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I am trying to make a decision between in-ground vs. portable spa. I live in a house in So. Cal with a fairly small yard and only have about a 100-125 sf area that I can dedicate to a spa. This is a brand new, large, high-end house with no swimming pool. We plan on staying a long time. We are a family of four with two boys aged 7 and 11. The main user (by far) is me. The location of the spa would be at the far end of the yard where the back fence meets the side fence on a right angle. The electrical box is at the other end of the yard (on the back of the house). Natural gas is fairly inexpensive in my area. I used to live in a condo builiding for many years which had a lovely in-ground spa which I used on an almost daily basis. I enjoyed lounging about in the spa for several hours reading and was often only partly submerged while lying on the steps (to cool down). I very much enjoyed the intense heat (about 107), soothing bubbles and reading in the spa. I do not like or dislike hydromassage but sometimes find it annoying after a while. My kids also don't seem to care about it either way. Also, I dislike tepid temperatures and did not find the portable spas that I wet tested to be hot enough at 104. Also, I found that I could not really half submerge myself in the portable spas and there was no real ability to lounge on the side (unless it was vaulted or sunk into a deck). Lastly, I would prefer the smaller footprint of an in-ground arrangement for cosmetic reasons. For these reasons I seem to be leaning towards an in-ground spa. My questions: Is inground much more difficult/costly to construct? Maintain? Noisier? Are there any particular advantages of using either gas or electric? Can I get higher temps in them? How much more of a cost is involved for the type of size (100-120 sf)? How do I go about finding the proper builders? Do they always involve permits? Reliability? Any help would be appreciated. I am still open to portable spas if the in-ground option is too cumbersome.
Quote from: HT2020 on March 23, 2013, 11:19:22 pmI am trying to make a decision between in-ground vs. portable spa. I live in a house in So. Cal with a fairly small yard and only have about a 100-125 sf area that I can dedicate to a spa. This is a brand new, large, high-end house with no swimming pool. We plan on staying a long time. We are a family of four with two boys aged 7 and 11. The main user (by far) is me. The location of the spa would be at the far end of the yard where the back fence meets the side fence on a right angle. The electrical box is at the other end of the yard (on the back of the house). Natural gas is fairly inexpensive in my area. I used to live in a condo builiding for many years which had a lovely in-ground spa which I used on an almost daily basis. I enjoyed lounging about in the spa for several hours reading and was often only partly submerged while lying on the steps (to cool down). I very much enjoyed the intense heat (about 107), soothing bubbles and reading in the spa. I do not like or dislike hydromassage but sometimes find it annoying after a while. My kids also don't seem to care about it either way. Also, I dislike tepid temperatures and did not find the portable spas that I wet tested to be hot enough at 104. Also, I found that I could not really half submerge myself in the portable spas and there was no real ability to lounge on the side (unless it was vaulted or sunk into a deck). Lastly, I would prefer the smaller footprint of an in-ground arrangement for cosmetic reasons. For these reasons I seem to be leaning towards an in-ground spa. My questions: Is inground much more difficult/costly to construct? Maintain? Noisier? Are there any particular advantages of using either gas or electric? Can I get higher temps in them? How much more of a cost is involved for the type of size (100-120 sf)? How do I go about finding the proper builders? Do they always involve permits? Reliability? Any help would be appreciated. I am still open to portable spas if the in-ground option is too cumbersome.An in ground spa does require a permit. Typically they are far more expensive than a portable. Find a good pool builder to install one. Hot Spring Spas get to 106+. Check out the Vanguard and it's cool down seat.