Suggesation for building the hot tub into a deck.

[wickworth]

I am looking forward to getting a hot tub and bulding a deck. I feel that hot tub decks are the perfect place to relax at the end of a day. Do you recommend bulding the hot tub into a duck? Can any one suugest me best deck building and deck design tips?

[Waterbug]

I've built tubs into a deck, by placing the tub on a cement slab and then building a deck around it.  What I've fornd works better is to build a multi-level deck, with the higher level at a height even with the top of the tub.  That gives easy access to the tub and only surrounds it on one or two sides.  I had an 8' X 8' deck off of the slider to my master bedroom.  The tub was located on a 20' X 20' main deck.  Out the slider and step into the tub.  The 8' dimension left room for stairs to the main deck, beside the tub.

[sorebikr]

I am looking forward to getting a hot tub and bulding a deck. I feel that hot tub decks are the perfect place to relax at the end of a day. Do you recommend bulding the hot tub into a duck? Can any one suugest me best deck building and deck design tips?

pww50 | pww 50 | PWW-50

I also poured a 4" slab first, set the deck in place and then built the deck around it.  The deck is about 15" below the rim of the tub.  This was suggested by a few people here, as well as my contractor.  The logic was:  Still easy to get in and out.  But reduces the chance of of accidents/tripping.  Also reduces the likelihood of kids/dogs running across the tub cover.

The trickiest part is to make sure your joists don't butt up against the access panel to the spa since you'll need to get in there in the future. 

[colo_artist]

I'd recommend just inserting the spa about 1/2 way down.

Although flush to the deck sounds like a good idea, it means you have to climb down into, and back up out of the spa. Usually a handrail is a good idea for one.

With mine I made it so one of the seats is at the same height as the deck. That makes it easy to enter and exit...no up and down, just grab the edge and step over.

With a flush located spa there's also the chance someone will wonder onto the cover. Also you'll be on your hands and knees whenever you do maintenance.

Here's a pic of mine right after I finished trimming the boards...



.

[Waterbug]

  Both Lowe's and Home Depot have on-line deck designer/planner programs.  The Lowe"s program can be found here:
http://www.lowes.com/cd_Deck+Designer_733683095_

  Even if you don't build it yourself, it gives you something to hand to a contractor, to show them exactly what you are looking to build.  I've used the Lowe's deck planner to generate a materials list and took that list to several different lumber yards for quotes. 

[Tman122]

I'd recommend just inserting the spa about 1/2 way down.

Although flush to the deck sounds like a good idea, it means you have to climb down into, and back up out of the spa. Usually a handrail is a good idea for one.

With mine I made it so one of the seats is at the same height as the deck. That makes it easy to enter and exit...no up and down, just grab the edge and step over.

With a flush located spa there's also the chance someone will wonder onto the cover. Also you'll be on your hands and knees whenever you do maintenance.

Here's a pic of mine right after I finished trimming the boards...



.

I'm curious, while that looks fabulous. How do you get the sides off if need be?

[colo_artist]

I'd recommend just inserting the spa about 1/2 way down.

Although flush to the deck sounds like a good idea, it means you have to climb down into, and back up out of the spa. Usually a handrail is a good idea for one.

With mine I made it so one of the seats is at the same height as the deck. That makes it easy to enter and exit...no up and down, just grab the edge and step over.

With a flush located spa there's also the chance someone will wonder onto the cover. Also you'll be on your hands and knees whenever you do maintenance.

Here's a pic of mine right after I finished trimming the boards...



.

I'm curious, while that looks fabulous. How do you get the sides off if need be?

Most of the bits that normally need to be reached are behind a panel in the center of that curve. Originally I had planned to build an access hatch, but decided it would be easy to simply remove the screws from the decking...four boards and I'm in...about 10 minutes.

Around the sides and back there's only about 4 screws per board, so they're easy too. The framework is far enough back that all of the panels can be removed once the decking is gone. The spa is setting on the ground, so it's also easy to move around in the open framework.

When I was fitting the deck to the new tub I numbered all of the boards and marked the spaces on the joists, so if there's an emergency and the boards need to come off in a hurry, it'll be straightforward to put things back together again.

[wickworth]

I'd recommend just inserting the spa about 1/2 way down.

Although flush to the deck sounds like a good idea, it means you have to climb down into, and back up out of the spa. Usually a handrail is a good idea for one.

With mine I made it so one of the seats is at the same height as the deck. That makes it easy to enter and exit...no up and down, just grab the edge and step over.

With a flush located spa there's also the chance someone will wonder onto the cover. Also you'll be on your hands and knees whenever you do maintenance.

Here's a pic of mine right after I finished trimming the boards...



.

Its really awesome! Thanks a lot for your suggestion!

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

And thank you for your spam