I’ve gathered from doing some reading on this forum that for a latex mattress, the slats on the foundation or platform bed supporting it should be 3" or less apart. My partner and I are in the very beginning stages of finding a new mattress (we’ve just concluded that we need a new mattress and are talking about what we like and don’t like what we have currently), but it seems possible that we’ll end up with a latex mattress. The problem is, we already have a very nice, high quality slatted platform bed, which has 2" wide slats with 4.5" gaps between them.
We definitely don’t want to replace the platform bed. We also don’t want to get a slatted foundation/“box spring” to put on top of the slats because a) the additional height of a foundation, even a low-profile one, would be too much and b) shelling out for a foundation to put on top of slats seems silly and would also reduce what we could spend on a mattress.
Is there any good way to deal with this? Has anyone on this forum dealt with a situation like it? Would adding slats be reasonable? We wouldn’t be able to attach them in the same way as the slats that are already there, which are supported by 4-sided slots on either side of the bed and the center beam (to assemble the bed, you line up the slats with the slots and then brought the sides of the bed together). Would it feel weird to have two different kinds of slats?
Thanks!
I certainly wouldn’t use a latex mattress on this as it is … especially when the slats are only 1x2 instead of 1x3 which means that the gaps should be even less to get to about 50% surface area support or better .If there was a way to add more slats that produced an even surface then that’s what I would do. It wouldn’t matter that there were two different types of slats as long as the surface was even. If this wasn’t possible … I would probably add a bunkie board that is around 2" thick and put this in between the bed and the mattress (here and here are examples) . Other alternatives would be to add a couple of inches of the firmest polyfoam you could find (50 ILD or better) and use this under the mattress or perhaps even something like this (although I would talk with them to see if it would be appropriate because it’s designed for use on a solid platform base and may not be stiff or rigid enough).
Apparently … some of these also had a ridge in the middle but I have read that the newer models don’t have this. If yours is one that has then it may be an issue for a bunkie board or even the other options I’ve mentioned because the surface wouldn’t be flat.
I had a very similar issue where my latex mattress was pushing down between my slats. It actually caused the mattress to be UN-supportive. The gap was over 3". I bought a sheet of pegboard and laid it on top of the slats. This now supports the mattress properly and distributed the load more evenly into the stats and bed. I used peg board because i wanted to be sure there was ventilation under the mattress, so no condensation was formed.
Is there really that much moisture that would cause condensation in a mattress? I assume a good cover would prevent any natural moisture in the air, unless you steam the room or something. My mattress has a “non-slip” bottom, I doubt it would allow anything through anyway. Any thought?
I don’t really know if moisture would actually be an issue. But I know that the latex has holes through the whole depth of the mattress. These holes help to keep the mattress cool. If the bottom is solid, then there would be no where for the heat to dissipate. I hope the holes allow cool air to be pulled from underneath the bed through the convection process.
Hey whoever, the moisture isn’t so much coming from the air, it’s more coming from the perspiration of the people sleeping on the mattress. In any case, I’ve actually had mildew form on the bottom of a mattress in the past (a foam and cotton futon, roughly 6 inches thick, on a plywood platform. Let me tell you, lifting the mattress up to rotate it and finding mildew was really traumatic. I don’t ever want to deal with that again. Maybe if you have a thick mattress (9+ inches) and then a box spring or upholstered slat foundation (another 9 or so inches) on top of a solid surface, it’s not as likely that you’ll have mildew problems because there’s more space for air circulation between the person on top of the mattress and the solid platform at the bottom? Also, it’s unlikely that the outside cover of a mattress would be air-tight (or a vapor barrier), and you probably wouldn’t actually want it to be.
In some cases yes there can be enough moisture buildup to cause issues … and as MiriRose mentioned much of it comes from the people sleeping on the mattress. Without good ventilation the chances of moisture buildup inside the mattress is increased no matter what the source. This can act in combination with other factors (such as room conditions and humidity) to create problems with mold, mildew, and dust mites … all of which require the more humid environments that can be found inside a mattress.
As Ely mentioned … most (but not all) latex has pincores that are used in the manufacturing process which can help with ventilation although the cell structure of latex is more breathable than other foams already. In some cases manufacturers will punch holes in foam or use convoluted polyfoam to create air channels to improve ventilation, humidity control, and temperature regulation.
Once moisture gets into a mattress (from people or condensation) … it needs a way to escape and having a breathable bottom can lower the risk of moisture buildup. A bottom that isn’t breathable or a solid surface platform bed or foundation that has no circulation between the bed and the mattress wouldn’t create the certainty of having issues and there would probably have to be other factors involved as well (sleeping in a basement for example) but it would increase the risk somewhat.
Phoenix, unfortunately we have one of the ones where the two center supports make a ridge.
Something like a bunky board would be a nuisance because I’m allergic to dust mites and per my allergist, anything fabric or upholstered that’s part of the bed and can’t be taken off and washed frequently has to be encased in a dust-mite proof encasing. Boxspring or mattress encasings are much deeper than a bunky board would be, so there’d be all this excess material. A bunky board would be better than a box spring/upholstered foundation only in that it wouldn’t make the top of the bed too high.
I’m considering putting strips of plywood on top of the slats so that the slats and the center rails are all at the same height, and then putting a sheet of pegboard over it so that the mattress can’t droop through. We’re currently sleeping on this bed frame with a ~6" thick cotton and foam futon mattress, if you can believe that, and unsurprisingly we can feel the slats through it, so making this improvement now would make sense even if we end up getting something other than a latex mattress. My partner is concerned that the pegboard wouldn’t allow enough ventilation under the mattress, so I’ll probably get some DryMesh (http://drymesh.net/orderdrymesh.php), which is conceptually similar to the bed rug that Phoenix linked to, and put it on top of the pegboard. Does this sound reasonable?
Living in a humid area of the world and being a fairly sweaty person is enough to cause problems, in my experience. No basement or steam room required!
I think that being in a humid area and being a fairly sweaty person would qualify as “other factors” that would certainly lead me towards safer choices as well.
All other things being equal (and sometimes even when they’re not) … I personally tend towards less risky choices anyway. I just don’t like being among the few … or the many … that have to deal with issues I could have reasonably prevented in the first place
Regardless of any specific issues that can come from higher humidity as well … better ventilation in a sleeping system is always an advantage anyway IMO.
What’s the difference between using a bunkie board and a slab of plywood? (in terms of moisture retention, etc.) Curious why you recommend the former, but not the latter, (I thought a bunkie board is just a solid piece of wood, possibly with a cover).
There are different kinds of bunkie boards, some of which are in fact just a solid piece of plywood or OSB with a fabric covering, and I gather Phoenix doesn’t recommend that kind. The topic is discussed in this thread: https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/platform-beds
MiriRose pointed to the exact same post I would have (thanks :)) Post #4 here talks about them as well.
Its also true I prefer a more ventilating slatted surface (in a platform bed, foundation, or bunkie board) unless there is a particularly compelling reason to choose otherwise (such as wanting an adjustable bed which has a solid surface).
