Fisheadstew

While I'm not familiar with the others I'd have to give a thumbs up to the Solana TX also, had a down payment on one til I found my current tub, a 10 YO Jacuzzi Alexa, used. My neighbor has one and its quite comfy for two. Worth a look at under $3500 Fish

Shite no! it's harmless, like I said the soda ash treatment will speed it up but thats just a one time refill. Redwood is loaded with tannin, thats what makes it resistant to rot and decay. Did you recieve any care instruction? Its also pretty sensetive to chlorine and bromine is a big no no!! Yes have the filter in if you do the soda ash treatment, I've done three redwood tubs for customers, the first one was a disaster until I found out about the soda ash treatment, the next two went great, customers were very happy and still are. It's just the nature of the beast, I learned from an old hippie from the sixties, by chance he lived two doors down from the first customer Once again if you want to speed it up add the soda ash to the existing water... then drain and fill.. start your water balancing and go from there, evetually you will filter out all the "tea" but it's really not a concern unless it gets a cloudy brown. A quick google finds this site with lots of info and a start up routine: http://www.xxxx.com/WoodTub_IonCare.html EDIT, guess you cant post a link here, sorry, pm me or email if you still cant figure it out Fish

Been about 25 years since I lived in California, so I'm not sure of costs, but here in the greater Chicagoland I can tell you you're looking at $225 just for the #6/4!! $120 for a SqD QO 50 amp gfi(I believe the homeline was about 90), all the other stuff adds up too. All in all it really sounds reasonable to me. I just upgraded mine last weekend from 110V, so the cost of materials is painfully fresh. I did it myself and took the better part of eight hours, had to go thru 2 rooms and a crawlspace, then up an outside wall and back under the deck. #6/4 is abit like wrestling an anaconda!! The only thing I would question is the dual breakers? just one GFI in the panel and a cheap disconect is all thats needed here, could be a Cali thing tho.... Good Luck, sounds like a deal to me Fish

What you're seeing is the resins/tannins being released from the redwood into the water, it's harmless and you can expect to see it for the first month or so of "curing". If you want to speed up the process, add a couple pounds of soda ash and run for a couple days, then drain and refill. Also be prepaired with a spare filter, durring the curing they will clog fast for the first month or so, soak in a 5 gallon bucket with a cup of cascade between uses and rinse. Enjoy Fish