Pavers vs concrete pad

[waterpro]

I've read that there are a number of suitable materials to make the hot tub platform base from.  Everything from rocks, to putting the tub on a deck, etc, etc.  I'm specifically curious about pavers vs concrete.  Is one better or worse than the other.  We're starting from scratch on our backyard patio and we're wanting to put professionally installed pavers down, but we're a little worried about putting the hot tub on top with all the weight.  I'm not afraid of the hot tub crushing the pavers or anything like that, in fact, in my research, pavers have a crushing psi rating way above concrete.  So in that respect, the pavers are stronger so I'm not worried about that.  I'm more worried about the weight of the tub on the pavers causing the pavers to shift over time so that they are no longer level with the rest of the patio. Which would basically cause a dip in the pavers under the hot tub.

I know we could just pour a concrete pad and then do pavers around it, but the issue there is if we ever decide we don't want a tub anymore and we remove it, then we have a big square concrete pad in the middle of our paver patio.  Whereas if we did pavers from the start and remove the hot tub later, I'm hoping that in theory you'd never be able to tell a tub was ever there and you'd just have a nice uniform patio.

Just curious if anyone else has run into any paver issues over time or has any opinion on it.  Assuming again, that the pavers are professionally installed and installed correctly.

Thanks!

[Sammi]

I don't have experience with a hot tub on pavers, but would have the same concern as you. I'm assuming you've considered stamped concrete? Its been 8 years now but when we bid out our patio stamped concrete was not only cheaper than pavers we much preferred the look. When we bought our hot tub we put it right ok the concrete and it worked great. My other hot tub is on concrete as well, but not stamped. That was also a simple placement.

[The Wizard of Spas]

It all comes down to pressure per square foot. Regardless of the support (pavers, deck, concrete, etc), so long as you have the base to support it, you can do whatever you want.