Patience-filter: Buy a new bed now or later?

November 22, 2010 5:23 PM

Should I buy a Tempurpedic Mattress NOW or in a month (key details inside)!

Here is the situation, my current bed sucks (which I've had for 7 years) and my next mattress is going to be a Tempurpedic. (I don't need reviews, but if you have something extra special to say about it, please don't hold back!)

The dilemma: I am moving into a new apartment in about 5 weeks. Money is not an issue. Should I buy it now, enjoy it for five weeks and then move it to the new place... Or, should I just hold off for the five weeks, throw out my old bed prior to the move and then have it delivered to the new apartment all nice and fresh?

Why I'm confused:

1. Will sleeping on the tempur-bed and then moving it do anything bad to it?

2. My back has slowly but surely been killing me more and more and I think my current bed may have something to do with that. Will the new bed help my back at all, quickly? (If so this is a no brainer)

Thank you all in advance!

posted by darkgroove to Home & Garden (13 answers total)

Many many many people I know personally have had a couple of weeks of "wow, my back is not loving my Tempurpedic mattress right away" so maybe just before you move is not the time to introduce that variable?
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:25 PM on November 22, 2010

Tempur-Pedic type mattresses are quite heavy. Personally, I'd have it delivered new to the new apartment, unless I was having someone else doing the moving for me.
posted by zsazsa at 5:28 PM on November 22, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'd just throw out the old mattress upon moving and have the new one delivered to the new apartment, but that's because I hate moving and seek to rid myself of as much stuff as I possibly can.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 5:30 PM on November 22, 2010

Can you get a cheapo foam mattress topper to last you until you move? That's what I've done, since I'm getting a foam mattress in about a month to replace my elderly spring one.
posted by galadriel at 6:17 PM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

The new mattress may well help with your back, but I wouldn't count on it fixing things in the next five weeks. Those things are super heavy and it will be a big pain to move -- I'd wait for that reason. That said, I don't see how sleeping on it and then moving it could do anything bad to it.
posted by J. Wilson at 6:30 PM on November 22, 2010

If you're dead set on a tempurpedic, my vote is have it delivered to your new digs. The things are heavy AND floppy - not easy to move AT ALL.

I know you're not looking for reviews, but I HAVE to say I HATE my Tempurpedic and I've had it over a year. One major downside (besides just being uncomfortable) is that it's really hard to have good sexy times on it. There's just no energy return which can be a bit of an issue. Just sayin'.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 6:50 PM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

Absolutely have it moved into your new place, don't drag it from one place to the other. Fuck, I hate moving.

Chuck the old one as you move out for sure.

(PS - I have a Tempurpedic and it took me like 6 weeks to like it - it's 3 years in and I really like, but don't *lerve* it. YMMV)
posted by tristeza at 6:53 PM on November 22, 2010

The king size I ordered and had to move while in its' box was a cinch to manhandle. Once outside the box, all bets are off. They are kind of floppy and unwieldy, but then again, that is pretty much true of most mattresses. I don't think moving it will hurt it, but you can always talk to customer service. They are probably the most helpful people on the planet with any issue you will ever have with the mattress.

Re: back pain. I will happily report that sleeping on my Tempurpedic pretty much instantly cured my back pain. I used to wake up and hobble around the house in pain and walk around all day with a searing pain in the middle of my back. And I shit you not--after the first night on the new mattress all that went completely away. I used to wake up with foot pain, too, but that didn't instantly go away. It went away after a week.

Of course, YMMV, but I offer up my story to counterpoint a lot of the unhappy stories of long adjustment periods. My husband and I both had approximately 30 seconds of adjustment. After that it was just, "ahhhhhhhh...."
posted by hecho de la basura at 7:12 PM on November 22, 2010

Response by poster: @ PorcineWithMe: The 'sexy time' question totally came into my head (no pun intended), and I have asked a few of my friends who have them about it and they say that it is fine in the end.

I think that, despite wanting it NOW, I'm going to hold off on it. I will have movers, but still, I don't need them screwing up and having it drag down the NYC streets.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!
posted by darkgroove at 7:38 PM on November 22, 2010

The downside to throwing away your old mattress and then having it delivered to your new apartment is delivery delays. Have you had anything delivered from this place before? How good are they at hitting the exact date of delivery? Does the bed have to be ordered or is it in stock?

The last mattress I had delivered came 4 days later than I originally expected it, which would have been a problem if I had already given away the mattress I had.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:14 PM on November 22, 2010

I have the unorthodox arrangement of having my Tempurpedic mattress on top of a conventional mattress and box springs. This gives it a bit of bouncy as well as a great deal of height. My back feels great sleeping on this soft bouncy mass. I used to wake up with lower back in pain in the morning and could not stay in bed more than about seven hours. Now I can sleep for 10 hours if I want to a still feel fine.

I agree with the other folks--wait until you move to get it delivered. You could hurt your back moving a big one.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 9:10 PM on November 22, 2010

I think you're making the right call. Tempurpedics are very heavy and quite prone to twisting and such. It's really a bear to move.
posted by roomwithaview at 10:39 PM on November 22, 2010

Response by poster: In regard to the foam topper that someone suggested, I actually have one already and it is a 'tempur-style' topper. As it turns out you can buy a real topper from Tempurpedic, but apparently it is too thin to actually do any good. And then you can buy the $200 tempur-style topper that I got at Bed Bath and Beyond which does a decent job, but has developed a sag in the middle. So, now I either sleep right down the middle or end up feeling like I'm sleeping on an incline. It was nice for a while, but now that it has warped it is annoying.

I'll put up with it until I get the new mattress though.

And for the person that asked if it would be delivered on time, I have no problem sleeping on my couch for a day or two should that be the case. Thank you for the thought though!
posted by darkgroove at 7:13 AM on November 25, 2010