Squirrel has destroyed the Redwood skirt of 8" Cal Spa - Help

[PJBayer]

A squirrel has eaten several large holes through the redwood skirt of my Cal Spa 8' hot tub. He also chewed up the foam insulation and the tubing for the jets. I saved the pump, heater, Ozonator, etc., and the fiberglass tub is intact. I can repair/replace the foam and tubing.

I need to locate a replacement skirt, preferably NOT made of tasty wood. I think a synthetic "wood looking" replacement would be better.

Also need recipes for dead squirrel.

[Topline Mike]

Well, if you "patch" it will a different material, it's not going to match unless you do the whole thing.  You can screw on a thin sheet of sheet metal to the frame first, and then replace the redwood.  I haven't seen a squirrel chew through that at my house. 

A few weeks ago, I was watching a flock of turkeys in my backyard from my garage.  I was hearing a gnawing sound near the door.  I slowly opened the door, and there he was, a big 'ol fox squirrel chewing on the door frame.  80,000 board ft of wood in the woods behind my house, and he's got to chew on my door.  They do make good table fair, and the tails can be used to make spinners (mepps lures). 

[Tman122]

Also need recipes for dead squirrel.

BB Gun, Lawn Chair, 6 pac. Mix well, be careful.

[rosewoodsteel]

Also need recipes for dead squirrel.

BB Gun, Lawn Chair, 6 pac. Mix well, be careful.

Now that is funny!

[Tman122]

I use my XDM40 but I live way out in the country.

My dog is funny. He wants to eat them but prefers I shoot them for him first. He knows he can't catch them so he takes a nap till I shoot. And I miss enough that he doesn't get up until he sees a kill.

[Pers Onal]

Well, assuming you are in the US/canada anything that homedepot or lowe's has for extenal siding should work.

My hot tub repair man said he has seen all sorts of materials. He said Vinyl siding can be made to look well.

I am replacing the skirt/siding of the tub and beefing up the frame.

in my case, I am going with treated plywood panels. I am going to stain it the same color as the deck and am putting some thin ripped strips vertically, spacing them the strips to cosmetically blend with the privacy panels for a consistent look.

after 10 or 12 years the redwood (uncertain but believe it unlikely that the current skirt is redwood) will probably start looking a little ragged. What appears to be redwood often is cedar that has been stained to match redwood.

Saw one of the pieces that is bad, it will smell like redwood or cedar when it is sawn.

[rosewoodsteel]

Squirrels can be extremely destructive.

A few years back, my wife left the garage door open for a while, and squirrels got into our bird seed.
I was out of action at that time (had a case of vertigo that keep me on the couch for two weeks..).
When I could finally get out of the house, I walked around the front and saw that squirrels had chewed the crap our of my wooden windows and window sills, trying to get into the garage.  Thank God for bondo (and duct tape and coat hangers....).
It took me a weekend, but I repaired and repainted the windows and then installed aluminum storm windows, to prevent it from happening again.  We also moved the birdseed out of the garage into the laundry room.
A few months later,  while dropping the garage door, the door stopped and the light started flashing.   I checked to make sure the cat didn't run under the door.   I also clapped my hands and hooped and hollered in an attempt to chase anything out of the garage that didn't belong.    I then lowered the door and thought nothing more of it.
The next evening, after I got home, I noticed that the inside of my garage windows looked like they had had been worked over with a wood chipper.   
One of those damn squirrels was in my garage, over night, chewed the $$%% out of my windows, and then got out when the garage door was raised the next morning. 

I used to like the little guys before this happened...

 

[dunecritter]

You can also sheet the sides with Hardibacker 1/4" and install a great looking stack stone as well...Little bugars wont chomp on the rock!

I had my Coach outdoors at another house I lived in and the little bastards chewed up all kinds of wiring on it....$5K later all was good again!!!