Deck´n´tub tales

[KarlXII]

Given you already had a hole where the old pool was did you give any thought to putting the tub down lower to make entry into the tub easier?

Probably a lot of reasons not to but tubs down in the deck always looked nice to me, as if they were a part of the deck rather than just sitting on top of the deck.

Obviously you would have to provide access for repairs but that could potentially be done with a hinged portion of the deck on the side with the panel. Or leaving the deck at tub level open on one side.

Too late now but love the shots of all the work you have done! Great job and great looking place (If a bit too cold for my blood!)

 

Yes, I did consider it.
What made me choose the standard solution was:
Service accessability.
Easier to build.
Better view from the spa.
More coverlifters to choose from.

I'm planning to surround the tub with stairs, boxes, flowers and, well, stuff. Let's see how it turns out.

[KarlXII]

Looks great. Lots of work!

If I were building that here in CA, I would be required to put plenty of X bracing from the top of one post to the bottom of the next. And beefy ones too.

This really has got me thinking.
Ground here is extremely stable...but a few X-braces won´t hurt, right?

Hmmm.

[Tman122]

Being tied into the exsiting deck X-bracing may not be required here. It will however hold it sturdy until the decking is in place. And if the decking is screwed down and it is tied to the exsiting then for sure x bracing may not be required. If it was floating and not attached to something (another deck, the house) then for sure. But hey for piece of mind a few 2x6 braces will never hurt.

[KarlXII]

Update!

The weather here has been really terrible.
Snow and rain every other day.
One morning there was two inches of snow on the deck...

Soo...I'm not done yet. But I HAD to finish the half where tub is supposed to be, and I have.

Thursday was really beautiful, and I could get the decking screwed down in a few hours. 750 screws to cover this area! Pretty tricky to get the new boards aligned with the old, maintaining a nice spacing in both the front and back end. Picture is taken before screwing.




After that I went below and X-braced the spa frame. Just in case. I feel confident with the sturdiness of the deck now.

Since then, nothing much has happened. Weather again. I just can't make myself go out there when it´s raining and freezing at the same time. In stead, I' ve been looking out the window pondering upon what I'm doing this far north and what made the old cavemen settle down here. In a skin cloth, I'd be thousand of miles from here.  

Sunday:
In order to make sure that the crane on the delivery truck could operate, I took a big old pine down. It was in the way for the TV-antenna anyway, so... it had to go. Also, running a chainsaw furiously into a large tree boosts the mail ego. Or something. Anyway - It´s fun.


Tuesday:

Yeey! Now we're in business.  
The truck had no problem to operate. Impressive machines - the guy remote controlled the crane 85 feet away with a precision of half an inch and set the tub down with the smoothest of touchdowns. But when he lifted the tub clear across the roof of the house I was i little bit nervous.....




After unpacking the tub...jeez...that was A LOT of wrapping!
There it is. Finally.
Isn't that thing beautiful?



One thing: Who came up with this bright idea?


A sticker that just refuses to be removed. Any ideas to get that sticky thing removed without scratching the acrylic?

Next up: Filling. Just started - will be ready in appx. 4 hours.  TBC....

[drewstar]

Congrats!

the deck came out nice.

The view is great. What part of the country are you in?

4 hrs to go? To be at temp? More like 8

[drewstar]

And is that a hard top cover?

[KarlXII]

Congrats!

the deck came out nice.

The view is great. What part of the country are you in?

4 hrs to go? To be at temp? More like 8

Thanks.
I'm 22 miles south of Stockholm.

Oh - we're talking 4 hours just to fill. At least. Probably I have to recondition the ironfilter halfway. If the well doesn't run dry.
The export models has a measly 3000 watt heater, so it won't be warm until tomorrow afternoon, I guess. The water I'm getting out of the well is 39 degrees.

[Spatech_tuo]

And is that a hard top cover?

That is a lid to the filter.

I'd try to use Windex on it but once the tub gets hot the water will break the rest of that sticker down I'd suspect.

[KarlXII]

And is that a hard top cover?

You mean the last pic?
No, it's a closeup of the filter lid with the waterfall infront.

[drewstar]

4 hrs to fill? Why?

We talked about the smaller heater on exports (Specifically HS) a few months ago and couldn't get a clear answer on why they have the smaller heaters, do you know if it's req, or just a cost savings trick?

Anyhow Great set up! Enjoy! More pics!!!!

[anne]

Gorgeous view- nice job on the deck!

[SurgTec]

Karl,

For what it's worth - I've used mayonaise to remove stubborn stickers in the past.  If you slather it on pretty thick - let it sit a half hour or so - then cleaning the whole mess off with a plastic spatula.  

Deck looks great!  It was hard work in anticipation of the spa arriving - now the wait for it to be up to temp for use is agonizing!  

I'm looking forward to seeing the 'finished product' !  

[TN__HOT_TUB]

I've heard that WD-40 works well for removal of stickers.

A hair dryer may also help a bit.

[KarlXII]

4 hrs to fill? Why?

We talked about the smaller heater on exports (Specifically HS) a few months ago and couldn't get a clear answer on why they have the smaller heaters, do you know if it's req, or just a cost savings trick?

Anyhow Great set up! Enjoy! More pics!!!!

Actually it just took 2,5 hrs.  

I think the heaters here are smaller; we have a different setup. Usually the incoming power to the house is divided into three phases - common is 3x20 amps at 230 volts.

The house I've built is extremely energy efficient, we only use 11400 kwh a year, heating and everything else. Right now my service is 3x16 amps, but I'm afraid it won't suffice. I
ll prolly have to goto 3x20.

[KarlXII]

Thanks Anne, SurqTec and TN__HOT_TUB.

This is what it looks like up & running.
The well water was crystal clear and had perfect alkalinity and pH according to the test strip.

Everything went fine except for an airlock in jet #2.
I had to loosen the plumbing there to let some air out.
Caldera states they should only be "hand tightened"..
Yea right. In that case they have Clark Kent in a bad mood working there. I had to use a wrench to get it loose.
After that - just beautiful!



Yes, that's right. That's SNOW you see on the deck.