Pictures of new tub installation

[tanstaafl2]

A few pictures of my backyard where my new tub was installed. Work is still ongoing. Isn't it always?  


The backyard, where all the action happens. Mostly by action I mean I get to mow the lawn...


The deck, in winter mode. The nice chairs are still in the basement. I probably should have taken all the covers off and at least opened the fancy shmancy umbrella over the table...  Pictures for another post perhaps.


Looking the other way on the deck.


Went to the trouble of painting my outdoor speakers up on the deck. It was a pain, especially the grill, and I am not likely to bother for the ones downstairs.  


Future home of the new tub. Buddha Lee is at the far end of the patio. Why I took this BEFORE pressure washing the concrete I will never know...



Buddha Lee adorns one side of the patio in his zen rock garden with lovely "water feature" (the best I could do!). Usually he is surrounded by tropical tea leaves and other plants but  he is also still in winter mode when this was taken. Even though it is now officially spring it is still in the 30's at night. Anything below 70 is cold to me and Buddha Lee no doubt agrees!


The tub will end up in the middle of the inset between the two windows with any luck. But first I have to take care of the very annoying tilt of the deck.


At least the concrete is a little cleaner now! First the contractor built a form with the sides cut at an angle to match the slope of the pad. Only about 1 and 3/8" but enough to likely annoy me if I don't fix it now.


The black plastic goes under the form so that it will be between the original pad and the concrete shim to come.


In goes the top dressing concrete, which is little more than sand and some glue to harden it.


The finished product. It tapers down to nothing at the back edge and is very fragile. Once dry I will remove the form, fold the edges up and put the spa on top to give it a fairly clean look.


A closer view.

To be continued...

[tanstaafl2]

Next come the electricians. The box is probably going to be more like 4 feet away than 5 but that is close enough. I hope. The line to the spa comes out of the wall near the corner of the spa. Also had wires run for the motorized screens, two fans and I put in an outlet to the deck above as well. Actually had a 100 amp breaker box put in in the basement so that I can run outlets in the basement if I ever get around to finishing it. In fact my next project may be to finish at least the bathroom downstairs.  


Next came the under deck roof. Makes the space so much more user friendly!


Making progress on the ceiling. When the screens are installed they should clean up the appearance along the sides. At least I hope so. The front was left open to allow the space between to ventilate and dry. And give the birds a nice big new birdhouse... Hmm, we will see how that goes.


Concrete shim and under deck roof are now in place and the speakers are hooked up and ready to go!


The big day, and the big hot tub, have arrived. Didn't get any pictures of it "arriving" as I was too busy making sure the 38" tub fit through my 40" fence gate. Had to take one post cap off but otherwise it arrived in good shape! As you can see the black plastic is wrapped around the edge of the concrete shim and tucked under the tub. Blends in pretty well with the black plastic base.


Full of hot water and ready for use! Deliberately put the lifter so that it would open to the right so I could get the spa relatively close to the house and besides the cover provides a little privacy screen on that side.

Still need to install the screens on each end and the 2 fans/lights and I would love to put something on the concrete pad. Maybe a project for next year. And of course I would like to finish the bathroom in the basement. Those margarita's go right through you...

[windsurfdog]

Very nice indeed!  Now that's how to level a pad!  BTW, we've got matching bbq grills.....mine is subject to salt air so the full SS was the only way to go.

Most excellent!

[drewstar]

Looks great...

I'm curious, how does the ceiling in the lower area handle water from the deck above?

Also, I don't understand why you needed to add the black tarp. Could you have just poured the concrete onto the existing slab?

[tanstaafl2]

There is a gutter that runs along the front of the under deck roof and down spouts at each end. Just not visible in any of my pictures. And you don't have to have the black tarp but it allows you to essentially break up the concrete shim and carry it away without leaving any residual on the concrete pad underneath should one want to do away with the tub.

At least in theory...

Not that I have any interest in doing that but one never knows! Maybe if I sold the house and wanted to take the tub with me. Or the new buyers didn't want it but didn't want a funny little pad in the middle of the slab either.

Also the black plastic helps the shim blend in with the bottom of the tub and also may protect it a bit.

[drewstar]

There is a gutter that runs along the fron of the under deck roof and down spouts at each end. Just not visible in any of my pictures. And you don't have to have the black tarp but it allows you to essentially break up the concrete shim and carry it away without leaving any residual on the concrete pad underneath should one want to do away with the tub.

At least in theory...

Not that I have any interest in doing that but one never knows! Maybe if I sold the house and wanted to take the tub with me. Or the new buyers didn't want it but didn't want a funny little pad in the middle of the slab either.

Ahh that makes a lot of sense.   Thanks.

[blizzard]

Very nice

[galen]

Nice neat job. You should be proud.

[OKC]

Very nice.  Enjoy!!

[Tatooed_Lady]

Cool beans....I want to do an outdoor stereo also, just not sure yet how to go about it.....
Congrats, though, looks great!

[hottub.pool_boy]

nice job. you'll like not having water drip on your head. now use it.

[bob5820]

Great job, the under deck ceiling is a nice touch. I sometimes wish I had oriented my cover lifter perpendicular to the filter box as you did. Makes it much easier to get at the filters. Looking forward to more pictures.

[Mendocino101]

nicely done.....enjoy......

[fulip]

I'm in the same position regarding my concrete slab.  Hopefully, you are still a member of this forum, but how did the concrete pad hold up?

Thanks,

Phil

[kitchener]

Looks like he hasn't been active in 3 years -- he did update his set up with pictures 3 years after these -- the shades are up, and no reports of concrete issues:  REPLY 29  http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/forum/index.php/topic,11512.msg145716.html#msg145716