Replacing my Serta iComfort with...help?

I write this forum from the depths of my personal hell. Well, it shares a lot of traits with hell anyway. It has a pit, and it is hot.

We bought a Serta iComfort from Atlanta Mattress here 18 months ago. It seemed awesome. For a year…ish. Then it developed bad personal divots for me and my wife(lucky us!). And now I find myself working all night to get our of my divot and find the cool spot in the bed. Not awesome. I travel a lot for work and have started noting carefully how I sleep. What is clear is that inner spring mattresses are simply much cooler. And it helps when I can turn the AC to 65.

So we know this thing needs to go. I can’t really see any way of redeeming it, thought I have considered getting this pad as a less expensive solution http://www.thecompanystore.com/cool-max-moisture-wicking-mattress-pad/MA71.html?dwvar_MA71_color=WHITE&start=8&cgid=bedding-basics-mattress-pads-protectors

The question is what is next. I am 5’ 11" 245 lbs. The wife is also um…full figured. Some other points:

  • We have very much enjoyed that lack of motion transfer of foam

  • I used to think I liked very firm beds, but as I get older(40 in 4 weeks!) I am thinking that was youth and some odd thought of manliness. I think a softer top might not be so bad.

  • We may be able to get some money towards an exchange with Atlanta Mattress. I don’t want another memory foam mattress, but they have some innersprings and Natural Latex Bliss, and an Italian brand called Magniflex.

  • Our bed is a platform bed currently. We can put a low profile box spring, but not a full size.

So, given our wish to maintain some of the motion transfer resistance, and gain some of the support and cooling properties, my first thought is to exchange for or buy a very firm innerspring mattress (Original Mattress is popular around here), and then have a latex topper made. I am still concerned about the heat factor of the topper, but I figure if it sucks I can take it off and get a wool topper. Or should I consider a wool topper first?

I think it would be fair to say I am gun shy at this point. These are expensive mistakes, and I don’t want to make another. I would appreciate any feedback this crowd has.

Hi rambo,

Unfortunately you are in the same position as many others that have purchased a major brand mattress and this one of the “side effects” of a mattress that uses too much lower quality and less durable materials in the comfort layers. While they may feel great in a showroom … they can quickly develop either visible or “virtual” impressions where the mattress sags under the heavier parts of your body and you lose the comfort and support that was the reason you purchased the mattress in the first place.

If your impressions are still visible when you have been off the mattress for a while and they are deeper than the warranty exclusion then you may qualify for a warranty exchange (it would need to have visible impressions that are more than 75" deep) but if they are only virtual impressions (which are more common) where the sagging only happens when you are sleeping on the mattress then there are few good options available to you although there are a few suggestions in post #4 here that may be helpful.

Unfortunately a mattress pad or a topper will likely only be a temporary or partial solution at best because it will just follow the sags in the mattress underneath it and at worst it may even make the issues worse.

If you do decide to buy a new mattress then I would make sure you read the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones so you can make a more durable choice and don’t have to go through the same thing all over again.

There is also some information in post #3 here and the posts it links to about heavier body types that will be helpful as well because higher quality and more durable materials in a mattress (in the upper layers especially) will be even more important than for those who have lighter body types than you do.

Phoenix

So, we have some progress, and dilemma.

First, two pieces of good news.

  1. We went and visited Tucker Mattress, and found a place we would really like to support. Stewart the owner was welcoming, allowed my wife, son, and I to flop around all the mattresses. We talked through all the mattresses, history of the area and company. His 40 ILD Talalay mattress with a 3" 19 ILD dunlop topper was a winner. Firm latex base that will last forever and a plush comfort layer that can easily be replaced. All in $2100. Hard to beat.

Now the other good new…that has led to the dilemma.

  1. Atlanta Mattress submitted a warranty claim on our Serta, and informed us today that they had secured the warranty replacement. I indicated that I had no interest in another one, and they have agreed to give us credit for the mattress towards anything in the store.

So the dilemma. The options in the store are limited. They are:

  • PLB. Beautiful is $3799 for mattress only, so walk out @ $2500 after the credit

  • PLB Pamper is $2599, so $1300 for the mattress, plus $400 for a topper which we would need, = $1700 walk out

  • King Koil Barcelona Firm is $1500 for the mattress, so walk out for $200. I know, I know. BUT. My thought is that I can just wear out this investment for the time being, and when it fails in 5 years I will go get a Tucker Mattress.

  • Use roughly $1300 to but an overpriced PLB 3" topper for $700, and get some luxury pillows(organic wool!), and get the 40 ILD base from Tucker for $1600.

So I am torn. My brain says get the Tucker base and spend the credit at Atlanta Mattress on making it more awesome. My wallet says get the king koil, let the investment ride for a few years, and reinvest down the road.

Curious if there are thoughts on the topic.

Hi rambo74,

Well that’s definitely a good news / bad news scenario but at least there’s more good news than bad because I’d rather have a warranty exchange credit than have to start all over again from scratch.

I’d be happy to make a few comments but can you tell me first what size we are talking about?

Phoenix

Eastern King…and AMEN.

Hi Rambo,

Thanks for adding the size :slight_smile:

I think the first place I would start with your exchange is post #2 here which includes more information about the two main approaches I would suggest when you are exchanging a mattress for another one and the store you are dealing with doesn’t have the best quality or value choices.

I would probably avoid this option since you could buy two mattresses for the same price as you would be paying for one. The Beautiful uses high quality materials but this is more than I would pay for a similar mattress when there are many good latex options available for significantly less.

This is also on the high side for the Pamper and if you did go in this direction then I would talk with some of the retailers in post #32 here to get a better sense of the prices that they may be available for elsewhere. I would also keep in mind that the PLB topper is about 15 ILD which is softer than the latex in the Tucker mattress you liked and in combination with the 2" of 21 ILD latex that is already in the Pamper (on top of a 6" 40 ILD core) may be too thick/soft for you. It may be more cost effective (if you can negotiate the price of the Pamper down more) to buy a 2" 19 ILD latex topper from one of the sources in the component post here which would be significantly less than the PLB topper and this would give you 4" of softer latex over a 6" core of 40 ILD latex would be closer to the specs of the mattress that you liked at Tucker.

This may be a good choice for a “base mattress” and you could also add a 2" - 3" 19 ILD latex topper (depending on how soft the mattress feels) from one of the sources in the component post which would give you some of the feel of a latex mattress at a much lower cost but you can see some of the Barcelona layers here (and a lower price for the set than you are paying for the mattress) and it still has relatively thick comfort layers and if they have other mattresses that use thinner comfort layers yet it would have a lower cost and may be more suitable yet as a base mattress for adding a 3" topper. Some version of this type of option would probably be the way I would be leaning if I was in your shoes but of course this doesn’t mean that someone else would feel the same way.

This would feel too much like “throwing away money” just for the sake of making it work to me.

In looking at their website they also appear to carry Ergovea latex mattresses but I don’t know the specifics or the prices of these but if they have a 6" latex version of this at a reasonable price then this may also be a good base mattress for adding a topper.

Phoenix

Thanks Phoenix.

I also removed the Beautiful from our options, just too much.

For the Pamper, if we can get the price down, I would probably buy the Dunlop topper from Tucker, as I would like to give them some business, And it is only $400.

The King Coil was appealing, and less expensive, which also appealed to my cheap wife. But she is also the one interested in the super soft top layer. My biggest concern here is that I really don’t want to be frustrated again in the next few months and lose ALL of our investment. I am also mildly concerned we would get frustrated with the loss of motion transfer dampening. That has been a plus of the foam, as we are both mobile sleepers.

Frankly, if we know we want a Latex mattress, why would we not just go ahead and get it now for whatever the least out of pocket would be? I am not made of money, but I figure we will have to invest in this process at some point, rather not be miserable again. I guess the fundamental question would be am I going to be miserable on the King Koil.

Hi rambo74,

These are all certainly valid points but in the end your own testing and/or sleeping experience on each of the options you have and your own personal preferences and how you feel about the costs involved in any of your options will be the only way to answer them with any certainty and you are really the only one that can answer whether any budget tradeoffs are “worth it” or not based on the criteria that are most important to you. These are really “best judgement” choices that would be based on your own circumstances and priorities.

If you do some very careful testing (with both of you on the mattress) on the King Koil / topper combination (or on any of the other King Koil options they may have that have less foam in the comfort layers) then you will have a good sense of how suitable it would be for you and how it will compare in terms of PPP to the Tucker mattress you liked.

Phoenix

So we spent time today testing the King Koil with a 2" soft topper. Also put it on the Pamper, and MagnaFlex Mangia 9(BRICK).

The King Koil and Pamper were truly about equal in comfort. We brought the kid along to do some jumping, flopping, motion testing, and the Pamper was definitely better…but not $1100 better. We figured we slept well on an innerspring for 10 year, for $1100 worth trying again. So, King Koil it is.

Let me say that Lloyd at Atlanta Mattress was very helpful and professional. They warrantied the Serta without a lot of hassle, talked straight about the mattresses he carried, and was nice to my kid. Certainly worth a look, re-earned my business. If only they had less expensive latex mattresses…

So now on to the topper. With the layers on the King Koil, don’t figure we will need more than 2" of soft latex, Going to try and buy it locally from Tucker Mattress, i not will look to the vendors suggested here.

Also, as an aside, laid down on a few VI-Spring mattresses there. That was a mistake. One day. They are very…very nice. Off to play the Lotto!

Hi rambo74,

Thanks for the update and it sounds like you are doing the type of research and testing that can help you make the best out of a somewhat difficult situation.

I would tend to agree with you here and it’s unlikely that you would need more than a 2" softer latex topper which would give you “a little to a fair bit” of additional softness and pressure relief.

I agree with you here as well. They are as much a work of art as they are a mattress :slight_smile:

Phoenix