Hi Julie777,
[quote]The Primo mattress has :
comfort layer - 0.5 inch - 3lb
support layer - 2 inch - 2.5 lb
base layer - 7.5 inch - 2 lb
I’m assuming this is not very good quality, based on what I’ve been reading? I’m thinking of increasing my budget by a few hundred dollars now.[/quote]
Assuming the middle layer is memory foam … the materials in this mattress would be lower quality and less durable than I would suggest (even outside of the additional risk that would be involved with a mattress that is imported from China) so I wouldn’t consider it for anything other than temporary or occasional use (in a guest bedroom for example).
The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Ottawa area (subject to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines I linked in my last reply) are listed in posts #2 and #3 here.
While other people’s comments or reviews about the knowledge, service, and guidance of a particular business can certainly be helpful … I would avoid using other people’s experiences or reviews on a mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you and in many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (see post #13 here).
There are also no “standard” definitions or consensus of opinions for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others so a mattress that one manufacturer rates as being a specific firmness could be rated very differently by another manufacturer. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness as well and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around (especially if they are comparing completely different types of mattresses). This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science.
There is also more information about what I call “simplified choice” mattresses (including both of the mattresses you mentioned and many others as well) in post #2 here that can help you assess the quality and durability of the materials in each of them.
While it’s not a complete list … some of the better online options I’m aware of that ship across Canada are also listed in post #21 here as well.
Phoenix