Delivery questions concerning new, heavy tub

[teach]

I am having deliverd a 800-900 lb hot tub by 2  men.  I agreed to furnish any additional helpers needed or they will hire some helpers and, of course, I would have to pay for their help, which I would like to avoid.   We, and what ever help I can round up, will have to flip and carry the tub on its side ( (probably about 10 feet or less) to get the tub under my upper deck where a concret patio is located.   How do you move a 900lb/ 80 inch square tub through an 84 inch high opening.  Too me, it seems like they won't be able to use a dolly due to lack of height in the opening, only 2 or 3 inches to spare.  How many people should I have avialable to help lift a very heavy tub an inch or so off the ground, when its on its side,  to go through the openng?  Do delivery people have a small (thin) dolly or pipes to roll the tub on?  How can you slide a tub on its cabinet side without damage?   What is there to hold onto inorder to lift and move a tub on its side?    How should a tub be protected so no dents of scratches occur?  If a tub is on it side,  is it top or bottm heavy?  
Thanks            

[cappykat]

I assume delivery/setup were included in the price of your tub, so my question is why are you having to provide "additional helpers" and why would you pay for them???

It sounds as though the delivery has now become your problem and IMO it shouldn't be that way.  Granted, there needs to be enough room for the crew to manuever...but I wouldn't think the dealer's liability insurance would allow for you to help.

[Brewman]

This delivery sounds a bit like mine was, if I am following what you are trying to say.  
I had my Optima delivered to my backyard, where the spa was placed on my foundation under the deck.  Our backyard is a walkout and the bottom of the deck is maybe 8' or so above the spa foundation.  

My delivery was 2 people, who used a trailer/spa dolly.
They wheeled the dolly down to the backyard, and the delivery people asked me to help guide down the hill, just in case.  Turns out I wasnt needed, but I walked along side as they asked.  When they got close to the deck, they lined the spa up as best they could, and just pushed it into place.  They slid it a couple feet along my foundation after getting it under the deck as much as they could.  The two of them had no trouble, they had to grunt a bit but were able to place right where I wanted.  The Optima is pretty heavy- about the same weight as yours.  
They did do a pre delivery site inspection, and stated up front that my delivery didn't require anything outside of their usual delivery methods.

I suspect some type of "usual" delivery is priced into the spas, and anything beyond that is subject to extra charges.  I know cranes aren't included for most deliveries if they are needed.

[leesweet]

Hm.  My installers used PVC pipes under the spa (2"? 1 1/2"?) to position it exactly where I wanted, and use the "pry bar/lifter on wheels" to easily lift it up and remove the pipes when done.

Don't know why they would drag it across the ground/pad as yours sounds... and the original deal of asking the buyer to 'help' sounds very unprofessional.

The only extra ever mentioned was a $100 "down the hill" charge, since we have a walk-out basement and thus they had to come a hill.  But they waived that and we tipped each $20 (that was after it was waived... ).

[Brewman]

They got it to within a foot or so of it's final location, and sliding it didn't seem to hurt anything.  But the idea of using PVC rollers is way better.  

[teach]

Just to clarify my situation, The spa will be placed on a  concrete patio that is located below an exisitng deck. There's the height restriciton.  The spa is 80 inches and the lowest part of the upper deck is 84 inches from concrete patio.  The deck and the patio face a very steep hill (cliff) that overlooks a river.  The tub cannot be position in front of the patio and slid into place due to that situation. If the tub, is dropped, and goes over the steep hillside,  kiss it good by and whoever is in that position.  The tub must therefore , I think,  be brought in from the side of the patio with the tub standing on end due to steel support posts that hold the upperdeck. Once past the upper deck suppot post, it can be lowered into its normal position.  Due to the steep hillside directly in  front of the patio, the spa can't be carried, I don't think, in its normal, flat,  position.  If done that way, alittle over half of the tubs demension of 80 inches ( 40 inches) would then be suspended over the retainning wall and hillside, where no one can easily stand or walk.  The hill side in front of the pation drops off rapidly around 37 degrees..steep !...but Oh ..what a view!
      Question:  Could a tub be carried or dollied with the spa located off center on the dolly?  If that could be done,  then the tub could stay in its normal position and just be rolled in easily from the side of the patio, problem would be that half of the tub would be unsupported in free space.  Is it possible to place a tub on a regular tub dolly when only 1/2 half of the tub on the dolly and the other half not supported?  The delivery would then be easy and probably only require two people.

[Mendocino101]

I would highly recommend that you have your dealer come out and do a site inspection . It is so much better when there is any doubt or question about clearances needed. The worst thing for everyone is to have your spa show up and than learn you will need a crane or to remove a panel, etc somewhere. For us it is something we always cover at the time of purchase so there are no surprises for anyone.

[teach]

Just called my delivery people....my spa is due for delivery on Dec. 6th.  I also, previously,  did have a site inspector come and he told me they could put the tub on its side to get it into the patio.   He was just alittle concerned about going down the slight grade in my yard to the patio and not dropping the spa over the side of the hillside.  I only wrote this forum for advise so I could be prepared to cover unforseen circumstances.  Their are alot of stupid people out in the work force. Fortunately, after just taking to the delivery man,  the spa dealer is going to have 4 men come with the delivery instead of just 2.  That should help.    Thanks for your advise.   I will let everyone know how the delivery goes.        

[stuart]

Did you want the delivery out that far or is that soon as they could do it?

[Vinny]

Teach,

There's something I don't get. If the spa is 80" and the amount of room you have is 84" is there more head room after you get into the area to swing the spa into position?

A spa that's 36" tall and 80" square may have a problem rolling over into position IF you only have 4" left. You certainly can use 2" PVC pipe to roll the tub under the deck but if 84" is the max you have ... I think you need to rethink this.

If it is only 84" head room to show my point ... get a square cardboard box and measure the the dimensions - length, height and depth; now put the box on it's side  on a table and tip the box When the box is on it's edge - measure it. If you have pleanty of head room than no problem. The other way, can you roll the tub into position being flat vs on it's side. the pvc pipes should work this way also.

[velocity23]

Teach,

There's something I don't get. If the spa is 80" and the amount of room you have is 84" is there more head room after you get into the area to swing the spa into position?

A spa that's 36" tall and 80" square may have a problem rolling over into position IF you only have 4" left. You certainly can use 2" PVC pipe to roll the tub under the deck but if 84" is the max you have ... I think you need to rethink this.

If it is only 84" head room to show my point ... get a square cardboard box and measure the the dimensions - length, height and depth; now put the box on it's side  on a table and tip the box When the box is on it's edge - measure it. If you have pleanty of head room than no problem. The other way, can you roll the tub into position being flat vs on it's side. the pvc pipes should work this way also.

I agree with Vinny.....It doesn't sound like you can lay it down once you are under the deck when you take in to account 80" x 36" deep....end to end would be more than 84" I think. Take Vinny's advice and measure  with the cardboard.

[tonyp]

For an 80 x 36, the diagonal would be 87 3/4 inches.

[Vinny]

Thanks for doing the math!

[J._McD]

.
 I suspect some type of "usual" delivery is priced into the spas, and anything beyond that is subject to extra charges.  I know cranes aren't included for most deliveries if they are needed.

What is priced into spas by the dealer is usually negotiated out by the consumer which does not leave much for unexpected circumstances.  Frankly, they shouldn't have a problem if they have looked at the site, but consumers fail to "think" much about the delivery until you ask them to help.  That is when you hear the potential problems that you may encounter.

Everybody wants a low price, but when we get there we sometimes encounter an unexpected situation, ie the slight downhill slope is more than 30°, the 3 steps up to get on the deck turn out to be 6.  

Letting the customer know his help is expected usually helps more than you know before we get there.

[teach]

To clarify......the 84 inches I have to move the 80 inch tube through only occurs at one point right at the entrance of the patio.  As far as flipping the tub to sit it in place, once the tub is through the one low (84 inch) high upper deck support beam,  I have over 95 inches of height under the upper deck of clearance.  In addition, I would think, the bottom of the tub could extend out over the front of the patio thats unobstructed, over the steep hill side, that is, if addtional clearance is needed.  

                                                      Thanks