If you have any knowledge about what it used to entail to install one of those hot tubs of years gone by, you’ll be happy to learn that these days installation is a bit less of a cumbersome process with no need for something like a shell to be built into the decking or anything of that sort. The typical hot tub you’d get these days comes in more of a stand-alone form, which is great news because that means installation pretty much just entails placement and some wiring.
The actual process itself, however, is not as simple as it may seem, especially if you consider it from a costs point of view.
For starters, you need to identify a place to put the hot tub, which sounds simple enough, except if you take into account the typical design of most decks, patios and porches, they’re not that well-suited to house something as heavy as a hot tub. It would need to go on a flat surface so some levelling may be required with concrete posing even more of a problem since concrete patios and the likes often have an angle built into them for drainage away from the house. Your hot tub would have an uneven water level on such a surface, so there would be extra costs associated with prepping the environment to house hot tub.
Porches and decks have the same problem and can’t support the weight of a hot tub as is, which means you’d have to have it reinforced, perhaps with some support beams that are 6×6 inches in size. You’d have to have angle brackets inserted in the corners to form a solid wooden square and have holes drilled into the beams so that the longitudinal sections of the steel re-barring can go into the holes and secure the beams to the ground – all of which sounds like some work for someone who knows exactly what they’re doing and certainly not a regular DIY job.
About 6 inches of gravel will fill the space to level off the tub.
All of this is really just so that the tub can be accessed from any angle, which sounds simple enough, but all the work that goes into making sure it sits on a level surface can get pretty expensive.
The wiring for the hot tub is a whole other story in itself, which might mean that you’d have to get someone completely different to complete that job. You’d need to get in an electrician unless you’re adequately skilled to run a 220V wire yourself as part of the required heavy-duty wiring of around 40 to 60 amps the hot tub would need. If you do require an electrician, you’ll want to find more info out about the ones you may go for, a thorough look will help to see if they are up for the job.
You’d also need to have a service disconnect installed so that whenever the serviceman or you does some maintenance on the hot tub it can be disconnected from any active features it has. That’s not all – the circuit breaker must kick in and work compatibly with your home’s electrical connections and then comes all the active maintenance once the hot tub is in full use, like having to replace the filters.
If all of this sounds a bit much, then looking into a hot tub holiday in the UK might be something you want to consider. There are so many options and you’ll be spoilt for choice, this site has a great guide which can help you choose and prepare.