Mosquitoes and Dealer service

[alwaysperky]

Hey Everybody!  

Tonight as I gazed down at the rectangular pattern I'd carved in the melting snow where one day my Spa will live, I was struck by a couple of thoughts/questions.

The first was regarding our state bird, the Mosquito. I wondered how it would be relaxing in my tub getting divebombed by the pesky buggers. Can all you lucky spa owners comment on if that's an issue and what you do about it.

The Second question was about dealer service.  Lots of advise been given about making sure a person is confident in the dealers ability to provide service.  I was thinking about the service I might need. 1.) help getting the slab layed out and contracted, getting the power configured and contracted.  It seems to me those would be really important areas for dealer to differentiate themselves and compete verses constantly having to compete by cutting their price. Do many provide such services beyond the typical sale of tub, chems, repair, water testing etc?

Thanks for your time.

Always Perky

[wmccall]

We surrounded our tub with citronella torches from the company I work for and besides providing mood lighting they seem effective.  The mosquitos may be even more sensitive to chemical offgassing of spas as it seems even without the torches, they aren' that bothersome.

Our citronella actually smells good. This is on of my favorite candles
 
I think Ace Hardware carries them. Dollar General and Bed Body and Bath also carry cheaper ones.
I think Canadian Tire also does.

[Elle]

Threadjack ahead:

CANDLES!!!  BE WARNED!!!



Our neighbors had a six wick candle fall INTO their hot tub last summer.  You don't even want to know the mess that melted wax caused to the filters (ruined), plumbing, heater, etc.  Be careful.

Elle

[Brewman]

We don't seem to have any mosquito problems, despite living square in the mosquito belt.   Maybe because we usually soak well after dusk.

As for the slab and the electrical, you may find that most dealers do not actually install cement slabs, or electrical wiring.  Dealers may have people that they recommend, but I'd certainly get other bids as well.  

Be sure to budget for your electical and foundation.
These two things could add a couple thousand to your costs.
Brewman

[alwaysperky]

Thanks for the feedback.

I understand that most of the dealers don't provide the services of slab and power, it just struck me that the dealers seem to get beat up a lot on price and wondered why they don't package the whole process to gain a competative advantage one dealer over another. Take a situation where the customer makes 3 purchase decisions and packaging it to one would seem to provide opportunity for more consistant revenue per sale and less opportunity for customers changing their tub brand selection while they wait for the contractors.

"Yes Mr./Ms. potential customer, your investment is $10, 695. Tha includes blah, blah, blah, your electric and pad!  Should we get started Tuesday or would Thursday be better for you? If you just authorize here and here we'll get you in hot water before you know it."

[wmccall]

.   Maybe because we usually soak well after dusk.

Brewman

That's probably an important point. I like to soak 90 minutes before bed.

[mowgli1]

Dealer would not be able to give you an instant quote on electric hook-up w/o checking out your site. No reputable electrician will quote a firm price  w/o checking the site first. There are too many variables.
That being said,  one of the Sundance dealers in Tucson does provide service for electric and  slab work. I believe they use sub-contractors  but it is arranged  by the dealer and the dealer serves as contractor, not the homeowner. As always you should get multiple bids,  not really hard to arrange these services yourself.

[Bill_Stevenson]

If there are lots of mosquitoes you would be well advised to include a screen enclosure for your spa.  

[stuart]

We don't get many mosquitoes up where I live...The little bit of oxygen we have is used for extreme wind to help carve the landscape!

BTW, I've done many deliveries to these areas. Its not that tough once you get a team of well trained mountain goats!!

[Brewman]

Thanks for the feedback.

I understand that most of the dealers don't provide the services of slab and power, it just struck me that the dealers seem to get beat up a lot on price and wondered why they don't package the whole process to gain a competative advantage one dealer over another. Take a situation where the customer makes 3 purchase decisions and packaging it to one would seem to provide opportunity for more consistant revenue per sale and less opportunity for customers changing their tub brand selection while they wait for the contractors.

"Yes Mr./Ms. potential customer, your investment is $10, 695. Tha includes blah, blah, blah, your electric and pad!  Should we get started Tuesday or would Thursday be better for you? If you just authorize here and here we'll get you in hot water before you know it."

It wouldn't work.  No two electric installs are the same, and costs could vary by hundreds, or thousands of dollars.  A site inspection from an electrician would be necessary before any meaningful estimate could be given.  Concrete work MAY be a bit easier to estimate up front, but even then, the layout of the property could affect the cost.  

Also- How many dealers would like to have to increase their price quotes by a thousand or two to cover this stuff?  

Brewman

[Lori]

I only had to upgrade my sub-panel because it came with the tub.  I already had the concrete slab!  The previous owners of the house had a small tub at one time, so I upgraded to 220!

So, for me personally, that would have been a put off if they had to refigure the price, because I didn't need a slab put in.

Not to mention a friend's dad did my electrical, so it was dirt cheap!!

[Spatech_tuo]

I think the key is for the dealer to have established contractors they can recommend. Many customers have their own "people" but many others don't know of anyone and would rather have a reference of someone who's done this specific work rather than have to search for someone unknown.

For instance, in our area one guy does much of the electrical for a couple dealers. He is therefore very experienced and while he's not the absolute cheapest he's reasonable and most customers are happy to have the dealer say "call this guy as he's very good and reasonable". He's smart to keep his pricing in the mid range as the dealers don't want him gouging anyone or they'll be forced to recommend someone else but at the same time the dealers want a no hassle "this guy is very good" situation so he doesn't have to lowball either as most customers will not shop elsewhere to save another $75 if they know this guy will get the work done properly. I never see issues with his work. The only time people have an electrical hookup issue is when somebody hires someone without experience hooking up a spa and even then its usually either poor workmanship or simply not following the schematic because the old "I don't need a schematic, I know what I'm doing" sets in.

[johnvb]

 We are putting our spa in a screened-in patio converted to a window/screened room, as we live on a creek/lake in the Southeastern VA.

If you did nothing else but pour a larger/strong enough slab now, you could build a screened porch or gazebo later.

Also, check out the RV catalogs, they have these portable screened rooms designed to be put up on a campsite. You could use it only when the skeeters get really bad.

[Brewman]

They also have those propane skeeter terminator machines, which are supposed to work pretty well.
I've never used one, so no tetstimonials or anything, but I've heard that they can be effective.
Brewman

[alwaysperky]

Thanks everybody!  Very cool help and I do appreciate it.  tzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............whack  

I liked what you suggested Spatech t.u.o.  When I get there, I'll be looking for a dealer who can help navigate through it all and get it done reliably and smoothly.

If anyone knows of a full service dealer like that in MPLS/St.Paul I'd sure like to hear about them.