srosti

Yes I agree, all of the responses have been very helpful... thanks! Shawn

I was looking at the A726 (7' Cal Spa Avalon), until I realized that the A826 was 8' tub and only $100 dollars more. It seemed like a no brainer if you have the room for an 8' tub. The 8' Avalon is still cheaper than the Arctic Yukon. Shawn

No inconvenience... I was just confused by the step because I was expecting to be in the report. Another nice feature would be able to resize of things you put on the deck. For example the table doesn't fit on my deck design. My number one wish would be if the software would query a HomeDepot or Lowes website and you could calculate the cost of all the materials on the fly in the final report... that would be sweet! Overall, I'm impressed. It's the best free tool I've seen around.

Hi Steven, You might try the deck builder on the Trex website. It looks like it is the same program, but it has has a nicer interface and lets you create a 3-level deck which I had trouble doing through the diyonline.com version. The Trex version also lets you cut out corners for hot tubs which I didn't see on the others. What's weird though about the Trex version, is that there is a step where you get to add your hot tub, benches and tables and stuff to your deck design, but when you go to look at your report it's all gone. I don't know if it's a bug or what, but it seemed to be a totally waste of a step. Trex Deck Bulder Website Shawn

Hi... I've been researching hot tubs for my cabin for several weeks now and I have it narrowed down to two hot tubs, the Cal Spas Avalon (A826B) and the Arctic Yukon Prestige. My first choice of spa is the Cal Spas Avalon based on price and features. I am looking for a hot tub that can seat lots of people and has a big open foot well. However, I am seriously looking at the Arctic Yukon because of it's supposed performance in cold weather. This hot tub is going to be sitting at a mostly vacant cabin in the Idaho mountains. The Cal Spas Avalan looks like it comes with comparable insulation and it comes with a thicker cover than than the Arctic (5" vs. 4"). Also, the Cal Spa dealer I've heard is more reputable than the Arctic dealer in our area. I do hear more complaints about Cal Spas in general on the web, but that could be just because they are one of the more popular brands... I'm not sure. Are the Arctic hot tubs really better than the Cal Spas Avalon in cold climates, or is it just marketing hype? Thanks for your help! Shawn