Hi alpharalpha,
[quote]
I still am considering building my own foam mattress, that way I don’t have to worry about indentations, sagging etc because I’m buying the hq foams.[/quote]
All foams will soften and wear down over time. Higher-density foams (I think what you refer to as hq) will tend to have better durability, but that is no guarantee against depressions over time.
Reviews or other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here). It’s the worst way to choose a mattress, as opposed to the objective manner of selecting a mattress that I’ve provided the links to in my previous replies to your posts…
While knowing the specs that can affect the quality and durability of the layers and components in a mattress is always important … unless you have a great deal of knowledge and experience with different types of mattress materials and components and their specs and different layering combinations and mattress designs and how they combine together and can translate them into your own “real life” experience that can be unique to you (which would generally be a very small percentage of people) … I would tend to avoid using complex specifications to try and predict how a mattress will feel or perform for you. When you try and choose a mattress based on complex combinations of specs that you may not fully understand or only based on specs for single layers or components that may not be as relevant or meaningful as you believe it is then the most common outcome is “information overload” and “paralysis by analysis”. Even the best mattress designers in the industry are often surprised at what a mattress they design “should have felt like” based on the specs when they design it and what it “actually feels like” when they test out their new design. Asking for opinions here (and on other forums) for your own DIY mattress combinations is counterproductive and won’t result in the best use of your time and energies. The only way to know whether any specific mattress design or combination of layers and components is a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP with any certainty will be based on your own careful testing and/or your own personal experience when you sleep on it.
That’s why I put together the Mattress Shopping Tutorial (and this entire site) and it describes in detail how to avoid the pitfalls and what to learn about and look for when purchasing or designing a mattress.
I posted in one of my previous replies to you some information about two-sided mattresses. In case you missed it, look at post #2 here and post #2 here and post #2 here and the links listed in those posts. There is more about some of the other factors that can contribute to durability and the useful life of a one or two-sided mattress relative to different people in the durability guidelines here as well. Regardless of whether you’re building your own mattress or looking at one that is already constructed, I would always make sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the quality of the materials and components, and that’s one of your necessary tasks to perform yourself as you go through this process. Don’t rely upon reviews.
The goal of this site is to give people enough information that they can replace hindsight with foresight and better understand all the factors and tradeoffs that can go into buying/building a mattress and figuring out what are the most important parts of your personal value equation. This is why I provide guidelines for assessing the materials within a mattress a little more carefully and objectively so that the odds of success are higher (although they will never be foolproof). Helping people to evaluate these ahead of time rather than after the fact is one of the main goals of the site, as opposed to relying upon reviews or other people’s opinions, because, as I often state on the site…It’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
I wish you good luck with your project!
Phoenix