Mattress Forum

Yep - Habitat's 8" bed is Dunlop + Talalay (though they use 100% natural for both layers vs the blended Talatech with latexmattressshop).

No swapping, but he did say that if the bed is too firm, they will send a 2" soft topper free of charge to soften things up in hopes of the buyer keeping the mattress rather than returning it.  Presumably you could still send the whole thing back if you didn't like it with the topper.

Definitely an 8" bed.  LI does make a quilting latex called Evercloud that I believe is what they are using in the top 1.5 - 2". I don't think this quilted latex would make that big of a difference.

I have gone back a good bit here on some DIY threads, but plan to keep digging.

Thanks for your help!

I'll say this about my experience in mattress hunting: Quickly after I found this site, I knew building my own mattress was my best option. I've learned that buying a mattress which I couldn't alter the layers would be risky for me. My choices were strickend by my small budget, so FBM caught my eye quickly. I read the negative reviews they had and determined most of them were related to cosmetics and the other negative comments were also made against the other top places. My current mattress is 15" and I spent about $650 which is half of my budget. This gives me the oppurtunity to add a 2" topper or another foundation if I want and still be under my budget.

I would like to keep the whole shebang (mattress, foundation, mattress protector/pad) in the $1,500 to $1,700 range.  I've narrowed primarily to LatexMattressShop or FBM.  If I go the FBM DIY route, I'm still trying to decide on the best mattress protector or case.  I'm leaning towards the St. Dormeir pad (http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/forum/st-geneves-st-dormeir-wool-mattress-pad-review-day-3/13490-A-1.html) available now from flobeds for $159.

Right now, I'm leaning back towards FBM over LMS for a couple of reasons:  all natural latex vs. the blended talalay used by LMS, modular approach for getting it just right, like the idea of at least trying at first to sleep directly on the latex, your positive review of what you received from them, and like the thought that in 10 years I could pull a layer or two out and completely refresh the mattress with the assumption that the core will be pretty untouched.

With FBM, right now I would order this setup:  6" 36 ILD core + 2" 32 ILD mid-core + 2" 20 ILD topper (all 100% natural talalay).  I could swap the 20 and the 32 if I wanted to experiment with a firmer feel. 

FBM cost on above:  $1,216

Foundation (http://www.amazon.com/Thick-Foundation-memory-latex-mattresses/dp/B002RVCSRI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1305859732&sr=8-3): $229

Mattress Pad/Protector:  $159 - $239

(I'm also considering this bamboo temp. regulating pad instead of the Dormier:  http://www.cuddledown.com/product/mattress-pads-protectors/temp-regulating-pads-protectors/ultimate-comfort-bamboo-mattress-pad.do?sortby=newArrivals#    

Grand Total:  $1,604 - $1,684  (vs. $1,530 for the LMS route + the Dormier cover.  That extra $100 buys me all talalay, all natural, and 2" more of latex)

I'm having too much fun over analyzing everything to order right now!   Seriously, I feel like I'm still learning stuff, but my goal is to order one way or another by the end of this week.  Of course, my 14 year old crappy inner spring mattress with featherbed on top is sleeping great right now for both my wife and me since we flipped it.  She mentioned maybe we don't need to buy a new mattress after all.  I told her I had way too many hours invested in this not to do something!

I started to get the feeling I was over analyzing as well; thats where I got those question from. You're in a good situation right now given you are currently sleepy comfortably, So no matter what I say take all the time you need. I've heard flipping a mattress could give another 3-6 months of good sleep.