Hello, I recently purchased a new mattress (Medium firmness rating) and I put it on my old box spring.  Everything was ok, no complaints, but then a wood beam on the box spring snapped and began to sag to the side.

As a result I put the mattress on the floor until I can get a new box spring.  But now that the mattress is on the floor it's much firmer and uncomfortable.

I've been reading that nowadays they sell more "Foundations" than "Box Springs".  Is a  Foundation just a box of wood that's equivalent to putting your mattress on the floor?  Or is a foundation similar to a regular box spring and doesn't make a mattress very firm (like when it's put in the floor)?

 

Thanks.

A box spring has springs so it will have more give to it in general. Most foundatons have wood slats for a support system, so there is less give than a box spring. There are many types of foundations, however, and some have bowed slats and adjustable slats to offer more levels of support and bounce.

You may want to find what the mattress manufacturer recommended as a foundation for your model and go with that.

I have the terms box spring and foundation to be used interchangeably quite a lot.

To my knowledge, box springs do not use coil springs.  I can tell you a Stearns and Foster 'box spring' is of high quality.  If you have Sears, that would be a good place to get a new one.

I had a Stearns and Foster set for about 4 weeks.  When you push on the box spring (ok, foundation), there is virtually no give.  But, even at Sears, the list price is $560, but they sell them for $260 year around. (btw, that's a twin size, so Queen will be more).

I've felt Ikea 'box springs' like Sultan Atna IIRC, and they have quite a bit of give. 

If you get a box spring, foundation, put in on a quality frame.  If Queen, it should have at least 5 legs (center leg).

Or you could get a frame with lots of slats across.  Unless you buy used, you will get what you pay for.  Good stuff costs $$$.