Hot tub/spa?

10 years ago

DH and I would love to have a small hot tub on the back porch-recently retired, and a soak would surely feel great first thing in the am and at the end of a day working in the yard! I am having a difficult time sorting thru online reviews...anyone have a tub they love, or probably more importantly, one they don't love! Tub would need to withstand cold/snowy winters! The pool/spa forum looks pretty quiet, so thought I would post here.....thanks!

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Comments (4)

gsciencechick
10 years ago
We seriously considered a Softub from CL. My sister and BIL have had one for years and gotten a lot of use.

Some things that caused us to decline:

Installation. Where we wanted to put it we would need a dedicated circuit and a trench. We would also need some sort of pad. Our deck, built by a PO, who knows if it was built to code. The Softub filled weighs 2,700 lbs! So, that was not an option.

Privacy. Where we wanted to install it, it was viewable from the street. Gazebos and privacy fencing would add a lot to the cost.

We live in the Carolinas, and it is still probably too hot to use a hot tub. We would get our best use in the winter.
chucksmom
10 years ago
rhtubs.com has a great board with reviews and message boards.
I have an OLD tub vintage 1983. While it doesn't have a lot of jets, I still love it and use it daily. My biggest problem with new tubs is that they are programmed to not go above 104 degrees for "safety" reasons. Unfortunately, while 104 d is great so kids don't get burned, etc. (you'll need to google the reason), 104 isn't hot enough for me for those aches and pains. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, it's one of the arguments that the arthritis society has with the newer tubs.
You might look on CL or freecycle and see if you can get one cheap, I got mine at a yard sale and while I have put a new controller in it (one that is not digital and goes over 104) and a new pump in the 13 yrs I've had it, it was well worth the money I paid. I saw an article way back when that basically said "if it isn't leaking" it's fixable, although I wouldn't want to have to re-plumb a tub but changing out the controller and the pump-easy.
Another good site is spaforums.com. Do some homework and you'll be fine. Gotta go soak, it's my time of day!
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We love our hot tub. It is right off our deck on a slab of concrete. We took down our fence railing so we could step down into it. We have a fenced in yard but not much privacy around the hot tub, just the house behind it. We haven't come up with a good solution yet for a screen. We live in Iowa and use it mostly year round, we just close it for about 2 months in the summer. It is a great time for togetherness. We have great conversations in the hot tub either the whole family, or just hubby and I. Swim suits with the kids or in the daytime, No suits at night alone or with hubby. It is great to be in it with the snow fallin on our head! I just have to figure out how to handle our deck finish. Scraping snow each winter to get to the hot tub tears up our deck finish. I wish it was a patio or brick. We have considered covering our deck by extending our roofline, but that would be pricey. Hmmm..., I wonder if I could but THIN bricks over the surface of our deck. Has anyone tried this? I wonder if it would be too heavy for the deck. Anyway, we love our hot tub. We purchased it with money from my parents estate after they passed. My dad was practical, so half went to start a college savings for our kids. My Mom would have wanted us to enjoy our money, so we bought the hot tub with the other half. We just didn't want the money to go for groceries or anything. We think of them when we use it now and it sort of honors their memory.
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dawnbc
10 years ago
I have a Beachcomber Hot Tub and love it. I have the round 321 model which is just big enough for me and hubby. I don't share. ;)

http://www.beachcomberhottubs.com/

This post was edited by dawn8b on Fri, Aug 23, 13 at 11:39
joyce_6333
10 years ago
We had a Hot Springs in each of our three previous homes. The one feature we liked was that the jets did not suck in air, just recycled the hot water, so it didn't cool off while sitting in it. We also had an ozonator (I think that's what it was called), that kept it much cleaner alot longer. They are not the cheapest but certainly one of the best. The two in Colorado at high altitude were used year round for 5 years each, and our previous house here in Wisconsin got used year round for 10 years. Never a problem with any of them. We always had the bigger ones that held at least 7 people because the grandkids loved hanging out in them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hot Spring Spas

Hot tub/spa?

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gsciencechick

chucksmom

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