V berth mattress - what did you pay? From where?

[PsychedChicken]

We are having to replace our vberth mattress. Our Westerly Centaur did not come with ANY cushions. We have almost finished our refit and will be moving aboard soon.

We are going to need to have a v berth mattress made, i guess. If you had one made, who made it and what did it cost? I cant seem to get ballpark figures anywhere and its making budgeting the rest of our refit a BEAST.

Has anyone had any lucky cutting a futon mattress and just keeping it in a waterproof mattress cover? It needs to be comfortable, but money is always a concern.

[a64pilot]

If money is the concern then you are better making one.
Ones I have found are expensive, real expensive.
I am getting ours here, it is expensive, but I have saved and budgeted for a couple of years to do it.
http://boatbeds.com
I'm old and a comfortable mattress is more important than it used to be.

[PsychedChicken]

Do you mind sharing how much its going to cost you?

[a64pilot]

Their cheapest about $1200, most expensive $3,500.
I don't have a V berth so that may add or subtract I have no idea.

[JPA Cate]

Psyched Chicken,

We have gone with polyfoam, and cut it with the bread knife. If you have access to one of those electric carving knives, that will work. You can cover it with whatever you like, but you need something stronger than bed sheet material. None of ours have been completely water proof, but we did have coated nylon cordura on one of our boats, and while the coating is intact, it does protect the cushion. Waterproof stuff is sweaty to sleep on, so you will also want to fix yourself a mattress pad, lots of ways to do that, and fitted sheets.

Honestly, if good quality foam rubber were available here, I think it lasts better than the polyfoam, stays comfortable longer. But, it is heavier, too.

People do different things to keep mildew out from under the mattress. Our solution has been 1/4 " of closed cell foam, bonded to the underside of the polyfoam. It keeps the mildew away, in the climates we're sailing in, these days, the 20 to 40 degrees of latitude range.

If you're wanting to do all the cushions, and have them match, see what you can find that is washable, and durable, and appeals to you. We avoid piping, because it wears, first. Some people prefer velcro closures, me, I prefer plastic zippers, and to zip/unzip 3 sides of the cushion so you don't have to struggle with the foam to install it.

Ann

[UNCIVILIZED]

In addition to what Ann said, there are both foams & cover materials that are self-draining, or wick away water. Which would likely be helpful both when it's hot, & also cold, when condensation in & under the cushions can be an issue. Some foams are anti-microbial, which could be handy. And there are lots of things that you can do to help with moisture management, such as using a material called hyper-vent underneath of the cushions.
BTW, moisture management & ventillation are key topics to do searchs on in relation to cushions.

If you do a search here on cushions, as well as mattresses, you'll get a whole bunch of information. Also there's a sewing sub-forum (social group) here on CF if you click on the "community" tab in the blue menu bar up top.

A couple of other good info sources are the excellent blog by a member here, wrwakefield (sv denali rose). And also take a look at www.projectatticus.com both on their website, as well as on youtube. Which, on their youtube channel, there's an informative discussion about foams & related topics, as part of their refitting their boat.

[stewy]

I was in the same situation for our Catalina 320. I'd looked at purchasing a coil spring mattress through Catalina but the ~$2000 price + shipping was outside of my comfort zone. Instead I checked with a small mattress manufacturer in my home town. He supplied me with a custom built, very thick, hospital grade, quilted foam mattress for something in the neighbourhood of <$900. If it is for non-marine use you will get it cheaper.

[Ken Z]

Trace your matress on a piece of ac plywood3/8 or 1/2", cut out fit to v berth area, a little smaller. Buy foam to your liking 2-4" firm or soft. cover with vinyl or what you want, cut it larger so you can fold it under the ply and pull snug and staple, s/s staples are best . direct fabric usa has marine vinyl in ass. colors.

[Sea Dreaming]

On waterproofing a foam mattress; I bought a waterproof mattress cover from amazon for our double aft birth. I put the cover on inside out and pinned the excess material around the mattress shape, then stitched new seams where I pinned. I was able to preserve the factory zipper. Our cover fits the bed perfectly. You might be able to do the same with a king sized cover for some v berths. I think the cover was $20 usd. Nice n cheap! The cover used a breathable membrane so it's not sweaty. It's far more comfortable than just a standard mattress cover on the foam.

[FilBrown]

I replaced mine some years ago with a good rubber/latex foam. For a comfortable bed you need to have at least 6 inches of foam if it's on top of a hard surface.
It can be cut with a bread knife if you have to but have a practice on a spare bit first and mark up where exactly where you want to cut.
Cut it slightly oversize if you can as it will squash down a bit especially at any point where it becomes thinner.

[flyingfin]

Go to a local mattress store and buy an inexpensive memory foam mattress that it slightly larger than what you need, take it home and use the old mattress as a pattern, or make new pattern out of cardboard. Cut using pruning saw. Or order one on-line from these guys Welcome - Zeno Mattress

[John Drake]

I went to a local canvas maker. Had them laminate 3 different pieces of foam together. Three difference densities and thicknesses. Dense and thick to lighter, thinner . Made a wonderful mattress. They cut it, shaped it and covered it. Very inexpensive.


Best sleep I ever got.


[note added: IIRC...some types of memory foam can freeze]

[Djarraluda]

Originally Posted by Ken Z

Trace your matress on a piece of ac plywood3/8 or 1/2", cut out fit to v berth area, a little smaller. Buy foam to your liking 2-4" firm or soft. cover with vinyl or what you want, cut it larger so you can fold it under the ply and pull snug and staple, s/s staples are best . direct fabric usa has marine vinyl in ass. colors.

For best comfort with foam, use a 3 inch foam plus a 1 inch higher density foam on the top layer. This is still soft, but the firmer top spreads the load from elbows, hips and other lumpy bits. This is what they do in the professional upholstery designs. So check the combination that suits you best for your comfort.
Roger

[a64pilot]

What we have now and works pretty good is the old factory mattress on top of a Froli, then put a cheap Walmart memory foam topper on.
Pretty comfortable but somewhat a pain to change sheets and I hope a real innerspring mattress will be even better.
The old factory mattress would bottom out on the wood immediately, but it is 30 years old so that is to be expected, the Froli helped a lot and of course is great ventilation.

[jkindredpdx]

I bought a couple sheets of 4" foam and cut them down with the seam down the center, then bought a 2" egg carton pattern foam mattress topper cut to size with no seam. No cover except standard mattress pad and (flat) sheet under, duvet on top.