I finally got around to taking some pics this afternoon of our backyard/patio/hot tub area here in Connecticut. Our friends call it "Party Central".
My wife and I put a lot of work into the house and yard since we bought the place 5 years ago and the tub was our reward.
The tub is a Nordic Crown XL that we bought last December and love. It's been very reliable and fun to own. We've had our share of tub parties and had as many as 6 people in at one time.
The deck under the tub is just a 12 x 12 Trex-decked platform that is "floating" on some concrete blocks bedded into compacted soil. It was made with the proper support for the weight of the tub and since it's not connected to the house, there was no need for deep concrete footings. Some additional landscaping will take place at the back of the tub deck to dress things up there next spring.
The gazebo over the tub was purchased from Target. It's very heavy duty and is bolted to the deck. We wanted something to keep the sun off the tub in the Summer and it's been great. I'll take the canvas top off in the Winter but plan on leaving the frame in place.
The colorful side panels on the gazebo are something my wife made to replace the boring, bland netting that came with the gazebo. We both wanted something that offered a little privacy and I particularly wanted to use colors that were sort of tropical and reminded me of very colorful hot air balloons.
The railing/cover holder at the back of the gazebo is something I designed and had fabricated by a local metal shop. It's a multi-function piece that offers some safety since the back of the platform is about 2' off the ground and serves as a really nice cover support and holder. My wife wanted something that she could slide the folded cover onto when she went in the tub alone so the top bar of the railing is the same height as the top of the tub. I put the L-shaped supports on the back to store the cover completely out of the way when needed. It really works better than I planned and solved the problem of finding a decent cover lifter than fits the Crown XL. (BTW - I searched and never found one.)
For the musical entertainment, there are 7 speakers placed around the tub and patio area including 2 rock speakers, 2 speakers in the gazebo (mounted to the vertical posts and hidden by the dark purple panels in the corners!) and 1 rock subwoofer right next to the tub platform. All of this is powered by a 600 watt system located in the attached garage. I was able to plan for this when we built the patio and retaining wall and all the speaker wires are in conduit buried around the yard and patio. Luckily for me, my neighbors don't mind the music, even when it gets cranking.
Lots of low voltage lighting completes the scene at night.
Hope you enjoy the pics as much as we enjoy our oasis.
