Spa install question

[spalader]

After much lurking on this site to learn about hot tubs, we finally bought a Marquis Epic.  Delivery will be around the end of June.  Thanks for all of the great info here.

Most of what I read says that the hot tub should be installed on a concrete pad.  Is compacted, leveled, crushed gravel with an EZ Pad a suitable alternative?  There is a chance that we may need to move the hot tub and my wife is not too thilled to have a slab of concrete in the yard.  

What do you think?  Anyone here have experience with an EZ pad or similar, with success (or not)?  

[benalexe]

I have the EZ pad.  I had my landscaper clear out the grass, then put down sand not gravel and the ez pad on top. No problems at all and the spa is totally level. Here are photos

[spalader]

Thanks.  Looks like a nice setup.

[Helios]

Check with the dealer/manufacturer as some require the spa to be on a concrete pad for warranty purposes.

If something were to go wrong with the spa, they could have an easy way out by saying it's not placed on a concrete pad.

[Chas]

I have put in and taken out so many slabs that I would recommend concrete for any spa. I have installed lots of tubs on gravel beds with good results, but I think concrete is more stable, less likely to settle.

A slab can be removed in a few hours with a rented jackhammer and a couple of laborers. I have even rented a concrete saw and cut the slab into squares to use as garden borders or curbing.

A slab seems so permanent - until you have removed a few. No big deal.

 8-)

[Zep]

I agree with Chas....

Concrete is the way to go.

So many people spend thousands on a new spa then run to save a few pennies on the foundation.

It's like buying a great home, but telling the builder to try to cut corners on the foundation.

I got mine poured for about $500.

I dont know how much these "pads" are, but the concrete is well worth the few extra dollars.

[benalexe]

I guess the real issues is has anyone had any major problems by not having the cement?

[Tailhooker]

I agree with Chas....

Concrete is the way to go.

So many people spend thousands on a new spa then run to save a few pennies on the foundation.

It's like buying a great home, but telling the builder to try to cut corners on the foundation.

I got mine poured for about $500.

I dont know how much these "pads" are, but the concrete is well worth the few extra dollars.

How many people that had patios or slabs poured or built had done Zep's setup and had the wiring ported through the slab or patio vice just running in along the side of the slab?

[96SC]

How many people that had patios or slabs poured or built had done Zep's setup and had the wiring ported through the slab or patio vice just running in along the side of the slab?

It took some 'orchestration' between US, the electrician and the concrete folks but we had the wiring conduit installed before the cement was poured.  The electrician does wiring for our spa dealer, so he knew where to have the conduit 'come up' after we had the patio frame set and told him where we were going to locate the spa.  

[Merlin]

While concrete is always the best foundation for the spa, we have a lot of customer that use the Spa Pads. They really do work very well, and provided the dealer installs them properly they won't come out of level.

[Zep]

i didn't really "coordinate" with anyone
the morning the concrete guy was to arrive
i just ran to Home Depot
bought a piece of PVC with a 90 degree curve
told the guy to place it in the back corner about 6 inches in..of the slab he poured
& have it stick out from the side of the slab just below ground level
he said "no problem"
came home from work and it was done
when electrician arrived a week later...it was there for him

[hot tub Frank]

For my first hot tub i bild a wooden grate and put it directly on the grass with no issues.
But the hot tub was 8 years old and i paid 400$ for it.
I used it for just about 2.5 years and then we moved.
2 month later a storm killed it.

[96SC]

i didn't really "coordinate" with anyone
the morning the concrete guy was to arrive
i just ran to Home Depot
bought a piece of PVC with a 90 degree curve
told the guy to place it in the back corner about 6 inches in..of the slab he poured
& have it stick out from the side of the slab just below ground level
he said "no problem"
came home from work and it was done
when electrician arrived a week later...it was there for him

Your concrete folks at least listen to you.  We told ours that the tub was going to sit in the rear left corner away from the house, so they could pour the concrete 6" deep where the spa would sit and 4" elsewhere.  Of coure I get home from work and they dug the foundation deeper in the front left of the form.  Imagine me giving them a piece of PVC and instructions... :-/

[Zep]

"Imagine me giving them a piece of PVC and instructions.."

wow....my concrete guy couldn't even speak english
I just ran to Home Depot
when the concrete senor arrived
I just laid the pvc down in the corner and showed him
I demonstrated with my hands one more time to make sure he got it
he nodded that he did...said "no problema"
it didn't involve any wiring, just one small piece of pvc
when I got home....well
there it was!
 

[snoopydance]

So Chas mentions installs on gravel beds. Can I ask how that's done, more specifically? Is that pea gravel? How deep do you have to excavate? Is there a sand base? Anything under the gravel? Landscape fabric? Is compacting necessary? Do ants become a problem? (I read that somewhere.) How do you walk around the perimeter of the tub without walking on gravel and maybe tracking some into the tub? I'd like to lay down flagstone pieces but they'll shift on top of the gravel...