I have browsed your site extensively reading all the articles.
I am looking at a Winndom Mattress in a king size sold at BedCrafters by Michelle in Richmond, Virginia.
BedCrafters has been very helpful.
The bed I am considering has a Bonnell 12.5 gauge innerspring. From the bottom up is a 4" layer of Avena foam from E. R. Carpenter with a 7.0pcf density and a compression rate of H32 covered by a 2" layer of Avena also with a density of 7.0pcf and a compression rate of H21.
Bedcrafters calls it a pillow top but it looks like a box top or euro top to me. The comfort layer has a soft feel but not excessively soft.
Option 2 is the same with these differences. They call it a pillow top but it looks like a tight top to me. Innerspring is identical. Foam densities are the same. The 4" layer and the top 2" layer of Avena have the same compression rate of H21. They advise me that the fabric cover I call a tight top compresses the total of 6 inches of Avena to 4.? inches. I know it was 4 something but I didn’t write it down and I have forgotten. It could have been 4.2 or 4.7 inches.
This bed definitely had a firmer feel but I wouldn’t call it firm. I think they described it as a 4 on a 10 point scale where 1 is hard and 10 is softest. This was their first recommendation for me and while it feels firmer and I like the idea of soft it does seem comfortable.
I am a side sleeper, 6’ tall, 225lbs, with broad shoulders and a 40 inch waist. When I tried anything softer they said I sagged and I could feel they were correct.
The price for either bed is $2,667.00. Not cheap:)
What do you think of the price and what is your take on the beds and your thoughts on the best fit for me?
When I sleep on hard beds I wake up with sore arms and legs and soft beds give me a low back ache. I have bought or tried and returned 5 beds, approximately $2,000.00 each, in the last 6 years but this is the first time I have done anything but go into the national or regional mattress chain stores and laid on beds. The two beds I returned were Tempur-Pedics.
Avena is certainly a very high quality and durable “latex like” polyfoam material but as far as I’m aware it doesn’t come in 7 lb density (it ranges from 2.35 lb density to 3.9 lb density depending on the firmness).
Assuming that these are all the materials and components in the mattress then it certainly doesn’t include any lower quality materials or weak links that would compromise the durability of the mattress.
The first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or if you can’t test a mattress in person then your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
While price is certainly one part of the value of a mattress purchase … I would tend to choose a mattresses based on it’s “value” rather than on the price alone. There is more information about the 3 most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase to fine tune the mattress or the exchange/return options that are available to you).
Unfortunately there isn’t a “formula” that can be used to assess or “calculate” value because there are so many different variables and criteria involved that are more or less important to different people that may be very different from someone else and because the “value” of a mattress purchase is always relative to the other finalists you are considering or to the other mattresses that are available to you in the area or online. There are many reasons that a mattress that may be “good value” for one person may not be worth considering for someone else.
If you are confident that the mattress you are considering is a good “match” for you in terms of PPP and that you will sleep well on it (or you have good options after a purchase if you aren’t) then it certainly doesn’t have any lower quality materials or weak links in terms of durability and if it also compares well to your other finalists based on all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you then it would certainly be well worth considering (especially considering your history of unsuccessful mattress purchases) although it’s also in a higher budget range than many other mattresses that use more costly materials and components (including some latex/innerspring hybrids) that may be just as suitable and would be equally durable and are in lower budget ranges.