Patio is Complete!! Vanguard coming next Weds!

[cburk0677]

Well my paver patio is finally complete. I started on May 4th and completed it yesterday May 14. I worked  on average 8-12 hrs each day.

The finished patio is approx 440 sq ft. I used 26 tons of compacted gravel, 5 tons of sand and hundreds of pavers. Approx cost is $4,000 and and 7 days vacation time, lots of sore muscles. However to have a contractor put in the same patio it would have been near $10,000 or more.

My orginal plan was to excavate only 6 inches. However once I broke out my old concrete patio I found that there was about 10 inches of pea gravel under most of the patio area before I hit real dirt. I ended up excavating all of this material to make sure the patio had a strong foundation.

Electrical install was $900 and I ran the conduit under the pavers and exiting through a paver I cut a hole in. This should allow for a clean install of our Vanguard.  I will post pictures next weds when our hottub is delivered. I cannot wait!!!!

Here are some pics of the patio construction:

[hottubdan]

That was several tons of work!

Looks like you did a great job.  You could have used your spa while you were doing the work!

[drewstar]

Nice. Very nice.

I just put a small 18" apron of cobblestong pavers around my existing 8 x 8 area for my tub and it was pain. I can only imagine a project of your size. It looks great.  Enjoy!

[cburk0677]

Thanks guys I appreciate it. Everytime I wanted to give up I used getting the hottub as mental motivation:)

[Zep]

Looks great....cute dog....post more pics when tub is in place!

[navsav]

Hey whats up  -looked like you were having fun - and what a cute dog!

But I am looking into a Vanguard myself - I assume you wet tested it.  What made you decide to choose it over other brands like Sundace/Caldera/ Etc...

Also please let me know how much you paid for it since I need to know if I have to bargain with the dealer a bit.

[hottubdan]

Hey whats up  -looked like you were having fun - and what a cute dog!

But I am looking into a Vanguard myself - I assume you wet tested it.  What made you decide to choose it over other brands like Sundace/Caldera/ Etc...

Also please let me know how much you paid for it since I need to know if I have to bargain with the dealer a bit.

Just out of curiosity, if cburk paid more than your dealer is asking should you offer the dealer more?  

[navsav]

Just out of curiosity, if cburk paid more than your dealer is asking should you offer the dealer more?  

I am not sure i get you.  I want the best deal i can get.  I don't mind haggling with the dealers if need be so its nice to have some numbers to throw around.

[cburk0677]

Actually we did not wet test but I have done a ton of research on this forum and by talking to a lot of people and Hotsprings comes out the clear winner for us. I knew for sure we did not want a lounger. I looked at the Sundance tubs but did not like the fact that you have to buy new filters. I think being able to wash the tri-x filters in the dishwasher is a pretty cool feature. I was also concerned about buying a tub that is very energy efficient.  Everyone I have talked to and read on this forum and others has been more than happy with the Vanguard. Also it is the perfect size for us, only other option I looked at was the Grandee but that is just too big for normal use.

We paid $8200 which included all taxes, steps, cover, cover lifter, starter chemicals, setup and delivery etc. We actually purchased this tub back in Dec of 2006 and it has been sitting at the dealer waiting on the patio until now.

[navsav]

Wow thats a much better deal then I was quoted.  They quoted me 8350 plus taxes and another 395 for the lift - so the total would have been close to 9G out the door.  You got 8200 out the door - thats awesome.  Not sure if my dealer would pull the same.

Is this a new or floor model??

[dax]

Quality!

I plan on doing the same on a 20x16 area and putting in a tub.  Not looking forward to it, but hope to start in two weeks.  I will use your pics as motivation along with the hot tub thoughts.  Like you, I plan to take off a week and hope to finish it up with the help of my bro-in-law.  He has his own remodeling business and is a liscensed electrician to wire up for the tub, which I need to decide on shortly.  Any advice?  Anything you learned, or would do differently?

BTW, is that your GFI subpanel under the two double-hung windows?

[cburk0677]

My only advice is to make sure your gravel base is as level as possible before you put down the sand. Run string lines and try to be as accurate as possible. I wish I would have spent more time on this step as when I was starting to lay the sand the level from left to right varied 2 or more inches. This was over a span of about 30ft so it wasn't noticeable with the naked eye. This caused me to use a lot more sand than orginally planned. If your gravel base isn't perfectly level than you can't really use the screeding method to lay the sand. If you can't screed the sand it causes a lot more time to be spent leveling the bricks by hand.  Also make sure any slope you build into the patio is built in at the gravel stage.   Last night was the first rain on the patio and I have about 3-4 small low spots where water pooled but only about a quarter inch and by this morning everything was dry. I may fix these spots later but for now I'm not going to worry about it.

Good luck with your patio. It is a ton of work but looks really nice when complete.

Yes that GFI is under the double windows.

Also to answer the other question the vanguard I bought is brand new and has never been in a showroom or had any water in it.