Mattress Forum

Been doing a fair bit of research and that has led me here for a great deal of info but I am still a tad confounded.

Background:

Currently have a simmons pillow top model (yes I said the p word).  It is only a few years old but it has become so painful to sleep in that both my wife and I wake up very sore all over just about every morning.  I am annoyed at this due to the fact that I paid good money for this set not long ago so I am not wild about buying something else already.  That being said I cannot deal with the pain and poor sleep anymore.

Me - 6' 180lbs - bad back, 2 bulging discs and a herniated disc.  I like the plush comfy feel that you get with pillowtops (when new of course) but I need support for my body due to my problems.

Wife - 5' 5 150lbs - can sleep on anything but she is not a big fan of soft or "squishy" feeling beds.

We have looked at new mattresses around town (Richmond, VA) and are pretty sure that Latex is the way we want to go.  The only issue is there is only one place to get a Latex mattress (true one that is) here that I can find and that is from Original Mattress Factory.  All the other stuff we have seen has been essentially a hybrid - i.e. it has coils supporting it but with a layer of latex and then som PU foam on it.  Not what we want based on my research.

OMF mattresses - not bad.  They had 2 one was thicker/plushier and felt nice but just didn't seem to provide enough support and long term I am not sure it will work.  2nd one was better - not as thick (8") and not as plushy but certainly felt like it had more support and didn't "give" in too much but didn't make me feel I was laying on brick.  The price was ok but not great ($1150 with new foundation)

What I don't like is there is really no customization.  As I have read here from just about everyone I should be looking at getting something that is zippered and has different layers that can be changed out as needed if I find things get better or worse with my back.

So that leads me to the only alternative -- internet purchase .... problems are cost is high (IMHO), no idea if I will like it (can't lay on it), and no idea what I really need -- ie what layers.

It seems the recommended places are flobeds, foam sweet foam etc

All will allow for some customization which I think is what we need but not sure what makes sense.  2k+ is just a lot to spend on a mattress though.

I guess I am looking for guidance in where I should start to put together the proper layers, should I go firm all around or medium or a mix etc etc

Anyway to bring down the cost by getting the pieces from various places and build it on my own.

Should I just go for a 2" latex topper for now vs a new mattress?  (only concern here is the pillow top we have now is so tall that adding a 2-3" topper to may not let us keep sheets on the bed.  We are already using deep pocket sheets and they tend to pop off the corners every few weeks anyway)

Can I just use our old box springs for now to save money (the OMF foundation was pretty cheap -- added about $180 to the cost which I didn't think was bad ... all the online places are a lot more than that).

Overall any advice you guys would care to share would be great.

Thanks in advance.

Greg