My wife and I decided we need a latex mattress and spent 6hours today driving all over, trying out as many latex mattresses as we could. We liked several, but the only one we liked enough to want to purchase was a Therapedic Pure Touch 9" latex mattress. It is all latex, no other foams.

After tax is is about $575 more expensive than Sleep EZ (King Size, including foundation/frame).

We are also interested in buying a layered latex mattress online (leaning towards Sleep EZ pretty heavily, although I am sure I would be happy with FloBeds too).

We like the versatility of the layered mattresses, and the fact that if our needs ever change, or if a layer wears out, we can simply replace it, instead of the whole mattress. We also like the ability to change around the layers to make it perfect and the fact that it will be easier to maneuver (split layers). HOWEVER, buying online is a risk because we have never laid on the mattress, and if we dont like it, we have to pay shipping back... after most likely having already paid shipping to switch a layer.

Buying at a B&M store relieves these worries, but I am concerned that it will wear out quicker. Also, it of course doesn't give us the configurations that the online beds do... although we KNOW that we like it the way it is now.



Any advice?

Hi Steve47, I doubt anyone can answer your question but yourself. What would make you think the life of a latex mattress would be less if purchased from B&M. I wouldn't expect it to be all that different if it is all latex. If you found something that BOTH of you like and the price is right go for it. I do think the key here is BOTH. I'm convinced that a lot of people have problems that cause them to have difficult time sleeping on any surface and I think a lot of people here enjoy experimenting with different mattresses and configurations. There's nothing wrong with that and I enjoy all the posts and information while searching for a good bed myself. By the time you lug a 125lb or more around trying ship it back if you don't like it, you may wish you had bought it local. You can drive yourself crazy trying to be too perfect. That just my opinion, but I'm about crazy now. I've bought a DIY latex myself, based upon information I picked up here but everybody is not geared for that, the price was right for me. I have'nt slept on it yet, my wife wasn't too keen on DIY but didn't resist since I wanted to try it. It was for sure I didn't want to buy another one by the big three.
Bear

Thanks.
I ended up ordering the 10,000 series latex bed from Sleep EZ today in a King size with split layers. Soft-medium-firm for my wife and medium-firm-extra firm for me. I figure that should be pretty good off the bat, and will give us a lot of choices to play with if it isn't.

I am big into DIY everything, so I liked the DIY idea all along. My wife trusts me, and sees the benefits, but isn't entirely keen on the idea.

Right now my wife keeps rubbermaid tubs on the ground under the bed for storage, and I wanted to get rid of that for aesthetics, and since these beds only need a slat foundation, not a box spring, I decided I would build us a new bed frame before the bed gets here. Basically it is going to look like a traditional wood bedframe but where the boxspring would normally be, there will be two drawers, and the mattress will sit ontop on slats.
I made up a cut list for the materials tonight, and it looks like I can get it build for about $120, so it is cheaper than most/all king size foundations, plus it has the added storage.

When all is said and done I will try to post up some pics on here incase anyone else is interested in building something similar. It is a real easy design using dimensional lumber/plywood, so anyone should be able to build it.

Hopefully in the end, we will have the perfect bed, and a nicer looking bedframe/storage setup.

I don't think you could go wrong with either choice. From what I read here, the smell is slight from SleepEz they must be aging the latex before assembly. I'm also going to build my Queen foundation to fit an existing bed frame. I am planning to use the foundation presented by Quefret. They had a great post including pictures. Did Sleep Ez provide the information for your foundation design? What are you going to use for the slats (material and width of board) what spacing are you planning. Are you putting in a leg to the floor on the center support? When I told Carlo at FBM that I was going to build a slatted foundation,he grunted as if in doubt and indicated the spacing should be 2". At that time I didn't get into too much conversation about it,I planned for more discussion with him when I was ready. I called yesterday and he was out. I'm concerned about the foam protruding into the spacing causing premature failure of the foam. I didn't want my 6" core split.I figured that if I need to make different ILDs for a side I could order another topper about as cheap as sending back the old one, then split the foam myself if needed.

Bear

I didn't ask Sleep EZs advise about the foundation, I am just going to make it my own design. I am going to use 1x3 slats 1", maybe 1.5" apart.