Help with mattress surgery rebuild Serta mattress

Mattress Talk Materials, Specifications & Designs
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1

Hello.
First, thanks to all those that help to support this forum. Really a great resource for those trying to navigate through the horrible (IMO) mattress industry. New year, new here, looking to help resurrect my 8-9yo existing Serta Firm with pillowtop mattress.

Iā€™ve currently ripped off the foam layers off my 9 yo Serta Firm mattress (Brightview). Itā€™s suffered from a dip in the middle for probably 8.5 of the 9 years. I purchased this w/ the recommended box spring and that never appeared to help. The coils arenā€™t 100% flat, but also doesnā€™t appear to show ā€˜dipsā€™. Little weird to me, but some (randomly) just arenā€™t 100% the same height as the rest. Doesnā€™t seem consistent with any dips due to body weight over the years. Overall seems ok and they all have great spring still.

What I could use some help with is the replacement latex Iā€™m looking to source to keep w/ the existing Serta 8" coils. Iā€™m considering 2-3" layer of Medium after the coils as a transition layer and then 2-3" layer of either Dunlop or Taladay soft foam. What I just donā€™t know is:

  1. Do I NEED the transition layer? If I can save money, is 2" acceptable ?
  2. Dunlop or Taladay for the comfort layer? Again, just donā€™t know myself as Iā€™ve tried neither. Given my bio, is 3" necessary or can I skimp by with 2"? Neither of us seems to enjoy the full sink in type feel and we donā€™t THINK we love SOFT mattresses, but it does seem clear that we also need some support for new growing pressure points.
  3. Should I just scrap everything and start over? Searching the vendors, have run across some attractive deals for a new mattress vs DIY and having to source everything myself and put it together.

General BIO
2 sleepers - ~40yo. 210lb (Wide shoulder) and 150lb. Low BMI. Some minor pressure points in shoulder and lower backā€¦
210lb - Mix of side and back.
150lb - Mix of side and stomach.
Queen mattress - 8" existing interspring coils
Antique bed- Putting 2x4s on end with overlaying 3/4" ply for support layer. Will be eliminating the box spring. 2x4s on end to try and regain some height after losing the box sprig that these antique beds really are designed to accommodate.

Thanks for the help!
Pete

2

Hey Pete,

Welcome to our Mattress Forum. :slight_smile:

Mattress surgery can be fun and frustrating. Since coils are rarely ever the problem child, it makes sense to want to keep the integrity of the bed and replace the comfort layers.

A good way to troubleshoot here is to move the mattress to the floor. If you notice sinking/rolling to the middle of the mattress, etc. then the coils are likely compromised to some degree.

Well, this depends. Did the previous foam layers include a transition layer? The 210 lb sleeper is more likely to sink through the comfort layer when sleeping on their side (primarily concerned about the shoulder) and sinking into the coils would be uncomfortable.

However, some people will be just fine with 3" in the comfort layers and no transition layer.

If youā€™re really wanting to avoid that transition layer, my suggestion would be 3" Dunlop. Youā€™ve probably seen the comparison made here on the forum already - Dunlop is akin to ā€œpound cakeā€ where Talalay is more like ā€œangel food cake.ā€

Iā€™d actually suggest trying a place to test latex mattresses so you can get a feel for what they are like, if thatā€™s a possibility for you.

There are certainly some great options out there already. If youā€™d rather not deal with the DIY, thereā€™s no shame in that. Itā€™s cheaper to DIY with a slab or two though, if youā€™re trying to keep things within a strict budget.

NikkiTMU