Background: My girlfriend can't sleep through my snoring. Part of the solution is for me to sleep on my side (which reduces snoring), but I find that after a few hours I roll over onto my back or stomach due to being uncomfortable, snore louder, and wake her up. Since my bed is fairly old, I figure it's time for a new one anyways, and want something that will help me stay on my side.

So, I've done alot of research on mattress recently, trying to make sense of all the options. Based on budget concerns here's what I'm thinking of doing, and I would like opinions as to whether it will meet my needs.

• Serta Pefect Sleeper firm, basic model that has all the real support features (but none of the comfort layer features). For instance: http://www.us-mattress.com/serta-soft-lace-firm-queen.html (~$650)
  
• latex foam topper, such as http://www.foambymail.com/LatexTQueen.html , probably the medium (32ILD) 2" thick. (~$150)
  

As an alternative, the price of going with a 6" latex matress from FBM inplace of the Serta is roughly the same once I include the cost of a boxspring. Would that be a better choice for this situation?

I should mention that I'm 5'7" and currently 180lbs (hopefully less in the future, but we all know how that goes...), and my gf is 5'0" and 120lbs. We're looking for a queen bed.

Thanks in advance,
  TiredAndConfused

Tired - I had an 8-yr-old innerspring mattress, and I put a 2" memory foam topper on it - it was such a great improvement that I replaced the 2" memory foam with 3" - even better!   And that was with an old mattress.  Then I had a house fire, and now I'm shopping for a memory foam mattress on a platform bed.  Costco has some good choices.

Thanks for the anecdote, pralbee. I currently have a very old mattress which I put a 2" memory foam topper on a few years ago. I think the memory foam has broken in too much at this point, and my girlfriend hates it (she sleeps hot, apparently). But, when I first got it I think it helped make the bed more comfortable. Of course now I've got a large sag in the middle of the bed, so it's definitely time for it to go.

Unfortunately there's no Costo in this area, but I think I'll order their Cuddle Bed pad online, which seems like a good deal even for the non-member price.

I've been trying to find other innerspring mattresses that meet the "simple and firm, but good springs" criteria, and I've noticed that Sealys (e.g. http://www.us-mattress.com/sealy-hope-mills-firm.html) have a higher coil count, but slightly thinner coils. Basically 782 14 gauge coils, vs the Serta with 532 13.25 gauge coils. Does that indicate that the Sealy will have better and longer lasting spring system, or is it close enough to call it even? It does sound like the Sealy has more levels of foam, which I assume are low density and will do more harm than good over time.

On a related topic, there is this other Serta mattress (http://us-mattress.com/serta-rivermsit-firm.html) that has the same specs as the previous one I referenced, except it has "Serta Foam" instead of "Firm Foam" in the top layer. I'm guessing "Serta Foam" is very cheap foam, but I somehow doubt that the "Firm Foam" costs the $100 price difference. Mattress manufacturers sure do have very complicated product lines. It's almost as if they have a model for every possible combination of topping matterial, even though much of it is junk.

If anyone has any advice on how to get the best bang for my $, I'd appreciate it. I've read some of the threads on mattress surgery, but I think I might save that for down the road abit, when the mattress foam is beat up.

Thanks,
  TiredAndConfused

I think the Sealy coils are too thin gauge. Get the thicker coils.
Get the mattress that has the LEAST amount of foam, because none of the foam will be any good. Chances are you'll have to do mattress surgery on it anyway, but you can try to make one work with little foam (Extra EXTRA firm) and then add your latex topper(s). My advice is to try a 1" latex and a 1" memory foam like Sensus. You can put the Sensus under the Latex so your girlfriend maybe won't feel the memory foam heat (?). Otherwise go with 2 x 1" latex - one ultra soft, and one just soft. THen you can change them around, one on top of the other and vice versa to adjust the firmness you want. Or try it with just one, etc.
Good luck.
I've yet to sleep on a mattress "out of the box" that worked for me,with or without toppers. IMHO, they all have to be cut open and have the cheap foam replaced with good foam.
YMMV.

Thanks for all the info/advice, Jim. There's alot there, so I hope you don't mind if I respond to it in pieces.

jimsocal wrote: I take it that the thickness of the individual coils is more important than the overall amount of steel in the springs? I'll definitely prefer thicker coils in my search, then.

jimsocal wrote: Yeah, that was the basic plan. Hard to figure out exactly what's there, though. According to USMattress, that first Serta I referenced has the following layers (from top to bottom) over the springs:
- Advanced Comfort Quilt (the cover?)
- Zoned Convoluted Foam
- Serta Quilt Fiber
- FireBlocker
- Firm Foam
which is the least amount of "stuff" of the mattresses I've looked at. I'm not sure it's thickness, though. This mattress also has the lowest "comfort" (aka softness) rating of anything on that site, so I hope that's a good sign.
The lower-cost Serta just replaced the lowest layer "Firm Foam" with "Serta Foam", which I'm guessing is a lower ILD PU (it  does have a higher "comfort" rating), so I'm guessing it's worse for this purpose.

jimsocal wrote: I was planning on going with the 2" 32ILD latex because I was afraid that my 180-ish lbs concentrated on my side would make anything softer compress to nothing, and basically have no effect. I was thinking that the CuddleBed would soften it up abit, and if I still found it too firm I could add a 1" 20ILD layer on top to soften it up further, ending up with basically a 3" latex mattress. Do you think that's going to be too firm for my situation? Or is there some other property of the memory foam under-layer that you think is important here?
My main concern is being able to lay on my side for extended periods of time without my shoulder or hip feeling sore or going numb. Currently I can last about 1-2 hours before being uncomfortable enough that I have to change position.

jimsocal wrote: I've read up on your saga; it was quite educational. If you saw the bed I've been sleeping on for the last few years, you'd probably think I had a spine made out of steel rod just because I don't wake up with chronic back pain. The sag was pretty bad when I looked at it. So, I'm hoping I'm just not as sensitive, and can survive for awhile before I need to break out the knife. I am abit of the DIY type, though, so it is tempting...

Thanks again,
  TiredAndConfused