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mattNY

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  1. I paid $175 for the subpanel and $488 (including tax) for all the electrican work, including the main panel breaker, ~25 ft. of wire and flexi conduit, as well as a separate 120V outdoor plug. The quote was $75 less without that. So my costs were about the same as Patty's, less than $600 from nothing to done. Same period of time too, two guys for 1.5 hours.
  2. This is probably the best post I've seen on these tubs in terms of objectivity and laying out the facts from firsthand experience.
  3. Hi Susan, Glad you liked the pictures! If you've just started looking, don't get discouraged yet - you're in the right place to get good information, so you're one step closer already! It took me about 2 months, start to finish, but only because it took time to do some of the legwork. Moving the hot tub took about an hour (but it was a tough hour for 6 guys). To refinish, all I did was wash the cabinet and apply the stain. That only took about 2 hours. Now that the tub is installed and I'm sure it works, I can put more effort into it in the future if I want to powerwash or sand it down to get a really nice finish. Then I cleaned the shell (took about 15 minutes). Moving the hot tub from the garage to the patio only took 20 minutes. Getting the patio done was a lot of legwork. I called and got 2 quotes from local companies, both wanted to charge me in the vicinity of $2600 for standard, non-stamped concrete, which was ridiculous compared to last year's estimate of $1200 for the same work. One of my coworkers knew a guy who did concrete work so he referred me to him, he quoted me $1000 with no brick removal and $1400 including brick removal of the old patio. I had them do the whole thing, they did prepwork on a Monday, returned on Saturday for the pour, sealed and cut the joints on Sunday, then caulked them on Tuesday. I allowed a week for the concrete to cure before I moved the hot tub down there. Then I called my electrician, who did the job for $488, including the additional 110V outlet. I had to wait a week for him to be available, the actual job itself took about 2 hours. So that's my experience in terms of time - most of it was waiting for scheduled work, or researching, asking friends, and calling around to get estimates and the best price. Your situation sounds very similar to mine. I purposely didn't get stamped concrete because I am planning on enclosing the patio with a 3 season porch/screenhouse sometime in the future. It sounds like you are all set on the electrical hookup, which is one major expense. The patio is another, and while prices vary widely depending on your area of the country, you can find out for yourself what it is. Figure out how large you want your patio to be, and you can call up the local concrete guys and ask how much that many square yards is, delivered. (Ex. my 12x16, 4" slab required less than 3 yards, and 3 yards was $400 delivered. A 24' x 16' patio would be 5 yards.) This gives you a price base to draw from. My plain patio was $6.25 per square foot. A rule of thumb for stamped concrete is $10-12 per square foot installed, but again, that varies. All of that is secondary to the hot tub itself, of course. I was willing to gamble on the tub I got because it was so cheap, it was in fairly nice shape, and I saw it running in person. If you want a newer tub, but are really put off by the prices, I would definitely look into purchasing a used tub from a dealer. Some reputable dealers will offer them at good prices and with some remaining warranty, as well as cover lifter, steps, etc. Some will not advertise these, so make sure to ask them if they have such things available. You can find premium hot tubs that are only a few years old for half price (just like cars). For instance, here's hottub.pool_boy's page, as an example of a dealer that offers pre-owned spas for reference. http://www.scarritt.com/preowned.htm The nice thing about this option is you will still get a nice cover, cover lifter, steps, chemicals, new filters, and delivery, all of which can add up quick on a privately purchased tub. One final comment, being that this will be installed "inside", you are going to want something that will last and hopefully not be moved for some time. Make sure to get a high quality brand and dealer, and leave enough space around the equipment cabinet for servicing. Do your research, and make sure to wet test when you've narrowed your choices down. Good luck!
  4. The name's Matt (<- points to username), but I know you probably had Craig on the brain I found several used Jacuzzis and Hot Springs in my area, and flibotte is right, they went fast. I ended up getting a Hot Springs Highlife, you can see the pics in one of my threads. I bought it within hours of it posting and they'd already had several calls before mine. The thing to be aware of is that the warranties are not transferable, as spatech t.u.o said. As a buyer you have to determine what you're comfortable spending, as a seller you have to be aware that a lot of people are not willing to spend $6-7k on an unwarrantied spa.
  5. You could also try craigslist, that's where I got mine. www.craigslist.org , see if there's one for your city or closeby.
  6. UPDATE Now, I'm looking up from inside my hot tub and thinking what a great night it is Everything is installed and it's been running since last Friday. Going great. There's a whole picture excursion you can see here, I didn't want to repost it all: http://tinyurl.com/ktv59 Thanks for all the help!
  7. 100% agree on this. All 5 of the dealers in my area post their prices - if they didn't, I'd just walk out.
  8. Personally I think the Caldera line is a lot sexier than the Hotsprings. The Motomassage I couldn't care less about, and Caldera still has a no maintenance synthetic wood cabinet. I own a HS now and I think they're a fine product, but I wouldn't dismiss the Caldera spas so readily, they're a very nice spa.
  9. Interesting question. In my situation, 6 or even 12 months is not long enough to pay off the tub completely, so I'd still have to get a loan and pay it off, which is a pain. If you could offer me a low interest rate (say under 5%) loan directly over a 3 year period, and I could make a down payment of say half the cost of the tub at purchase, that is a very, very powerful persuasion to buy. The convenience factor on that is huge. In fact, where do you live? Kidding, I should be fine with my used tub for a couple of years at least...
  10. Absolutely. (It probably shouldn't but it does, and I am fairly conservative with my credit.)
  11. I agree with all the comments thus far. -Store cleaniness and professional appearance is a must. Nothing crazy, a polo and shorts is fine, but not a T-shirt and 3-day stubble. -Clearly advertised prices. I need to know if I'm even in the realm of possibility. -Atmosphere is important too, music is one part of that, privacy areas are another. The place I liked the best when looking immediately offered to let me come in after store hours for a wet test, and recommended that I take at least an hour to do so. This especially struck me since I did not give a hard push as a serious buyer, I was just asking general questions. -Be knowledgable about your product, especially on warranties, and what the pros/cons are compared to other brands. If you're $2k more than the other tub I just looked at, explain it to me. -Approach me once, then let me look around. I hate being disturbed 10 times when browsing. Keep an eye on me, in case I start to linger by a tub for a good long while. If I feel like I'm getting jumped on every time I turn the jets on though, it'll just encourage me to leave sooner. -This is the biggest one: Be sensitive to cost. Almost *everyone* I know comes into a spa store expecting them to cost 4-5k. Explain why the big ones cost what they do, talk up quality and how long it will last (longer than a car in most cases), etc. Then, show them the options you have at a lower bracket, and what they're gaining by moving up. I didn't have a single salesman show me the lower end quality tubs (Hot Spot, D1 @ Home, etc.), nor was the option of a used tub ever offered to me. Had I been shown either one, I likely would have bought on the spot, instead they lost a sale since, in my situation, I truly couldn't afford to buy the high end tub that was their cheapest model. Two things that struck me *after* I became a member of several forums and got a lot of good information: 1.) A cheap tub will cost you in the long run. I live in a cold climate, if a crate tub costs me $80-100/month to run in the winter, and your tub will only cost $25, that justifies a lot of cost to me since it's not going to take long to equalize, PLUS that crate tub looks bad and I'm sacrificing features to "save". 2.) There is a "cost to overcome" of the shell, motors, etc., etc. that means the cheapest new spa you sell has a certain minimum price. The huge, full featured spas may only be a couple of thousand more, since the main cost is already covered. Explain this to the client. They may well opt for the large one. (The same applies in construction - I'm paying my concrete guys for their time, getting the truck out there, etc., once that cost is overcome adding another couple of feet to the slab is peanuts but will probably make a big difference to me in usability and happiness.)
  12. Wet test the Caldera. That'd probably be my first choice, but everyone is different.
  13. Here's one thread that talks about them, responses were somewhat negative: http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin...9087325;start=3 However, that is often the case when you are comparing the tub to a Hotsprings, Dimension 1, etc., they are higher end models and that is reflected in the cost difference. Here's another: http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin...6297197;start=7 You should be able to use the search function to find many more. At least one response I've seen was from someone who had their Leisure Bay for 11 years without any significant problems other than it was a bit noisy with the jets on. She was much happier when she upgraded to a Marquis that that point, but at the $4000 pricepoint it's probably a reasonable option. Post some feedback and let us know how you like it.
  14. UPDATE Progress thus far: Finished staining the cabinet this weekend (business trip delayed it). Here's a couple of shots half-done, I'll have to take the "finished" shots tomorrow: I took the trip back to Syracuse on Easter weekend and the dealer there sold the breaker box to me for $175 plus tax. (With just a little nudge - they were going to charge me $260 until I brought up the fact that I called ahead and they told me $175. Cmon, guys. Seriously.) A far sight cheaper than the $350 the crappy rip-off dealer was going to charge me (which is how I refer to them now to all my friends and acquaintences). I got two concrete estimates, both were more than double the estimate I got last year. I called, concrete has gone up, but I can still get 3 cubic yards delivered for $395, and 2 yards of crushed stone for $140, which is more than enough to do a 12 x 16 patio. I'd rather not do it myself if I can get a reasonable price, I have another guy coming tomorrow that was referred by a contractor friend of mine, so we'll see what happens on that front. So, the spa is cleaned, exterior is stained, I got protectant wipes for the cover, I bought the breaker box, my electrician is ready to go when I am. Once the patio is done, I just need to set the tub in place and call the electrician and I'm good to go. I think I'm pretty set on Nature2 and dichlor, but I haven't bought chemicals yet. Does anyone have any tips on what I could soak the filters in to clean them? Or is it sufficient to just hose them off. Thanks for all the help. I'm having fun as the project progresses, but I just keep looking up late at night when the stars are out and thinking "what a night for a hot tub."
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