Mattress Surgery on a Big Fig Mattress

[Fluffeebunnee]

Hi there! Long time lurker, just decided to join and talk about our mattress project. 3 years ago we bought a Big Fig mattress thinking it would hold up and be long lasting. My husband and I are both around 6’ and we’re chunky. Together we are about 500 lbs. This was well within their range for weight limits for a couple. AND a 20 year warranty? Score.

Well in the last 6 months I’ve developed immense pain in my hip and back. We realized in the mid section of the bed there was a noticeable divot, so we tried a couple mattress toppers, and no relief. We contacted BIg Fig and they said that unless the divot was an inch or deeper, they wouldn’t help. We measured it at approximately 3/4 of an inch… pretty dang noticeable on my side in particular.

In three years! A bed that is supposed to very easily hold up for “20 years” and withstand 1000 lbs of weight. So frustrating.

We decided on mattress surgery. We opened the “pillowy” top and found 2 and 1/4 inches of foam. Really squishy thin brown foam and a 1/4 of inch of the thinnest, saddest latex I’ve literally ever felt. We ripped it all out and discovered coils in great shape. Currently we’re trying Dunlop latex, 2 inches of medium and 2 inches of soft. I have 3 inches of firm coming in to play with, because the soft is too soft (and I have a return policy through Amazon and Naturally Nestled!)

I’m sleeping so much better. Minimal pain, my bed is bouncy and squishy and soft and my hip and back are much happier. I think we’re close to the right mix of latex. We have a mattress cover to hold everything together. We also ditched the crappy split foundation Big Fig provided after finding split 1/4 pieces of wood and we are experimenting with a floor bed for now.

All in all, way happier. We have learned a ton from this site on mattress surgery, and it’s not super scary once you get started.

As a side note, we tried to look at Foam by Mail thinking SURELY they couldn’t be that bad. We were wrong. They emailed us trying to get a full credit card number after our credit card approved the purchase… super sketch. Our credit card said not to give them the info.

Thanks for this forum!

[Mattrebuild]

I love hearing about other people taking a bad situation and turning it into a good one through a DIY mattress project, so thanks for sharing. Unfortunately the most common issue for mattresses is usually the foam (not the springs) but I’m sure you’ll be able to find some good quality replacements to make it work going forward. I had a similar situation with with was supposed to be a great quality Simmons BeautyRest but mine was only comfortable for maybe 8 months (talk about sad). Not sure what you’re planning to use as a cover but you can either try to sew a heavy duty zipper on the old one (I tried that first) or buy a new one (lots of options to choose from). I’d suggest waiting until you find the right foam combo before making a decision because you may prefer more foam than was originally on the bed (ie may be too tall for the old cover). The other good part about doing it this way is that it allows you and your husband to have different combinations so you can really tailor it to your preference instead of just getting close enough to make do like you would on a factory made mattress. I’d love to see some pics of the project if you don’t mind sharing. I’m sure it will help others with their projects as well. Also good to know about Foam By Mail, never dealt with them myself but there have definitely been some horror stories floating around.