New Caldera Geneva Pics!

[drewstar]

I decided to put the new Geneva in the same place as my old Tiger River. I kept things the same except I made the pad area a bit bigger by adding a cobblestone skirt , as well as a walkway to the steps. Now all I needed was a hot tub.



Brian, faithful assistant to the legendary Artie (The one man party) of Dudley Hot Tubs is so excited to be deliverying my new Geneva he can barely contain himself. In this shot, Brian shares an intimate moment with the spa dolly.



Across the front yard.



And into the backyard onto the pavers.



The electrican installs the cable streatchers, while Artie (the one man party) takes the cover off the control box.


They even installed the Pivot Prolift II cover lifter. (More on this later. What a great cover lifter). I reveiw the instructions with a cold Corona.  Some one needs to make sure these guys are doing it right.



Filling it up.  It won't be hot until 3:00 in the morning.  



Early Saturday morn, before the rain, I woke up and like a kid on christmas morning I raced outside and jumped into my new hot tub.   I think I spent 2 hours in there discovering and exploring the diverters, the jets,  and all the different combinations and seats.  You can really dial in a great therapy with the Geneva!  
Thanks Caldera!

Thanks Artie! (and Brian too! Next time bring Ashley with you!  )

Folks in Central MA, as well as RI  shopping for a hot tub, should check out Artie at Dudely Hot tubs (tell them Andy sent ya.) :  http://www.dudleyhottubs.com/


Dudley Hot Tub did an A+ install.  (No damage to my turf, installed the cover lifter perfectly, and picked up and removed every peice of trash.  And he's a genuinely nice guy to boot.  

[Richs100]

Yeah, but the question is: "Do you got suction?"

Very, very nice setup.  The pavers look great.  I think you have the same coverlift as I do, although mine is called the Covercradle II by Watkins.  It screws into the sides of the lid so it looks really neat and clean.

We need to see some night shots.

Rich

[Chris_H]

Can't mistake a Esther Williams Classic in the background.  Even noticed the Blue Diamond liner.  Looks very sharp.
Chris

[drewstar]

thanks.  

Yea. I get suction.  It's tight.  

The lifter is great. It's balanced and has pnematic shocks in the back, so that once you flip over half the cover, with 1 finger you can push the cover back (not up) and the lifter does the rest. *It's freaking sweet*  Since it bolts to the metal  frame in the cover, you don't need to buckle the back cover snaps. I love that.



In the pics I posted above in my first post, you can see that it also drops the cover fairly far down behind the tub, which I prefer. Did I tell you that  "I love this cover lifter"? I do.  8-)  I would marry this cover lifter.



Night pics. Yes.  The Geneva has the changing multi colored lights and outside cabinet lighting. My wife tried to take a few night pics, but they didn't come out so well. I'll try again soon.

this is the best she did the other night:



I'll figure out how to get a good night shot.  

[drewstar]

Chris know's his pools.    I chose the coastal grey on the Geneva to coordinate with the pool wall.

[Mendocino101]

Drew,

a beautiful setting for your whole property, my wife is envious....

[Zep]

Very nice Drew!

And the price was just right!

[H823Putt]

Nice set up Drew  

Now all you need to do is build the deck your wife wants. I can give you plenty of ideas for a small deck.    

[Chad]

Looks fantastic Drew! Thanks for sharing. I especially like the columns that go around the outside of your pool. 8-) I'm starting to think 1 out of every 2 people on this forum have a pool. Maybe someday I'll have one too....
Congrats on tub #3 and when you win #4, please put me on the list for potential takers.

Cheers,

Chad

[Mez]

Nice set up Drew  

Now all you need to do is build the deck your wife wants. I can give you plenty of ideas for a small deck.    

Ditto here Drew..>CONGRATS!!!! Looks like everyone did a great job to ensure everything went as planned.
And if your wife decides she would rather have a big deck instead of a small deck,  

Sorry, couldnt resist...this is my 100th post, had to make it kinda special

[drewstar]

Thanks guys.  

The deck is dead.  I had 3 folks come out and take a look and run numbers and designs and what not, and for what we wanted in design we couldn't get for the money I wanted to spend.  At this point I'm not willing to expand the budget (Waaaaaay too many things on my list) and I am not going to spend good money and not get what I want.  So I bumped the deck project and moved down the list.

I need siding.  The house has the el-crapo  compressed fiber stuff.  I  met last night with my 3rd siding guy and I'll have the house sidied by the end of July.

I wish I had the skills that some of you guys had (H823putt, yea, I'm looking at you   ).  

[Chas]

Hot!

 8-)

[Spatech_tuo]

Ditto here Drew..>CONGRATS!!!! Looks like everyone did a great job to ensure everything went as planned.

Yeah, except that one picture where one guy is installing the lifter and some dolt is leaning against the spa (with what looks like a beer in his hand) acting like he's overseeing the whole operation when he should be making himself useful.

[drewstar]

Yeah, except that one picture where one guy is installing the lifter and some dolt is leaning against the spa (with what looks like a beer in his hand) acting like he's overseeing the whole operation when he should be making himself useful.

That was my 4th beer. I was on the verge of being brillant in that picture and giving all sorts of helpful suggestions.  

[drewstar]

It's been one month and I am loving the tub.  

No problems what so ever with the tub. It has run perfectly.  

This is my first tub with a lounger and I like it.  At first I floated out of the lounger, but after a couple of trys you learn how to position yourself and place your weight,   and you don't float out. It's very nice.   I'm still not sure if I prefer a tub without the lounger (more seats for guests) or with the lounger - greater variety for moi. After thinking about it for a whole 2 mintues....as much as I like to entertain, I'm saying the lounger is a keeper.

My wife is happy with the tub too. Altough she does  miss the foot dome on the Capsian.  I have to agree, Foot domes are terrific.  But in the lounge area there are jets for foot and you can use the diveters to really give your feet quite the massage.

The depth is fine. We did not wet test this tub and were a bit concerned going from a 320 gallon up to this deeper 450 gallon tub, but I keep the water level at the mininal depth and it's perfect.

The "escta seat" with the Atlas neck massagers is very  nice, although not my favoite seat as I had first predicted.  I was surprised too. I like the seat,  and the wrist jets are neat and the calf jets are very nice but  I prefer the other corner seat where 2 rotating " Verra sage"jets hit my lower back  *perfect*. Ahhhh.  

The floor has a raised ridge which helps you  brace yourself back into the seats when you have the jets on full. It's needed as  if you turn the seats on full, it's pretty intense.  Add in the air, and the jets get even stronger.  You can really dial in a  nice massage with this tub.  I am still getting used to the 3 diverters in this tub, but it does allow for great variety with the massage.

The seat right before the filter lid is interesting.  There is a huge whirlpool jet on the filter side wall  that can really blast you (or create a whirlpool in the tub).  Throw the diverter the other way, and the volcano jet on the floor creates a water blast that will melt your calfs and bubbles up 6" above the water line....Intense. OR keep the diverter in the middle and have both.  

The Geneva also has spereate  air jets and air pump.  I am slowling falling in love with these,  - as they cool the water, which I've been finding is very nice in the hotter months.

The color changing lights are nice, but I don't really care one way or the other.   (the standard bug zapper blue is still my favorite color). My wife really enjoys the changing lights, and my guest also say they prefer it over the standard one color bulb that my Caspian had.  It is nice up on the deck looking down  on it at night with the cover off and the lights on.  One of these days I'll post a nice night pic of the tub.

The outside skirt lights are also very nice. I  like those a lot.

I am glad I went with a 5' step.   I like it much more than the smaller plastic steps I had on my Caspian.

The two control pads is a nice feature.  I can turn the turbo air on from any location in the tub. It's a nice feature (no, I wouldn't pay extra for it, because I'm a cheap SOB, but I do like it.  

The water fall is nice. (once again, I could care less one way or the other on these). What is nice about this water fall than the caspain is I can control the flow better.  The Caspian was adjustable, but the Geneva offers better control over the water flow.  But truth be told. the water fall is of 90% of the time.  

I could write a book on the lifter. It's great.  I don't have to latch the back locks, and it opens like a dream and seals tight.  Not all cover lifters are made the same.  My CM1 was nice, but the prolift is fantastic.

I have had no water issues what so ever.   I  add 2 tbs of dichlor after each soak  and the water has been crystal clear.   I  use the tub about 3 a week and haven't needed to dose with dichlor between uses (I have gone as long as 6 days without using the tub and the water has been perfect.  I chalk this up to the 03 unit, and the daily self clean the tub does).

I'm curious how this baby will perform in frigid new england winter nights, but so far  it's been great.


I am very happy with the Grey cabinet. It matches the pool. And the white shell has just a hint of marbleing to it. It's nice. (And smoother than the granite stone finish I had on my other tub).  The stainlees steel jet trim is purely ornimental, but really give the tub a nice look when I open it up to show folks.  They look down through the clear water and see them,  and every time I  get a slight "ohhhhhhhhh"   from folks.