6" from house?

[DoubleH]

Hi All

First post, first spa, have a question about proximity to the house.

Attaching a pic of the spot we have in mind (electric under the window will be moved and proper pad constructed).  Seems like a perfect spot, except we're in New York, about 35 miles north of NYC and do get snow obviously, and occasional icicles on the gutters of the house.  From the deck I can knock them off, but now we're just wondering if being so close to the house is a good idea.  We don't really have other good options for placement. 

My local dealer who is reputable says he has many customers with hot tubs this close to house.

Legitimate concern or are we overthinking it? Any advice appreciated. 

Howard

[bud16415]

The cover would have to open to the back and need a little more room to store. That would be ok as the tub could be pulled out more in that direction. The problem I see is getting the cover open. Most of the time with a larger tub there is a cover lifter mounted on the two sides that helps open the cover and you stand on one of the two sides first to lift and fold the cover and then to flip it up. You would need to stand where the stairs are or get in the tub when opening and closing it. I have seen people do it that way. You could build a prop to hold the cover open a little for checking the water and adding chemicals. 

Covers where snow and ice will fall are also not my first choice the cover is foam covered in vinyl fabric and an ice could easily damage it.

We live in the cold north also with lots of snow and I put a covered pergola over ours. As it is to use yours you will have to shovel the deck and stairs and then deal with whatever snow is on the cover before you can open it.

I see a round cover on the ground. That is not access to a well or anything is it?

Another thing to think about is where the power will be located. The GFCI disconnect needs to be in eye sight of the tub but at least 5’ from the tub per code. The idea is if it trips you can’t be in the tub resetting it. One side of the tub contains the pumps and heater and all the equipment and that side would need to face out for service.

All in all it is something that you could do but if there is a better location like extending the deck and maybe having the tub partly recessed and accessible from the deck might be better. Makes getting the tub up there a bit harder depending on what equipment you have to help move it.     

[DoubleH]

Thanks for the reply bud16415.  For a 7'x7' tub (the largest we would consider for the spot), it could be 6" from the house leaving 18" on the stairs side which is plenty for us to get to the cover. 

Not shown in the pic is a sliding door about 10 ft. the other way and the GFCI box would go between the spa and that area against the house.  We would also enter/exit the spa from that slider, at least in the winter.

That round cover is just a platform for the a/c condenser that we recently moved, no issue there. 

Thanks again.

[bud16415]

Sounds like a plan. When we first got our tub it was placed on our deck and I did the install. We loved the open-air feel and stargazing. As fall approached it seemed every time we wanted to hot tub there was a cold rain or drizzle keeping us out. We actually sat out a few times with umbrellas and that wasn’t too great. I began thinking about winter here and that’s when I built the covered pergola and I also made a fabric wind blocker that goes up and down in a minute covering the open side similar to your setting. We now use it 12 months of the year and have been out in it as cold as –10f. We passed on going out the few nights it got down to –30f. burrrrr.

The only other thing I added was a source for both hot and cold water close to the tub. our pure hot is 140+ and I use it right at the tub for filter cleaning and in the winter de-icing. I tell everyone with a tub having a short 10’ hose and H/C water source freeze-proof bib, close to the tub is the best investment I ever made.

Make sure you get the cover lifter that requires the least space behind the tub. ours takes about 2’. Then build your pad in the correct location.