Mattress and cushions

[barroca grande]

Hi all

 

Back again, I am just about ready to think about making the bed and dinette. Can anyone advise on best thicknesses (and type) for the mattress and the seat cushions for the dinette.

 

For the bed I will need two pieces of mattress as most of it will go under the tug deck and basically only ever be slept upon (say about 4ft long). The bottom section remains in the room and will double up as a sofa. I imagine this section will need to be more robust? There will be a back support which I plan to have upholstered that is either the back of the sofa or the bedhead. This will lift up out of the way while the bed is actually being pulled in and out. I am anticipating the bedframe to be like a futon in that it will have slats to support the mattress. In an ideal world the space underneath the bed frame will still be enough for drawers!

 

The dinette is basically a half pullman dinette which will convert to a small across double (or large single!). The back section will slide down when the bottom section is pulled out. We will then have the table top across the passage way with a spare cushion on it. As storage is limited would it be better to have the seat section double thickness which would open out to cover the top section of bed and use the back cushion across the passage?

 

As space under the tug deck is limited I really need to know what depth the mattress needs to be for best sleeping comfort so I know how low the bed frame has to be to accommodate the bedding etc going under.

 

Thanks in anticipation

 

Kath

[GBBS]

as with all things, Compromise compromise.................. 3" is fine to sit on as you can have a stiffer foam, however not comfortable to sleep on. So 4" thick ( or even 5" although quite bulky) and of medium density ie. softer than sit on cushions firmer than pure bed mattress. try classic upholstery at hillmorton - dave is very helpful and experienced with boaters

[sueb]

four inch minimum

Sue

[carlt]

Swmbo needs a 3' thick mattress, and can still feel the pea.

 

I prefer a camping mat on bare boards

[alan_fincher]

Swmbo needs a 3' thick mattress, and can still feel the pea.

I hope you've used the correct spelling there.

 

We used 4" foam, but with a wadding layer round that to bring (professionally made) cushions up to nearer 5" over the padding. OK, but probably a minimum for comfort.

 

When OH made her own for area in middle of boat we increased foam thickness to 5". Much better, but maybe not consistent with your limited under-deck space.

 

The type of foam is all - some are much better than others.

[luctor et emergo]

Swmbo needs a 3' thick mattress, and can still feel the pea.

 

I prefer a camping mat on bare boards

 

 

 

Rough boards I hope.

 

when going over various bed/bench options the other day, I did think of a proper hammock, it is a boat after all. tempting..

[barroca grande]

Thanks for that. Looks like the consensus for the bed mattress under tug deck is around 5". The space under there is 22 so allowing another 2 to 3" for the bedding still leaves me with something over 12 " for the drawers under. This is good news.

 

The dinette conversion is for guests only so their sleeping comfort is temporary! Perhaps the 3" firm doubled up for the seat would do the job nicely?

 

I will have a chat with Dave as well.

[alan_fincher]

The dinette conversion is for guests only so their sleeping comfort is temporary! Perhaps the 3" firm doubled up for the seat would do the job nicely?

Personally unless it's very good foam, with quality wadding wrapped on, I'd not compromise below 4". You can, but I wouldn't.

[wrigglefingers]

Go for the pink, high density soft stuff, 4" with a layer of memory foam bonded to it then have the whole lot wrapped in a stockingette cover,or for real comfort splash out on a latex mattress, with a memory foam layer.

[hughc]

We have had the same 6" high density foam mattresses for twenty years and they are still as good as new.Do have them wrapped in stockinettte with a high quality covering- the material used for bus seats is very very hard wearing and it is possible to find a reasonable range of patterns. Regards, HughC.

[David Schweizer]

We have 5" foam cushions for our matresseses bought from Ace foam http://www.acefoam.co.uk/ We purchased grade CMHR40H (blue) with stockinette wrapping and re-used the original covers. They are certainly firm enough for us, although if you are aliveaboard the next grade up (pink) may last longer.

 

The company were very helpful offering lots of advice, and bothe price an delivery were excellent.