After a lot of research on your site, a few emails back and forth with your pal, the old bed guy and some actual shopping/trying out mattresses I finally pulled the trigger on a mattress! Sort of…
We are going the DIY route with Arizona / mattresses.net. I ordered their combi-zone-pocket-coil and their zippered bamboo and wool mattress cover. My hubster and I are somewhat old school, so we had the cover modified to be 2 sided, so it has the wool and bamboo on both sides and can be flipped. I also ordered a 3" 100% Talalay Topper and a separate 2 sided cotton cover from DIY Natural Bedding .
So essentially our bed
will have 2 components, the mattress and topper. We went this way in hopes of having greater longevity with our bed by being able to flip the components and because I like that I will be able to wash the topper cover periodically.
My question relates to the surface below the mattress, box spring or foundation. I read a lot on your site about the differences and purposes of them. Based on that I am thinking that since we are getting a 2 sided spring mattress that we should go with the box spring. Would you agree with that? And any suggestions?
I’m not entirely clear on your configuration, but it seems as if you have a pocketed coil innerspring unit by itself (with no foam top of bottom) wrapped in covering. Then you have a separate mattress topper, which will always be on the top of the mattress. If this is the case, using a coil box spring would be more of a comfort preference issue, as you’re adding another active component to your sleep set through which the compressive forces will be shared, but there really won’t be much of a benefit in longevity, as this system as I’ve described it isn’t a two-sided mattress with foam on the top and the bottom, where having an active box spring could help extend the life of the foam when on the bottom of the mattress (as well as contribute a bit to overall comfort).
In a typical two-sided mattress (with duplicate foam layers on the top and bottom), the foam layers on the bottom have the forces applied more evenly across their entire surface than the upper layers, and the addition of an active coil box spring unit can help “accept” or “share” those forces, further assisting these bottom foam layers in their “recovery” and adding to their comfort life. As a spring unit by itself is rarely the weak link in a mattress, and a good twice tempered unit (like the one you purchased) keeps its shape quite well, there would be little advantage in using an active coil box spring system under a spring unit with a topper, aside from your own personal PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences).
In the situation as I’ve described, I personally would opt for a platform bed or a solid base with a coir bed rug under the product.
