Questions about HS Grandee

[East_TX_Spa]

We talked with a factory rep (bought it at the state fair)

aww, man....HS does the "travelling circus" thing too?  

We do different off-site events, but it's not marketed as a "Spa Show".

vblv, I would not put much faith in what the "factory rep" tells you.  They are pretty notorious for telling you what you want to hear.  They sometimes make a mess with their promises as they have no accountability.  I would go with a slab for a Grandee.

Just my opinion, for what it's worth.  Congratulations on your spa choice.  It is an excellent spa.

Terminator

[Tatooed_Lady]

slab, or you could have a ground-level deck.....that's what we built ourselves....for about $300 in materials, I didn't think it a bad deal.

[sledjunkie]

I can't imagine what someone would charge you to do a slab. Maybe $1000 or so? crazy.

I did a slab myself and I'm very happy I did. I costed me about $200 for materials, which included renting the power mixer from home depot. Mine is around 5" thick with wire mesh in the middle. I think I used 42 80lb bags

I must warn you, it's mexican work.

[Chas]

slab, or you could have a ground-level deck.....that's what we built ourselves....for about $300 in materials, I didn't think it a bad deal.

Yes, a well-built ground-level deck is a fine alternative to a slab for a Grandee or Vista. And if it is only as large as the bottom of the spa, it doesn't need to have expensive lumber. In fact, I have built custom-fitted decks for Grandee/Vista tubs which only had support on the beams built into the bottom of the spa. Saved a bit on lumber, not much really, but went faster and worked just fine. Also, it would be easy enough to either remove it later, or simply put a fresh deck and a handrail on top if the spa ever goes away.

You can download the "Pre-Delivery Instruction" booklet from the HS website and it will give you a layout of the bottom of these tubs if you want to go this way.

[Tatooed_Lady]

wow, Chas....I hadn't considered doing a deck to support only certain parts of the tub.....then again, this wasn't a rocket science type project, I was trying to keep things as simple as possible.  
7'7" x 8'4" tub sits on a 8' x 9' (or was that 10'?) deck here. Big enoug for the tub, plus a few inches in the front for the water drain valves to have hoses connected to them...and a few inches either side ....it's worked out amazingly well, especially considering it's a "first time" wood working project....also, if ever we decide to move and remove the tub, it's easily removed and made back into back yard.  All in all, a very satisfying project.

[vblv]

We stopped in at the store and talked with them a little more. They said to go with concrete because of our climate (Wisconsin). They said crushed stone would work fine in areas of the country where the ground doesn't freeze like ours does.

Tatooed_Lady - not sure what you mean by travelling circus. Every spa/pool store in the city has a booth at the state fair here. And I believe they all bring in factory reps to help them out.

I never thought of doing the concrete slab ourselves. I will have to look into that.

Thanks again everyone!

[Spatech_tuo]

Tatooed_Lady - not sure what you mean by travelling circus. Every spa/pool store in the city has a booth at the state fair here. And I believe they all bring in factory reps to help them out.

You are correct, it's very common to have dealers at Fairs and other events and sometimes they ahve factory reps. The "Traveling circus" is really a term used for a certain group where the manufacturer is sending the show on the road, criss crossing the states from city to city. It is not tied into any local dealer so they'll show up, pitch the tent, sell you the spa and go about their merry way. If you later have an issue and want to talk to the guys you bought it from you need to see which state their bigtop has moved on to as the local dealer doesn't want to know anything (do you blame him, he didn't sell you the spa and made no $$ from it). We also give them very little respect when we see them advertsise on the radio/print indicating you'll see "multiple spa manufacturers" there when it is really just them selling their premium line, their mid line and their entry level line of spas (and maybe a soft tub or some other minor brand that they know won't be competition to them). I won't say who it is but their name starts with an M and it's not Marquis.

[vblv]

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I have seen that as well. I think that particular brand is going to have a lot of trouble around these parts anyway. They have had a lot of bad publicity with a rebate company they paired up with. We saw them at the fair too - they didn't have too many shoppers in their booth.

[PaulMc]

I am looking to buy a hot tub but cannot decide between a Hot Springs Grandee or a Sundance Optima. Any opinions?

  Optima.

[Gomboman]

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I have seen that as well. I think that particular brand is going to have a lot of trouble around these parts anyway. They have had a lot of bad publicity with a rebate company they paired up with. We saw them at the fair too - they didn't have too many shoppers in their booth.

Yep, you got it. Why can't we say "Master Spas" on this forum?

[Tatooed_Lady]

Gombo, maybe it's like George Carlin's "7 words" that can't be said on tv/radio?