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Casper Mattress
Setting It Up and Review
July 2017
(Write-up October 31, 2018) |
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I am writing this article a
year-and-a-half after I purchased my new mattress.
Enough time to give a decent review of the mattress
compared to the old mattress I had. I also
still had the photographs of the set-up that I had
sent to my husband in 2017. So instead of
deleting the photos, I will place them on this
website.
My old mattress, which I bought in 1997, was a
decent mattress on the firm side. It had been
properly flipped over and rotated over the years.
I also had kept it protected with a plastic cover
under the mattress pad so there were no stains on it
and probably less dead skin cells than normal.
Throughout my younger life, I have always needed a
firm mattress. With a soft mattress, I could
barely walk in the morning because my back would
hurt. Even when I was skinny toothpick in my 20's.
Fast forward to my senior years and the problem was
still my back. Being older I now have a
bulging disc and arthritis in my lower back.
Every morning I would wake up with a nagging pain in
my back and sore hip bones.
I started shopping for a new mattress. I kept
seeing the commercials for mattresses in boxes,
giving guarantees offering a few months to try it
out....money back if you don't like it. I
figured what do I have to lose?....let me try one of
these mattresses. If it does not work out, I
will get rid of it and get my money back. I
would then go and buy a conventional mattress (ones
with springs).
Shopping For A Mattress
I first looked for online reviews of the foam
mattresses. I quickly discovered that there
were quite a few of these companies out there
offering mattresses that are shipped to you.
Most offer a guarantee, with your money back after a
few months of sleeping on it. So I needed to
switch to reviews that compared the different
mattresses between each other.
I decided to select a mattress that was reported to
be firmer than the others. I also needed a
company that offered a mattress base also.
These foam mattresses need a flat platform type
base. They will not be supported if they are
placed on top of box springs. If your existing
mattress sits on top of a platform frame with no box
springs, then no problem, all you need is a
mattress. However, if you use a mattress and
box spring set you will have to change your frame or
get plywood to place over your box springs. OR buy
one of the frames offered by the mattress company.
I opted for the later.
The company that I ended up purchasing my mattress
from was Casper. According to the online
reviews, the Casper mattress was reported to be
firmer than the others. Their website offered
a mattress foundation that would fit on my existing bed
frame, and their return policy included pick-up of
the mattress, if I decided to return it within
the trial period.
On July 7, 2017, I placed my online order with
Casper. At the time of my purchase, the queen
size mattress was $950. The queen foundation
was $250. Minus a $75.00 coupon plus sales
tax, the total cost for the mattress and foundation
was $1217.82.
On Jul 11, 2017 I received the mattress. The
following day the foundation. I did the set-up
on July 17, 2017. Since I needed to try out this
mattress first, I kept my old mattress but needed to
move it to another room in the house.
Setting Up the
Foundation and Mattress
As you can see in the picture below, I have a
standard bed frame that is made for a box spring. If
I just put a piece of plywood on this, my mattress would
be too low. |
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Standard bed frame used for a box spring and
mattress set |
The bed
foundation parts came in one long skinny
box. It is basically wood or probably
particle board wrapped in dark gray fabric.
There are a total of 7 pieces.
To put the foundation together, only takes
about 5 minutes. The only tool you may
need would be a rubber mallet.
It is best to put it together on the floor
so you can make sure the corners are square
before you put the plastic corner plugs in.
Tap in plugs with mallet.
After you put together the sides, insert the
center support.
I then moved the foundation onto my bed
frame.
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Foundation pieces unpacked |
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Four sides put together on floor. Plastic plugs
inserted in corners. |
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Center support inserted and then the foundation was moved to
the bed
frame |
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There are 2 sets of wood slats covered in light gray
fabric that you lay on top of the bed foundation.
They just lay on top of the frame. |
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Two sets of wood slats lay on top the foundation |
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Two sets of wood slats lay on top the foundation |
After
the foundation is set-up, I was now ready
for the mattress.
The mattress is compressed and rolled up in
a box. Don't let that fool you.
It is heavy. I dragged the box into
the house and then a 1/2 flight of stairs
into the bedroom.
It was then taken out of the box and placed
on top of the bed foundation rolled up.
I then removed the outer layer of packaging
and positioned the still compressed mattress
in place.
I then removed the plastic over the
mattress. Within a few minutes the
mattress decompresses. |
The mattress still in the box |
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Place rolled up mattress on top of foundation |
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Unroll compressed mattress and move into place |
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Compressed mattress moved into place |
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Mattress decompressed and ready for use |
Review of the Mattress
The first thing I did
was sit on the end of the mattress. I weighed
about 200 lbs at the time. Needless to say, my
heavy body compressed the mattress down to the
foundation. Hmmm. Much different than my
old spring mattress where sitting on it only
compressed the mattress a few inches.
My next thought was UH-OH this foam mattress may be
too soft for me. I then laid on top of the mattress.
With my weight evenly distributed, I DID NOT sink
down to the foundation. It felt very
different. There is no bounce with this
mattress. I sank into it. Very
comfortable. A night on it would be the test.
After the first night on this mattress I questioned
my decision on purchasing it. It felt and
slept very different than my old mattress. You
sink into it and it cuddles you. Not an issue,
just different. Harder to roll over than my
old firm spring mattress. I also felt
different aches when laying on my side. Was
not sure if this was the mattress or my body
adjusting. Time would tell.
I kept the mattress. Overall, I was now
sleeping better and woke with less aches and pain.
The foam does offer support and applies less
pressure on the pain pressure points on my hips and
legs. My arms also fall asleep less from
laying on them. When sleeping on my stomach,
it is way more comfortable on my bones and breast
area. The mattress does sleep a little warmer
than my old mattress.
Besides the comfort, the bed also transfers less
motion. So if the dogs jump on the bed, even
the 100 lb dog, you barely notice it.
I
would recommend this mattress to someone like me.
It is better than my old mattress. To someone
who may be reading this, who is considering
purchasing this type of mattress, go for it.
Remember you can return it if it does not work-out
for you.
The dogs love the bed.
If you move to different homes a lot, read on. |
Review of Moving the Mattress and
Foundation
At the time I bought
the mattress, I had no plans to move. I
anticipating that the mattress would sit where I
placed it for the next few years.
Fast forward to 2018. While preparing the El
Paso house for sale, I needed to update and repair
stuff in the master bedroom. I needed to move
the bed downstairs to the lower level of the house.
I can only describe this mattress as floppy and
difficult to move. Unlike a spring mattress
this type of mattress goes everywhere you don't want
it to go because it is not rigid. You CAN bend
it around corners which is a plus in tight quarters.
For one person trying to move it, it just flops all
over with no way to firmly grip it. Moving the
mattress is a two person job. Even going
downstairs. Moving the mattress back upstairs,
I had to ask a neighbor for help.
The mattress was then moved to Oklahoma and then
again to our second house in Oklahoma. Each
time it was a pain in the ass to move. I
covered the mattress in a plastic cover and it was
thrown on top of a pile of boxes and furniture in
the moving van. It does lay on it's side well
and flops over without something to hold it up.
The foundation, on the other hand, is easy to move.
So much easier than a bulky box spring. All of
the pieces easily come apart and are easy to move.
Putting it together again is a breeze |
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