Mattress Forum

While I'm a newby to this forum and as well as the DIY mattress symposium, I would like to offer my comments on the matter. If the customer is sold any product by misleading means then the seller has a responsibility to make said product right by the customer. That means a refund of the full price or some recompense depending on the customer's wishes. I would like to state, that I recently purchased one of these beds. I've been sleeping on a wave less-water bed for nearly 30 years. While they provide good support the minuses became too much. So I went looking for a new mattress that would offer the same support as a water bed mattress as well as allow me to keep the expensive frame and headboard from the waterbed. For those not in the know concerning water beads and their foundation systems, I would like to provide some insight. I have two sets of draws under a very substantial frame. The frame consists of 3 sections of 1/2" ply with 4 2"x8" wood sides attached to the plywood.

So I had to have a replacement solution that not only provided a similar experience to a waterbed (comfort and support) but allow me to insert the mattress into the existing waterbed frame. Once I determined the frame size was a Cal King, I then tried to find the appropriate mattress.

Mattress shopping is akin to root canals and media blitzing. Every mattress store had the best solution. Even though the customer can see a varied selection, it's extremely hard, if not impossible to compare apples to apples. Finally after 4 days of hard shopping I found a place that was willing to try and provide me with the needed information to allow me to make a somewhat educated decision.

I bought, for better or worse, a Dr Breus bed. The sales person didn't try to sell me the bed as a total latex bed solution. I was told what comprised mattress content and allowed to make the decision based on those facts. I understood the purchase and was afforded a price similar to a higher end coiled system bed. So I don't feel I was sold a pig-in-a-poke.

Should I find this system doesn't meet my needs. I'll return it for a refund and look into designing a latex style mattress. I'm not sure that I have a problem with utilizing other foams in conjunction with latex to keep the costs down while providing the best comfort for the least amount of time and resources spent (best bang for my buck).

So I would like some constructive feedback from the varied cornucopia of knowledge contained by the folks on this forum.

The wife and I are back and side sleepers. Were both passed middle age and I'm over 6” tall. She is only 5” 6”. We've grown into what most folks call the late middle aged form. I've always been a large guy (played the line in football).

Thanks and sorry for possible being to verbose.....

Your bed must be really tall sitting on that water bed platform with drawers underneath?  I picture your wife needing a ladder to get on the bed.  All the Dr Breus beds I saw were very thick.  I got the low profile foundation when I got mine, and it was still pretty tall on my standard bed frame. 

And you mentioned not being sure about utilizing other foams in conjunction with latex to keep costs down.....  I think you've already made that plunge when you bought the Dr Breus bed.  That's what they do in the construction of their bed, only they don't keep the cost down for the customer.  So, you'll know first hand if you decide to build your own later.

Good luck with your new bed.

Well here is my report after nearly a week in my new Dr. Brues bed. As I previously stated my water bed went south for the final time (began leaking like a sieve). After paying nearly $200 to have the WB mattress pumped down and the old hard side frame connected to the drawers, we were nearly ready for the new mattress. I went in and stapled some inserts to protect the new bed from the existing brackets (used to secure the 8" side boards together as well as connect the frame to the platform).

We took delivery last Saturday. The bed fit like a glove in the existing WB hard side frame. The top of the mattress is about 2 to 3 inches above the existing frame. We put on the mattress cover and laid on the bed for a while to see how it felt. The mattress is firmer than the one in the store. I have to wonder if that is partially because of the frame as it extends most of the way up the sides of the mattress. This doesn't allow the bed to extend horizontally as with typical beds when you lay down.

My grown up son ran in and jumped onto the new mattress expecting the same amount of give as the WB. Was he surprised. It did cushion the attach but didn't give nearly as much as the WB. So we heard a muffled groan from him. He did say that he liked the mattress selection. My grown daughter has tried the new mattress as well. We nearly had to drag her off the bed. She wants one also.

We've sleep well in the bed and my wife, while a little over 5' 6” is able to get into the bed. I don't have nearly as much trouble as I'm nearly 6' 2”. Although, we've a lot of practice since we've had the Water Bed nearly 30 years. The new mattress is breaking in and is conforming more to our distinct body types. I do have a 3” high density memory foam topper we purchased years ago to go on top of the water bed. The topper allowed us to get rid of that nasty electric heater that is mostly required to keep the water bed to a decent temp. Should the mattress not be as comfortable as we like, we'll utilize the memory foam topper.

The wife seems to be sleeping well as she hasn't been getting up in the middle of the night and seems to be sleeping until the alarm goes off. I'm still evaluating the comfort. I have problems sleeping due to a couple of herniated disk in my lower back. I do notice that I'm not as sore in the mornings.

I'm still experimenting with pillow selection. I'm having some neck discomfort and am contemplating some other options. I would appreciate any feed back concerning pillows for a mainly back sleeper. We've tried memory memory foam and don't like them. I'm currently using a memory foam pillow to pad my desk chair. It seem to work well for my butt but not for my head....LOL

I will keep all apprised on how things work out with the bed as time goes along. I will consider a purely latex mattress should this one fail to meet our standards.

Regina,

Well, the mattress is doing well. This past weekend we put a 3” memory foam topper on the bed. It was a left over from the water bed. It has made the bed a little softer without making it to soft. The wife and I are have less back problems and as I stated the wife is sleeping through the night until the alarm goes off.

My situation may be a little different than most. Since I had a plywood platform and 8” two bys for sides, this keeps the mattress from squishing out the side as it would on the showroom. I believe this tends to make the mattress a little firmer than when we tested it. The topper doesn't seem to make the bed sleep hotter than just the mattress. We are in Texas with record heat.

So far I would recommend this bed to others. My grown kids keep hinting about wanting one as well.

It's only been a week and a few days but there doesn’t seem to be any deforming of the mattress. The wife and I aren't light weights and with me being over 6 feet, the bed gets a workout. I'm a displaced IT person and have been out of work for a good while. Also, with my lower back problems (2 herniated disks) I found that I have to lay down during the day to unload my back. The mattress is great to lay down and relax even on my stomach.

The problems I see is that mattress selection seems to be such a personal thing. Everyone seems to want their selection to be the panacea to rid them of their maladies. I believe, for folks that need different recipes for comfort, are better off with the latex mattress companies. They seem to offer a way to dial in your comfort needs. The major bedding manufacturers tend to try and apply a few formulas to reach the general public. While I seem to be able to get a mattress manufactured to my specs from the small guy, at a reasonable price, it's hard for the average consumer to visualize as well as experience the Best Night's Sleep”. It seems it takes some trial and effort. So if you have the time, resources, and aren't easily dissuaded by the attempts go for the varied mattress companies referred to by this forum.

As for now, I'm sticking with the Dr. Breus. I'l try and keep folks apprised as time goes on.

Sorry for the soap box......

Many of the people on this forum are like you have have physical issues and are looking for help finding a bed that will fit their special needs.

Mattress shopping is extremely subjective.

I hope the Dr. B works out for you in the long run.

It's been a little over a month on the new Dr Breus mattress. I feel we've gotten the bed broken in and are not having any problems. We've tried the 3" memory foam topper for a while. It was OK but because we are hot sleepers it's not working well at least for the summer time. Texas has been extremely hot and summer seems like it will never end. So we went back to the mattress only sans memory topper. No problems to report. The mattress is a little less firm is all that I've noticed. I spend a lot of time on the mattress because of my back condition and find it comfortable to lie down and unload my back.

So that's all for now. Hope this helps someone with their buying decision.

 It's been a while and today I had my TempurPedic Rhapsody bed replaced due to saging and getting very soft (over the past 2-2 1/2months), to the point of back pain every morning while laying on my back, if I slept on my side I would be fine, and I purchased a 4" seta 2" memory foam and 2" topper to keep the heat down and the bed from getting softer and it did help.

Tempurpedic warrenty replaced the Rhapsody (has 57% Visco Elastic Polyurethane foam, and 43% Polyurethane Foam)  for any bed of theirs but the grand and I went with the BellaFina ( this bed actually has 41% Latex, 35% Visco Elastic Polyurethane foam, and 24% Polyurethane Foam, I did not even know this until I read the tag today), for no cost to me (the BellaFina is $300 cheaper).  Took only 1 1/2 weeks total time,with new boxspings  also. 

Hopefully this bed will last, the Rhapsody was great for the first few months then slowly decline and sags.

best of luck 

Does the foam bounce back faster than other Tempurpedic memory foam beds? Does it feel a little bit springier?