in post #10 here.
The weight of the foundation, the mattress, and the people on the mattress should be supported by the side rails as well as the slats and center support so that the load distribution is evenly distributed even if the foundation is resting on the slats which are resting on the side rails rather than directly on the side rails…
Yes it would be a suitable foundation for your mattress although your bedframe isn’t an ideal choice even with a foundation and I would probably add one or more center legs under the slats to add additional load bearing points or use the T-Slats to provide better support for your foundation. Some of the suggestions in post #5 here may also be helpful.
There is more information about the different support systems (bedframes and foundations or platform beds) that are generally suitable for different types of mattresses and some examples of each of them in post #1 here.
Phoenix