In August, 2018 I rebuilt a Serta King mattress using two 3" medium Talalay Twin XL sections, one of your Arizona Premium 12" Bamboo covers and the original Serta pocket coil section. https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/serta-rebuild
The rebuilt mattress has worked out ok, but the foam surrounding the pocket coils is now breaking down on the outside edges. My wife, who has ongoing health issues and limited arm and leg strength has slipped off and fallen to the floor several times while sitting on the bedside trying to get up. The mattress edge is soft and offers little support. I did install a bed rail, but with her limited arm strength she was still unable to hold on.
I am considering redoing the mattress into a split king configuration with adjustable base, reusing the Talalay Twin XL sections, adding new cores and covers, discarding the pocket coils and unfortunately the Bamboo cover. A slightly shorter height (present overall height from floor is about 23") would be beneficial also as she has fairly short legs. What type and thickness of core would you recommend, coil or latex? Also, what adjustable base would be best?
And Serta tells you the foam edge is a good thing because it’s firmer and last longer, ya right. An all latex bed will be the very best for an adjustable bed because of how well it bends to the curves of the adjustable base. Any base will work fine, it just depends on what features you are looking for. The cores are 6" so if you are going to use the 2 3" toppers then the mattress will remain at 12" so you need to make sure the adjustable base has adjustable height legs so that you will be able to lower the overall finished height. I’m sorry the rebuild didn’t work out, it’s always the foam that causes issues.
Ken, thanks for your reply. My OP perhaps was not clear and needs some clarification.
I was planning on using only one of the 3" toppers in each Twin Xl mattress. With a 6" core that would put the thickness at 9". I am 6’-3", 220 lbs. and my wife is 5’-3", 230 lbs., both side sleepers. Would 9" be enough? Ideally what thickness and firmness combination of cores and toppers would you recommend? I would certainly want to reuse the 3" medium Talalay toppers, if possible.
I plan to use a Leggett and Platt adjustable base. Is the Prodigy line the only one available in Split King configuration? We don’t need a lot of fancy features, just good solid quality. What do you recommend?
Normally I would recommend firm cores for you weights but since you are both side sleepers I’m afraid it would be too firm with your medium toppers so I’m recommending Medium #32 cores.
The Prodigy is overkill for your needs so I would go with 2 TwinXL Scape 2.0 instead. Split King is just another term for 2 TwinXL’s and everyone makes TwinXL size adjustable bases. Split Cal. King is a different story and can be hard to find.
We have started research to select an adjustable split-king base. The wife suffers from a medical condition that requires that she sleep with her head elevated. Since she is a side sleeper we have been rethinking our choice of an adjustable base. We are now wondering if a Glideaway Oddesa with tilt feature would be a better choice than the L & P S-Cape 2.0 since the Oddesa can elevate the head end and still remain flat. The Oddesa, however, has generally poor reviews on Amazon. Can anyone give us feed back on experience with the Oddesa, good or poor? Thanks.
I’ve sold their original inclining bed called the Elevation with no problems. The names have changed but the technology is still the same. Glideaway has been around for a very long time and their customer service is very good. You might want to also look at their Vesta model which also has the incline feature which is something you need for a side sleeper who needs the head raised. A standard adjustable base like the S-Cape will not work right for a side sleeper.
Ken, thanks for the reply. Since my previous post I have found a possible alternative to the Glideaway Odessa. The L & P website shows a Symmetry INC model that apparently has a tilt feature as “Coming Soon”. Page Not Found
I have not been able to Google an on-line retailer that offers this model, so assume it probably hasn’t been released yet. Any insight?
Our needs are more immediate than May, so we will go ahead with the Glideaway Odessa adjustable rather than wait for the L & P Symmetry INC.
I was able to try an all Talalay latex mattress yesterday that had a 3" medium topper over a 6" firm core. Felt very comfy and kept my spine in good alignment which has been a problem lately. On that basis I ordered two each of the 6" firm natural Talalay TwinXL cores and 9" Bamboo zippered covers from APM to use with my existing 3" medium Talalay toppers. Ken, I noted your concern that the firm core might be too firm for side sleepers, but decided to go with the firm core since it felt right in the showroom.
The Glideaway Odessa Split King adjustable base consisting of two Twin XL units ordered from Rest Right Mattress 2/29/20 was delivered 3/5/20. Bravo Rest Right Mattress for the quick delivery! The shipment was in four cartons all on a pallet, the adjustable bases and elevation kits each boxed separately. Be advised, this pallet is heavy, the cartons weighing over 450# plus the weight of the wooden pallet. A fork lift or pallet jack for off loading and handling is strongly advised!
The unpacking and assembly procedure is well covered in several YouTube videos (Google: Glideaway Odessa) so I didn’t bother to take pictures. Using a furniture dolly my helper and I we were able to move the individual cartons into the bedroom. The heavier cartons weighs about 180#. The only problem encountered in assembly occurred when two of the bolts attaching the elevation kit to one of the bases were difficult to tighten. A closer examination of the problem revealed the the holes in the elevation kit were very slightly misaligned and the threads in the captive nuts in the base were poorly tapped. The misaligned holes were enlarged slightly and a light coating of lubricant was applied the threads to ease tightening. The other base and elevation kit assembled easily with no problems.
The new mattress covers and latex foam cores from APM have not arrived yet, so the old King mattress is in use temporarily. I have not tried all the adjustment features on the new bases since the old mattress lacks the necessary flexibility.
Even with the old mattress the sleep experience has been much improved. The old foundations had sagged quite a bit and the new bases corrected much of that. The new bases with the elevation kits installed are about 3-4" higher than our old foundations. With the old 12" thick mattress my short-legged spouse was having trouble climbing into and out of bed. A simple 4" bedside riser made from some scrap lumber I had on hand solved that problem! The new mattresses will only be 9" thick, so that problem should go away.
My conclusions:
So far our sleep experience has been improved and I can foresee even more improvement when the new mattress components arrive and all the features of the new bases can be utilized.
Unless the customer has lifting equipment and/or some husky helpers available, the extra cost of White Glove delivery would probably be a good investment. Did I mention that these things are heavy??!! Each Twin XL base with the elevation kit installed weighs well over 200#. Lifting them out of the carton and flipping them over requires two (or more) strong helpers.
Now the wait begins for delivery of the new mattress components from APM!
I had a couple of typos in the previous post that I was unable to correct. I think I was able to use an edit function previously, but have forgotten how. Can someone please clue me in? Anyway here is the corrected copy:
[quote=“vlcakc” post=84468]The Glideaway Odessa Split King adjustable base consisting of two Twin XL units ordered from Rest Right Mattress 2/29/20 was delivered 3/5/20. Bravo Rest Right Mattress for the quick delivery! The shipment was in four cartons all on a pallet, the adjustable bases and elevation kits each boxed separately. Be advised, this pallet is heavy, the cartons weighing over 450# plus the weight of the wooden pallet. A fork lift or pallet jack for off loading and handling is strongly advised!
The unpacking and assembly procedure is well covered in several YouTube videos (Google: Glideaway Odessa) so I didn’t bother to take pictures. Using a furniture dolly my helper and I were able to move the individual cartons into the bedroom. The heavier cartons weighs about 180#. The only problem encountered in assembly occurred when two of the bolts attaching the elevation kit to one of the bases were difficult to tighten. A closer examination of the problem revealed the the holes in the elevation kit were very slightly misaligned and the threads in the captive nuts in the base were poorly tapped. The misaligned holes were enlarged slightly and a light coating of lubricant was applied the threads to ease tightening. The other base and elevation kit assembled easily with no problems.
The new mattress covers and latex foam cores from APM have not arrived yet, so the old King mattress is in use temporarily. I have not tried all the adjustment features on the new bases since the old mattress lacks the necessary flexibility.
Even with the old mattress the sleep experience has been much improved. The old foundations had sagged quite a bit and the new bases corrected much of that. The new bases with the elevation kits installed are about 3-4" higher than our old foundations. With the old 12" thick mattress my short-legged spouse was having trouble climbing into and out of bed. A simple 4" bedside riser made from some scrap lumber I had on hand solved that problem! The new mattresses will only be 9" thick, so that problem should go away.
My conclusions:
So far our sleep experience has been improved and I can foresee even more improvement when the new mattress components arrive and all the features of the new bases can be utilized.
Unless the customer has lifting equipment and/or some husky helpers available, the extra cost of White Glove delivery would probably be a good investment. Did I mention that these things are heavy??!! Each Twin XL base with the elevation kit installed weighs well over 200#. Lifting them out of the carton and flipping them over requires two (or more) strong helpers.
Now the wait begins for delivery of the new mattress components from APM!
Welcome back to the TMU forum and thanks for your updates.
Congrats on your new adjustable base purchase ! Wow, you had quite a large delivery to manage on your end! Sounds like you had the project well organized and well executed, no easy feat when dealing with those size packages and additional assembly. Good detective work too on solving the bolt assembly challenge, it’s always helpful to have trouble shooting/ problem solving skills when tackling projects like these yourself.
Congrats too on your new Arizona Premium mattress ! Appreciate your support of the TMU trusted member program, these manufacturers/ retailers have the knowledge and experience to help consumers make informed buying decisions and are among the best choices in the industry. Thanks also to @KenHightower for his responses and support of your questions earlier in your process.
I’m adding this single comment from your post immediately following the one above, the “Editing” function may be temporarily unavailable as there is some site maintenance going on in the background, we will be changing platforms in the upcoming weeks and are making necessary preparations. Normally, underneath the post there is a dark blue “Action” button that on click-through allows you to edit, the same one that you would have used to put your earlier post in quotes, hope this helps. Looking forward to hearing about your APM experience following a sleep trial period.
I’m adding this single comment from your post immediately following the one above, the “Editing” function may be temporarily unavailable as there is some site maintenance going on in the background, we will be changing platforms in the upcoming weeks and are making necessary preparations. Normally, underneath the post there is a dark blue “Action” button that on click-through allows you to edit, the same one that you would have used to put your earlier post in quotes, hope this helps. Looking forward to hearing about your APM experience following a sleep trial period.
Thanks,
Sensei[/quote]
Sensei: Thanks for the feedback about the Edit Function. I just assumed that I was getting more senile in my old age and had forgotten how! A few hours after my previous post UPS delivered the two Twin XL latex cores. They were drop shipped directly from Talalay Global. The covers are the only remaining piece. The covers are made only after the order is received and may take a couple of weeks to complete. It’s only been a little over a week since the cover order was placed, so delivery may take a few days more.
Yes, the covers are made to order and currently take a bit longer than usual. We are swamped. We make the covers from 6" all the way up to 15" and with 6 different mattress sizes and 2 types of covers. It’s just more cost efficient to make to order and that way each cover is factory fresh and hasn’t been sitting in a warehouse for months on end.
The new Twin XL mattress covers from APM arrived Monday, 3/30/2020 and I assembled the new mattresses yesterday. The new mattresses were made up using new 6" Talalay firm cores and existing 3" Talalay medium toppers with the new covers.
The cores are a bit heavy and awkward to handle, especially for an 84 year old with a pacemaker. I badly needed my helper, but decided to tackle the job by myself to avoid unnecessary outside contact during the pandemic. I was able to complete the job, but was really spent when finished. I definitely recommend a helper for this type of project! I was also able to sync the remotes to the Glideaway adjustable base and try out some of its features.
The new mattresses are on the firm side as cautioned by Ken Hightower in a previous post, roughly equivalent to the old mattress with the 3" medium toppers on top of the old Serta pocket coils. The new mattresses are much flatter though (no spring sag) and the edges are much firmer.
Initial reactions after the first night’s sleep on the new setup are generally positive. My chronic lower back problems were noticeably better. The mattresses are a bit firm for a side sleeper, but that is a small price to pay for lessened back pain. My wife says she is satisfied so that is a win-win! If there is interest I’ll post an update in a few weeks.
Yes, latex is heavy but that’s what makes it more durable than other foams. I’m sure once it breaks in a bit you will be very satisfied. Thank you for the update.
How do you like the glide away base? Is it noisy? Have you had any issues? Is there anything you would share about it with someone who is thinking of buying one (me?) Any regrets?
Thank you very much for jumping in. I was hoping ot be asking the person who said they bought one - so I have to look and see. If I did indeed ask them or not! Not great at this stuff but appreciate your info
! Wow, you had quite a large delivery to manage on your end! Sounds like you had the project well organized and well executed, no easy feat when dealing with those size packages and additional assembly. Good detective work too on solving the bolt assembly challenge, it’s always helpful to have trouble shooting/ problem solving skills when tackling projects like these yourself.
A few hours after my previous post UPS delivered the two Twin XL latex cores. They were drop shipped directly from Talalay Global. The covers are the only remaining piece. The covers are made only after the order is received and may take a couple of weeks to complete. It’s only been a little over a week since the cover order was placed, so delivery may take a few days more.