dave nh

If it were me i would probably remove the pavers and pour a new level conc pad of varying depth the same size as the tub with a min of 2-2 1/2" to 4" or more on the low pitched side. Then place pavers around perimeter to screen the reveal. Personally, an uneven water level would bother me. good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Hire a professional (structural) engineer to inspect and design appropriate suport (concrete is bad in tension but good in compression), you will likely need there services to get a building permit anyway, because i doubt your building inspector would want to touch it and would like a PE to hang liability on. With that said you may want to consider a different location away from the roof of the bomb shelter. good luck.

I know i waited a month to get an appointment, but it was worth it. He prescribed a special ointment to put on the rash areas and it went away and stopped itching pretty quickly. I did start lowering the temperature in the shower and not being in as long, did not really lower my hot tub temp. It could be your water, but it also just might be a coincidence about the water change especially if it is not affecting others.

not sure if i follow your post 100% but i would seriously consider putting your tub on a pad on the ground and then constructing your deck around it.

Ryan, you should consider having your rash looked at by a dermatologist, i thought i had ringworm and/or hot tub itch and thought for sure thats what it was. had it on my lower legs and arms. very itchy. The Doctor took one look at it and said it was eczema. He said the winter tima and taking too hot a shower as well as combining it with a hot tub was not good. Turning down the temperature in the shower is tough and same for the hot tub, but it has helped. Not sure if this is your case but wanted to share, good luck and i hope things work out.

Ryan, you should consider having your rash looked at by a dermatologist, i thought i had ringworm and/or hot tub itch and thought for sure thats what it was. had it on my lower legs and arms. very itchy. The Doctor took one look at it and said it was eczema. He said the winter tima and taking too hot a shower as well as combining it with a hot tub was not good. Turning down the temperature in the shower is tough and same for the hot tub, but it has helped. Not sure if this is your case but wanted to share, good luck and i hope things work out.

You should do a search, this subject has been beaten to death pretty good. Using it 3-4 times per week, i would definately keep it at the temp you like all the time. IMO that would be a PITA adjusting it each time and probably no cost savings. Better to try reducing filtration times, etc. good luck.

I hope you will still be chiming in from time to time.....i think you should have doc gunderson, wilbur (& his half brother), & the neighborhood kid over for a little bbq to celebrate. Dont forget to put the cover on when you are done using it

Yes, that is the turkey baster one i referred to in my post above but forgot the name because i threw it out. imo, avoid. very cheap. Have the one chas mentioned much better. see above.

agree with pathfinder, plus lord knows what is living (or not ), in the cabinet after 8 yrs. Too many unknowns, and if it turns into a repair nightmare, then you have to get rid of it.

I would agree with soakerman about trying to get it for short money though, is it up and running great or has it been sitting unused? If the person is selling, they want to get rid of it. something big and bulky like that, i know i would not be to fussy about my selling price. make it worth your while good luck and listen to the poster who owns one.

If it gets much colder you might want to think about getting the rest of the water out of there, or just tell them to bring a new spa with them when they come out.

I asked a similar question a while back, actually wound up getting the one pictured, works pretty good, seems durable. DO NOT get the one with the blue turkey baster bulb on the end, that thing was a PITA. The bulb would squeeze of the end of the tube after a few pumps and eventually the head would not stay on and to top it off it started letting stuff back in the spa.

Tad, could you share your "filosophy" behind gettin one of these dang hot tub thingies in da first place? also, i would have figured you for a fella who would have made one himself out of the neighbor kids sandbox, let alone buying a tub from china.

I am sure the moderators will be happy you chose this forum to advertise your product

There is certainly some confusion with this but the current NEC is pretty clear, but in all cases local interpretation usually takes precedence. The NEC in Part I of 680 specifially defines a spa as being a "hydromassage pool or tub designed for recreational use that is typically not drained after each use" there are different requirements for outdoor and indoor installations. I think some of the confusion is the fact that part II specifially mentions permanently installed pools, personally i think this is meant to refer to inground pools. Even though the portable spas could be moved, so could an above ground pool. Interstingly enough they do have regs for stow-away pools, the intex type, but nothing for stow-away tubs. The original poster discussed trenching from the sill about 20' to a gfci disconnect and using uf wire, this is prohibited as it is considered a feeder to the gfci (see nec 680.25a), he then mentioned using uf wire to connect the new outdoor spa, this new branch circuit per nec 680.25b would need an insulated ground, so uf cable could not be used (bare ground). This is why Uf cable is not listed as an acceptable wiring methoed under NEC 680.21 (but uf could be used for interior wiring). If the the original poster was serious, just do not want him to finish his install and have the inspector fail it $$

well, i would say this, dont get in until you get it fixed with the gfci tripping sounds like you have a short somewhere, perhaps a corroded wire or a wire coming into contact with something it should not. Maybe the control panel has been compromised with moisture, etc. good luck and i hope you are back up and soaking soon.

You did good to run not walk from there traveling road show, i did the same when they came to the Bayside Expo in Boston. I will say this about them, they do have a good marketing scheme to get people to look at there spas. Personally, i felt ripped off the second i found out they were the only spa manufacturer at the show. What i think they do well is cash in on the hunger potential buyers have to see a wide variety of spa manufacturers with there spas on display and discounted, kind of like an auto, camping show or boat shows that are so popular. Its to bad there are not more shows similar to this that are organized by multiple respectable dealers, think it would be good for the industry to come out of the closet more.

As long as it is not to supply an outdoor spa, see NEC 680.21 & 680.25. It may be acceptable in some localities that dont follow or except portions of the NEC.

My electrician tole me "If I gotta teach ya, then I gotta charge ya." And Wilbur charges more for teachin' than doin'. Besides, he is fishing this week up at Lake Summit, so I am on my own to get the supplies and get this grunt work done before he limits out. You asked if my town adopted the latest NEC. Not sure, but my understanding is that the NEC trumps local code anyways. Town can go stricter, but not more lenient. Sorta like when there is a Federal law giving the death penalty for a serial killer, the local town can't say the penalty is just 10 days in the slammer because the poor guy had a unhappy childhood. Am I wrong? Unfortunately he will probably charge you to come back if it is not up to local code or to his min. standard, i say better to try and work with him before you do the work even if it costs you a little more, but you know your situation best. At least around here local code rules, our town is still on 2002 NEC (thank god, did not have to deal with the new equipotential bonding requirements), plus they write there own exceptions to NEC or additions. Like i said as far as uf cable you really need to know what edition of the code your town goes by as there are might be possible exceptions. For example i know the 2005 code requires an insulated ground to the spa, uf cable usually has a bare ground, no can do. There might be exceptions for branch circuits but feeder wires cannot be run by uf cable. Honestly, your best method all around imo is thnn in conduit. best of luck and i hope your install goes smooth.

You should discuss your plans with the electrician before doing it, around here not to many electricians like to do only some of the job with there tag on the line. With that said, you shoud check if your town has adopted the NEC and if so what YEAR (important), also most towns have some guidelines for pool and spa installations. Not sure if you plan on pulling an electrical permit or not, but i would recommend it for liability/safety reasons. With that said, to the best of my knowledge, underground feeder cable is not permitted for outdoor spa installations. Also, FYI, that stuff can be a pita to work with anyway. You are digging 18" rigid metallic conduit is cheap and you can re-run wires in the future if need be without digging it up. Lastly, uf is a cable and is subject to derating per NEC, if for example your spa installation requires #6 cable (individual THNN in conduit), your cable size would likely need to be one size larger. good luck with your install.

well i tried it once with some wheat thins / cheese/ pepperoni, everything was going good then i got my hands wet and it kind of went downhill from there, dripped all over the platter, wet crackers, etc. will probably just stick with the olives in the martini from now on.

If it were me depending on how long you plan on staying at the house, i would take this opportunity to add a 100 amp subpanel nearby or closer to the tub, in lieu of the buddy breakers. You will likely only need to ad more breakers down the road anyway, if you are full now. You can get a murray 100amp subpanel package at the chepot with breakers pretty reasonble. you will need to relocate some of the circuits to the new panel to accomodate the panel breaker.

Nat, being someone who works with rolled plans alot, try reverse rolling the blanket and letting it stay reverse rolled for a while. when you roll it out it should be flatter. personally, i have looked at the blankets and decided they were not worth the effort. there has been a lot of discussion on these before, try a search. Have not seen any factual studies on them and there cost savings. If when you pull your main cover off and no steam escapes with the blanket installed then it is probably doing some good, otherwise i really don't see the point. I guess they can help protect the cover from the chemicals thought. good luck.

Welcome to the forum. I had a similar search, i am 6'7 and my wife is 5'10. In the end we could not buy a tub with multiple seats loungers, etc. We settled on a Nordic Crown XL plenty of deep unobstructed seating can really stretch out, no bumps and shoulder holders to not fit under. If u do a search i have some pictures posted months back. also check out the d1 amore bay. good luck in your search.