Fern3520,
The PLB mattress is in our quest bedroom, so my wife’s assessment of it was just a trial. She likes our Sealy Reflection Newport hybrid latex mattress better. It is a bit softer than the PLB Nature.
Before you purchase a steel frame ask Sleepworks to check if your PLB foundation is the same construction as mine. If there is no wooden center support piece than its construction is probably identical to mine.
The 7 leg steel frame from Amazon has a lot of positive reviews, but also negative ones claiming it is not as heavy duty as advertised. I would also look at other 7 or even 9 leg steel frames.
You can find links to frame manufacturers that Phoenix has posted here: post #10
Here’s a good article I found on bed frames.
Update on the PLB foundation: I spoke, (they do not reply to emails) to one of their customer service reps this morning about their foundation construction. All she knew was that it is constructed of #2 spruce wood, and that the top of the foundation is completely covered with a piece of high strength corrugated cardboard. I asked her if that would impede ventilation of the mattress and her reply was that Latex International, PLB’s parent company, approved it. Not sure what that answer means.
I asked her to clarify their warranty since it would seem to imply, to me, that you could use another foundation and the warranty would still be in effect. Not so she said. You must purchase the mattress with the matching PLB foundation or the warranty is null and void. She said the only exception was an adjustable bed base.
Here’s their warranty:
“Structural damage to a mattress caused by using an improper bed frame or foundation. The mattress must be continuously
supported by a Pure LatexBLISS matching foundation, a platform bed, a slatted foundation, or adjustable bed base with
an appropriated bed frame. An appropriate bed frame must completely support the foundation. This Limited Warranty
applies to queen and king mattresses and foundations only if they are used on an appropriate bed frame with a rigid
center support having at least 5 legs or 5 cross slats”.
I asked her how the foundation is constructed since the cardboard on top and fabric on the bottom prevents you from seeing inside the foundation. She said she would try to get some pictures of its innards and email them to me. I will post them when and if I receive them.
This is a scan of a picture of the inside of PLB’s foundation that they emailed me. They apologized for the quality. I think you can still see its basic construction. There appears to be only 7 - 1" x 3" slats on top, plus the 2- 1" x 3" end pieces. The foundation is 79.5" long. The actual width of a 1’ x 3" is 2.5". I measured the bottom end 1" x 3" on my PLB foundation and it is 2.5"W. If my math is correct, 9 x 2.5" = 22.5", 79.5"L - 22.5" for slats = 57" space left, 57"/8 spaces = ~7" between the slats. Not good.
Compare that to this foundation where the slat gap is only ~2.5".
The delivery guys commented on how heavy the PLB queen size Nature mattress is, and that mattresses do not come with handles anymore. This is our guest room mattress so it will get less use than our master bedroom mattress. Hopefully my 320 lb brother-in-law does not visit us often.I don’t think the PLB foundation could support him.