Hi Hobotrader,
Outside of the suggestions from TD-Max which come from personal experience (which is always the most valuable kind of advice) and I think would make a good backup plan (a firmly pumped up inexpensive air mattress would certainly be more comfortable than the floor IMO :)) I’ll add a few thoughts of my own as well.
[quote]So my main question is, is there a such thing as a bed that will keep firmness that won’t indent or cave in? I would be happy to sleep on the floor but the pressure point on the tailbone is quite significant and it’s quite cold. I don’t need anything fancy, the most important property is that it doesn’t cave in or change such that my sensitive back would detect it - it’ll need to be firm and maintain its shape/support. I’m looking at the information on the Latex beds and that seems to be the best material for this purpose.[/quote].
Latex is an exceptionally durable material … especially in firmer versions. As you can see in this article … there are people who have been sleeping on a firm fairly thin latex mattress for decades without any significant loss of support.
I don’t have any information about your weight and sleeping positions but considering that your back does well on the floor (even though it’s not great for comfort) I would guess that you are mostly a back sleeper (I couldn’t imagine side sleeping on the floor). Given your weight lifting and how fast your mattress sagged … I would also guess that you may have a heavier build … and it seems clear that you need a firmer than average mattress.
It may well be worth testing a mattress that had a single layer of Dunlop latex (medium or firmer) with perhaps an inch or so of quilting material and possibly even two sided so it can be flipped which would increase it’s durability. Dunlop can be a good choice for a single layer mattress because it has a higher compression modulus which means it can be a little softer (for comfort) but gets firmer faster with compression than Talalay so it can also be more supportive than Talalay. Normally support is not an issue with any type of latex but in your case Dunlop could provide an advantage over Talalay. Latex is very elastic which means that even firmer layers can be more comfortable and pressure relieving than other firmer materials and because of its high compression modulus it is also more supportive as well than any other foam.
I would probably use a good slatted foundation rather than putting the mattress on the floor and there are some very reasonable options available in the foundation thread here if there is not a good foundation option available locally although most manufacturers or good retailers will sell a suitable foundation for a reasonable cost. In many cases a thinner firmer latex mattress will be sold with a box spring for some extra “give” underneath instead of the more traditional firm slatted foundation so I would make sure that you test it both ways (with the box spring and on a firm non flexing foundation) to see which works better for you. Either way … I would make sure that the type of foundation that you tested the mattress on was included in your purchase because a thinner latex mattress will feel and perform differently with a box spring than it will with a firm non flexing foundation. Using the mattress on the floor would probably be fine for the short term on top of a blanket or some other type of protection (and similar in feel and performance to a firm non flexing foundation) … but I wouldn’t suggest it for the long term because the mattress would ventilate less and you would have a greater risk of unwanted visitors (such as mold, mildew, and dust mites) which can thrive in more humid conditions.
The Toronto list is in post #1 here (which you’ve probably seen already) and while there is a wide range of prices in the area … there is also some good value there. I would call the choices on the list to see if they have any all latex mattresses … preferably either a single layer two sided or at least a mattress with thinner comfort layers and to get a sense of prices before you take the time to visit them. This way you can focus on the ones that seem to have better possibilities. A forum search on “Toronto” (you can just click this) will bring up some feedback from other forum members in the area that may also be helpful.
Your budget is certainly plenty for what you will need (some places will have latex mattresses for more but I probably wouldn’t consider them to be good value in most cases compared to what else is available in the area).
If you prefer memory foam there are also some good options available as well but this can be more risky than latex (and I would stick with higher quality memory foam in the 5 lb range and above) … especially with thicker layers of memory foam which can lead to alignment and back issues depending on how well the specific layering of a mattress “matches” your body type, sleeping positions, and preferences. Thicker layers of memory foam can easily allow your heavier pelvis to sink in too far over the course of the night as it continues to soften (even though it may be very comfortable for the first part of the night) which could aggravate the back issues you are facing.
Hopefully this will help and provide some good options for testing and/or a good value purchase but if you have questions along the way feel free to post them here.
Phoenix