BeyondNice

Be sure to match your cover specifications to your spa use and your climate. Thicker covers insulate more and will keep your heating costs as low as possible. More dense internal foam adds strength to support loads such as snow. Nearly all spa covers fail from water logging eventually so be sure to get the best vapor barrier you can to give your cover the longest life possible. Please write back should you have any specific questions.

Air only insulates if contained in spaces LESS that 1/4" in diameter. Any larger and convection prevents it from insulating. Single pane windows have an R value of R-1. Double glazed windows (with air inbetween), R-2 This is a very, very frustrating forum. Is everyone here to take shots at other posts or to provide quality help and information to questions? The retorts above from a senior moderator to my post do not contradict and in fact, support my post. So what was the point? More important than that, however, this type of reply serves no purpose toward actually providing useful info to Wezard's question. I get it that there is value in discussion on any topic, but only if each post provides insight and/or info related to the topic. The risk with retorts such as these is that the person with the question only gets frustrated weeding through posts that are not helpful. In fact, Wezard eventually mentions "ruffling the feathers" on his/her recent post, signalling his/her notice of perceived squabbling. Is this the type of forum PoolSpaForum.com wants to present? I hope this post is not edited or pulled.

Wezard, keep in mind that ultimately air is the best insulator. Foam of all types are used in spa environments simply because it is relatively inexpensive and holds the air well. For air to insulate best, it needs to be trapped so it can not constantly exchange with the ambient temperature and humidity. This is the basic fundamental of the how and why spa covers are made as they are and why they perform. If you consider northern style double pane windows, it is the same principle at work. Consider this and do everything you can with the sides of the hot tub keeping these considerations in mind.

This link may help you: http://www.masterspas.com/customer-support_owners-manuals.php

Try this link to see if you can at least match your shape and features: http://www.vitaspa.com/hot-tubs.php. It may help you narrow your search. Dan

BE CAREFUL! The specs you list for your tub, 92x92x39 is likely the length x width x height. When ordering a hot tub cover, you will need to specify the corner radius, assuming your tub has rounded corners. When you do so, be sure not to confuse the 39" dimension with the corner radius dimension or you will wind up with a cover that will not fit! You should be able to order a three panel cover from anywhere. You should expect the price to be higher than a two panel cover, because 50% more raw material will be used to make the three panels. You may be able to mitigate this, if a dealer will work with you, as the foam comes in 96" X 48" sheets. One of those COULD be used to make BOTH 23" panels. Also, be thinking about how you want the three panels attached, if at all. I recommend attaching the 46 to the 23 with a standard cover hinge, and have the remaining 23" panel separate. Some manufacturers can make a three panel cover so it will fold up like the letter Z, but this may not work due to your overhead limits. Hope this helps!

I agree with "Itchy and Scratchy" that the easiest fix would be the hurricane straps. Alternatively, you could consider taking the cover to a marine canvas shop and having new straps sewn in. If that will not work for the situation or environment, you should be able to replace the vinyl skin only for around $150 delivered.

There are no great ways to strengthen an existing cover you have. You could put plywood sheets across, either under or over the cover, but that will not be ideal due to wear issues (tub or cover). Your idea is sound except that, as you suggest, being inside the cover would not let the wood breath so the inevitable moisture that gets to the ply would not be able to escape. This would then allow mildew, rot, etc. to occur. Next time you might want to replace your broken cover with a Walk On cover. Most of those are made with enough strength to support loads of 400 pounds or so. They are typically made by laminating fiberglass sheets to the top and bottom of the foam inside the cover. Maybe you could mimic this by sliding fiberglass sheets into the existing cover to avoid all the potential trouble you would have with plywood. In the mean time, instead of approaching this from the cover perspective, would it be a workable option to approach this from an avoidance perspective? Could some type of child proof fencing, like those used around pools for babies, prevent the situation from occurring? I hope this helps you with a solution, both now and in the future.