Hello all. Have an Arctic Frontier on order and need some help on deciding on what surface would be best to put the tub on.
I have an area approximately 12x15 along the side of the house. House wall to one side and fence around others.
The surface is already prepared, 4-6 inches of chips and dust (gravel) I just need to decide on what kind of surface to put down.
Tub is the Frontier, we also ordered six foot steps along one side, corner steps and also the cedar shelf and bar stools. The tub will be put up against the fence with the steps along one side and the bar along the end of the tub with a 7x8 foot patio area.
The choices I have are put the tub on the gravel (forever floor) and build a deck around two sides of the tub sitting on the gravel. Third side is where cover lifts off and ground is covered in cedar mulch.
Today local hardware store has 20x20" square pavers on sale for about half price so that option would be cover the whole area in those pavers. About a third of the cost of the deck. Stones the same as in Steelerpetes post.
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1217702422Last choice is using 24x24" recycled rubber tiles around the tub (tub sits on gravel). This works out to about 2/3 cost of deck. Nice thing about the tiles is they are "soft" on the feet and more slip resistant than wood or concrete. The tiles can be placed right on top of the gravel and cut to fit. Easiest to install.
http://www.tonmik.com/So the stones would be the cheapest but most labour intensive. Deck is most expensive but it's a deck, and the rubber tiles are the easiest to install and probably offer safest "tubbing" experience.
So just wondering what you experienced tubbers would recommend for surface. We live in SW Ontario so snow and ice are definitely an issue.
