Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Big Lots Serta 10 Inch Memory Foam Mattress

Once upon a mattress...

My wife and I had been debating whether or not we should spring for a new bed. Our full size mattress was twelve years old and the foundation was even older. A typical morning involved the two of us trying to make sense of the bedding strewn about the bed, me asking my wife how she slept with her responding, “Horribly!” and me feeling like I did not sleep more than an hour. We decided a mattress was a sound investment for our well-being and our careers.

After speaking to several friends, we decided we wanted to check out memory foam mattresses. After making that decision, I asked: Where should one begin shopping for a memory foam mattress? I typically shop online first and do my homework on the Internet. Then I move onward to shopping in stores. However, buying a mattress at a furniture store is almost like buying a car. Salesmen swarm over and start making promises they can’t keep and they start diagnosing you with sleep disorders you never knew existed. This was not getting us anywhere. While out and about shopping on night we did meet a very nice district manager at Bob’s Discount Furniture that was helpful and took the time to explain to us our needs based on our size and weight. He also explained the pros and cons of memory foam, latex, and innerspring mattresses. Armed with the information he provided, we decided we definitely wanted to go with a queen size memory foam mattress.

Over the next few weeks, I price hunted everywhere and nobody could beat Bob’s price on the Bob-O-Pedic. If we bought from Bob’s, we were going to get the Bob-O-Pedic Lite since we are not large people. We did not require the extra support from a 10 inch mattress. After considerable research, the only competition I found was the Sealy TrueForm mattress which was a few hundred dollars more. The Sealy came highly recommended from a trusted friend. I was leaning toward the Sealy 8 inch bed because it had 3 inches of memory foam versus 2 inches in the Bob-O-Pedic Lite. Then my wife happened to catch a Big Lots commercial for a Serta 10 inch Queen Memory Foam for $549 which just seemed too good to be true.

The very next day drove over to Big Lots to check out what all of the buzz was about. They had one Serta memory foam mattress left. We gave it a test drive and it was just as good as anything else we had tried. I did some research on the mattress – 3 inches of memory foam and 7 inches of base foam, which made it comparable to any other low end memory foam mattress we had considered. At that point in time, my conscience took over and made me buy the Serta at Big Lots. I ended up getting what I wanted – a name brand mattress for a great price. The mattress and foundation were $668 versus $999 for a similar Bob-O-Pedic ($599 for a Bob-O-Pedic Lite). The Sealy TrueForm was around $1200. After sleeping on this bed for the past three weeks, I have crafted my overall opinion of the mattress. I have compiled my findings below.

Pros
  • Cost – the price was unbeatable for a 10 inch memory foam mattress.
  • We move around much less during the night, just as the representative from Bob’s told us. Our bedding does not look like it has been flogged during the overnight while we slept.
  • When I toss and turn, the bed dampens my motion and it does not propagate over to my wife.
  • When I wake up in the morning, the memory foam in my opinion is at its optimum comfort level since it has warmed up during the night.
  • I feel rested when I wake up – I sleep through the night more frequently.
  • Most importantly, when I ask my wife how she slept she says, “Great!”

Cons
  • Contrary to most, I have found this bed to be cool at times. It takes an hour or so for my body to warm up the memory foam. This may change once summer arrives.
  • Diving into bed can hurt a bit. Hitting the bed fast is like hitting water fast – it’s surprisingly hard.
  • From time to time I have back pain (not induced by this mattress). The bed has not made them go away, but I should not I did not buy the bed to fix my back. I’ve heard people say they bought a memory foam bed to cure back pain. The only back pain a new mattress can cure is that brought on by your old mattress!
  • Big Lots does not ship. We had to rent a U-Haul which cost $40. Thankfully they were right next door.
  • Big Lots did not have a cheap bed frame. I had to pick one up at Jordan’s Furniture for $40.

Noteworthy
I am 5’11” tall and 180 pounds. My wife is 5’1” tall and 120 pounds. We do not sink into the memory foam as far as many other Americans. Consider that when you are shopping for a mattress. The depth you sink into the mattress is proportional to how hot you are while sleeping on a memory foam mattress. I suspect that being encased in memory foam can make the mattress hot. Not surprisingly, “HOT” is the major complaint about this type of mattress.

Overall Rating
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give the bed an 8.5. The price of the mattress and foundation was a bargain even though I had to arrange my own transportation. I take points away since the bed is most comfortable when I wake up, not when I go to sleep. I am very pleased with the bed thus far and would highly recommend it. I will post updates down the road since I have only had the bed for a few weeks. I think it is important to know how something works a year down the road.

Sunny

25 comments:

Unknown said...

To have a nice and pleasant sleep we need to have a comfortable bedding. Cost – the price . The bedding must not flog during the overnight while sleep. In the morning, the memory foam is at its optimum comfort level since it gets warmed up during the night.

sunshine said...

UPDATE: After over 1.5 years I still give the bed an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. My only complaint is the bed's ability to be hard in the winter and mushy in the summer despite keeping my house around 70 degrees F year round. For those reasons, when we are ready for a new bed I will consider a Sleep Number mattress. The good is that the bed has maintained its shape and firmness. Our 11 month old loves to crawl around on it, which does make me wish I did not have a box spring since the bed is elevated with its 10 inch thickness. Without hesitation I would buy the mattress and spring again from Big Lots (and the bed frame which we bought from Jordan's Furniture).

Anonymous said...

Bed is not hot. Bed is firm. Bed conforms to body perfectly. Will not wake up with pain. LOVE it! Best money I've spent in a while.

Melissa said...

I just today bought a Serta 10-inch temperature sensitive foam mattress, and from Big Lots, so I was happy to read a positive review about it. I paid $399 for the mattress and $230 for a split foundation, and I thought that was a good deal I did not want to regret passing up. I was ready for an upgrade from my full-size, too-firm mattress I have had for too long. I am looking forward to trying it out.

Tim said...

i'm going to give it a shot. my local big lots has one left.

thanx for this review and the year later follow up, sunshine!

B's Mom said...

I was just looking at these today. Thank you foryour review! My local big lots had one left and I'm going to pick it up.

Anonymous said...

I was looking at this mattress this afternoon and I loved laying on it in the store. I was afraid that I wouldn't love after a week or two so thank you for your post. I am going to purchase it tomorrow! It costs $499.99 where I live but I imagine it will be worth it!

Leslie from Ohio

Brian said...

First off thanks for the reviews and for Sunshines great write-ups! I had back surgery 5 weeks ago and it was time for a new mattress, so we went looking and stopped at Big Lots first and after trying several we liked the Serta 10 inch for $499. We laid it away and when we got home decided to do a little research on the mattress. The very first review we read was how crappy Serta mem foam mattress were and how they would develope dents after very little use. We moved on and found a few more some good some not so good.We were starting to worry if we made a mistake and we don't want to spend 1000 on a mattrress, so we came across your page and after reading about someone who bought the same mattress and gave the pros and cons of it we felt a lot better and think we will buy it now when 10 minutes ago we ruled it out. We will try it out and add to your review list. Once again Thanks so much!!

Leslie said...

Purchased 10 inch memory foam mattress and box spring on 12/18/11 for 500.00. Best mattress I have ever had. I can get up a night and never wake up my wife. She says I move around in the bed and kept her awake before I purchased this mattress. It doesn't take long for maximum comfort when you first go to bed. I liked it so much I went and bought another one today for 530.00. I recommend it highly for the price and comfort.

Anonymous said...

I have so far really liked this bed. I am using a 3" memory foam topper as well (since I had and works great in combination).

The most comfortable bed I have ever had and picked up for about $400. I like a softer bed and girlfriend more firm. Happy to say we both like it, good balance. We'll see about long term quality but so far so good, does sleep a bit warm based on 2 nights so not a great test.

Old bed gave me pains, not this bed!

Anonymous said...

Ok, I posted the 1/30/12 comment but after three weeks of developing allergic reactions to something in the bed I am taking it back. They will take back within 30 days with receipt. I have never had allergies in the past ever. My symptoms kept getting worse and I narrowed it down to something in my house but was overlooking the bed. Sure enough, it was the cause. Moved the bed to the garage and starting getting progressively better and within a couple days back to normal.

I had a cover on top of the matress as well and didn;t notice much of a smell but without the cover on the garage smells like a chemical factory.

Do some online searches and others have had issues with memory foam glues, fire retardants, latex, etc.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the reviews. I am in search of a good, yet inexpensive memory foam bed, and have been reading reviews online for different ones. I am going to check with my local Big Lots.

Techman said...

Purchased the Serta 10" memory foam yesterday at Big Lots. $399 (Memorial Day special) and combined with the Big Lots frequent shopper bonus card of an additional 20% off made it a 'no brainer'. This is the second Serta memory foam for us and will be for the 2nd bedroom. Recommended with no reservations.

Jack said...

Bought this matress 2 weeks ago memorial day weekend.
Purchased a water proof cover as I read that memory foam can sleep hot. Also read that sweat can break down foam faster. It is now sagging over 3.5 inches I am sleeping on the couch, thank god for the return policy!!!!!
Going back today! Don't buy this matress.....

Foam-By-Mail said...

One of the neat things about memory foam is that a lot of the ways it helps you sleep better are common sense! For example, tossing and turning is often a result of pressure and circulation issues that our body has to correct by moving. With the reduced pressure problems a memory mattress offers, tossing is drastically reduced!

Anonymous said...

I suffer from not being able to sleep through the night because I tos and turn every hour or more. This leads to having to get up to bo to the bathroom because once I waken from sleeping, I need to go. So I was making three or more trips to the bathroom because of the tossing and turning. I bought this mattress at my Big Lots yesterday fro $399. plus the box spring/foundation for $10. They were having a sale I couldn't pass up and I 'm so glad I didn't! I just woke up at 7:30am on a Sunday after going to bed at 9:30 last night! That is amazing for me! I woke up twice during the night because I felt I was lying somewhere different. LoL Funny how the mind works! Both times I woke up, I couldn't believe I was still in the same position! I actually turned both times on purpose to see how the mattress would feel. This morning, I feel so proud of myself for having stayed in bed so long. I rarely would stay in my old bed longer than 6 hours because it hurt too much! This memory mattress is a Godsend. The best $409. I ever spent!

Unknown said...

it should fit most 350ml milk jugs, you may just need to tweak the mattress stitch join, height of button holes to fit the handle (swap two purls for YO, P2TOG at the beginning and end of the row), and you may also need to mattress stitch at the top of the handle. http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/Consumer-Mattress-Reviews-Supports-Findings-in-4147587.php
oomi

Claudio Timber said...

It was great to see the old printshop and everyone who works there again. I am excited to see a printing business still operating and growing, great job guys. kid furniture

Anonymous said...

Glad for good reviews, just bought mine from Big Lots on sale, got the queen mattress & box spring for only $435!!!!

Anonymous said...

I read your comment from 2009 "ready for a new bed" after 1.5 years is a big con... most peope expect to have a bed 5+ years. Also I have this bed and found that it begins to get "soft" spots where I lay, i.e. the matress is giving over time. I've only owned it for about 1.5-2 years and was hoping it wouldn't do this so quickly. It was good at first, but now I find myself flipping and turning in bed and waking up with a sore back. This was my first memory foam mattress and I think the standard mattresses hold up better and provide more support longer term. Just my 2 cents. I'd give the bed a 5/10. I have heard the higher end ones hold up longer, but don't know anyone who's had one for more than 3-4 years.

a bigger picture said...

JUST BE CAREFUL WHEN BUYING A MATTRESS AT A PLACE LIKE BIG LOTS. YOU CAN'T SEE THE INSIDES OF THE BED- THE CHEAP ONES HAVE VERY LITTLE MEMORY FOAM AND THEY USE FOAM CONES TO ELEVATE IT. YES, YOU GET A NICE MATTRESS AT A GREAT PRICE, BUT IT WON'T FEEL THAT GOOD FOR MORE THAN A FEW YEARS. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR, ESPECIALLY IN A MATTRESS. JUST BECAUSE IT'S WRAPPED IN A SIMILAR COVER DOESN'T MEAN IT'S THE SAME STUFF INSIDE. I'VE SEEN THEM BEING MADE.

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Unknown said...

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