Sink it into a deck or not?

[newhottubber]

Hi,

I've never owned a hot tub before.  I'm building a deck and have always dreamed of sinking a hot tub into the flooring of a deck.  The deck is low to the ground.  Only 24 inches or so.  The other kicker is I'm not going to have the money to build the deck and buy hot tub at the same time.  I was planning on having the deck built and the ground prepared so I can cut the floor and drop the hot tub in into the cut out maybe 3 years down the line.  Basic question...is this a bad idea?

In asking around I'm fining about 60% of the people I ask are telling me trapping a hot tub with a structure around it is not key for servicing.  If I do go down this road, how much spare room do I have to give the tub hot on all sides?  Are we talking 18 inches around all sides?  And any common tricks of the trade around what to do with that buffer space around the hot tub...do people build something clever with a hinged floor?

Thanks!

[castletonia]

I'm not a fan of sinking a spa in a deck as it just becomes a hassle if there is the need for service.  Depending on the brand, you could need access to three or four sides just to get to all the pumps and equipment.  If you do sink it, then make removable sections of the deck so a service tech can get down there and figure enough space for someone to get down there and get stuck. 

[Spatech_tuo]

Hi,

I've never owned a hot tub before.  I'm building a deck and have always dreamed of sinking a hot tub into the flooring of a deck.  The deck is low to the ground.  Only 24 inches or so.  The other kicker is I'm not going to have the money to build the deck and buy hot tub at the same time.  I was planning on having the deck built and the ground prepared so I can cut the floor and drop the hot tub in into the cut out maybe 3 years down the line.  Basic question...is this a bad idea?

In asking around I'm fining about 60% of the people I ask are telling me trapping a hot tub with a structure around it is not key for servicing.  If I do go down this road, how much spare room do I have to give the tub hot on all sides?  Are we talking 18 inches around all sides?  And any common tricks of the trade around what to do with that buffer space around the hot tub...do people build something clever with a hinged floor?

Thanks!

I'll take Door #3 where Carol Merril is standing. I don't like a hot tub fully sunken into the deck but I do like a spa that is partially sunken in. By leaving the spa exposed about 15-18" above the deck it makes for getting in/out of the spa MUCH easier and allows for use of a standard cover lifter. Of course you'd need to leave access to the front at a minimum.

[TN__HOT_TUB]

We put ours next to the deck and knocked down the railing. 

The access panel is not covered by anything and quite easy to get to.

[Jet Sitter]

I agree with Spatech that partially sinking the tub and leaving 15"-18" exposed is an ideal solution.  No need for steps to climb in and out - you can access the tub from pretty much anywhere.  I think it is nice and well integrated, visually as well.

As noted, the downside is access for reairs or maintenance.  If you can keep 3' free around the tub that would be great.  Some have 3' at the equipment panle and maybe only 18" on other side and in a pinch can slide the tub if more room is needed.  And there are those who wall theirs in and if a problem arises, I guess they pull it out - not ideal in my mind and even those folks almost alwasy have at least the equip panel accessible.

[sstrahan7@msn.com]

I bought a hot tub a month ago and just finished building a cedar deck around 3 sides of it. I also asked on this forum for opinions because couldn't get a straight answer from the dealer. He just kept saying would be fine as long as I kept the main side accessable because "these hot tubs really don't leak". Of course he would say that . well anyway, I ended up building it around three sides and leaving the main panel side open. It is "sunk" into the deck with about 10 inches sticking out, which makes it easy to get into and I can still use the "cover lifter 3". I like it a lot and it looks good. You could also go with it in a corner of the deck so you could have 2 sides free, Worst case senerio they could slide it out if any of the other sides need to be worked on.

Don't you want to get the hot tub first and then worry about the deck? At least then you would have a nice comfy hot tub to sit in while your saving up money for the deck!

[hthompson90]

Mine is on the deck. We can even close it back, which is not very obvious. I will post some pix.