LCAinSA

I hadn't intended to go to a spa show, and I'm working on a list of dealers in my area. Fortunately, San Antonio is large enough that most of the major brands mentioned favorably in these forums have local dealers. The farthest away is the Marquis dealer in Austin, but that's less than 100 miles away, and from the comments I'm seeing on the forums, that's not unreasonable for service calls. I fully intend to wet test once I've done some initial research - that looks like a constant and very sound piece of advice on the forum! I definitely need to check the code requirements, and I'm required to submit my deck plan to the HOA for approval before I do it, so that could come into play as well. Thanks for bringing up that it's easier to get into if the deck is built around it. My yard is fairly level and it's only one step down coming out the back door, but my intent is to cover that step, which means the hot tub could sit a good foot below the deck surface (right now I'm not planning a multi-level deck), and that would probably help. Thanks for the input on the wet testing with a lounge seat, I hadn't thought about the potential floating issue. Gman, thanks for the great response, you mentioned a lot of things to consider. I tend to be a *buy new* kind of person precisely because of warranties, and also because if it's pre-owned, it may be new to me, but it's not new, so it's possible that I'd experience issues sooner than I would with a new one. I really appreciate your thoughts on the size issue, I was concerned about buying more than I need, but I feel a bit more comfortable about looking at larger hot tubs based on your comments. I haven't started looking at all yet, mostly doing some research, but as I said above, I've identified local dealers for all the major brands that I've seen routinely recommended in my forum reading: Marquis, Sundance, Caldera, Dimension One, Jacuzzi, Artesian. I've looked at all their web sites online and for the most part picked a small and a medium that I might be interested in. I'll probably start some initial visits to some of the dealers this week, and do some reading on the separate circulation pump. One thing I neglected to mention above is that I routinely spend my summers out of state, so I wouldn't be using my hot tub at all during those months (unless my sister convinces me to leave it filled so she can use it!) I know if I were to leave it filled and nobody is around to put chemicals in, that would be bad! Are there any considerations I might want to make regarding the type of circulation or other factors to consider because I'll be gone 4 months out of the year? Thanks again!

Hello all, I've just joined the forum after looking at some of the posts and determining that this is a good place to ask my questions. (I was a bit doubtful after seeing all the spam posts, but I see that this is a periodic problem and hopefully this spike you are experiencing dies down soon!) I bought a new home in Texas a little over a year ago, and now that I'm retired from the military, I expect to stay in it for a while. I've always wanted a hot tub, but never owned one before. I'm looking for some advice and recommendations on buying and installing a hot tub. I'll try to be specific in my questions where I can be, and hopefully will provide enough information to elicit some good advice/recommendations. I'm a female in my mid-50s, single (hopefully that's not TMI!), and my elderly mother (91) lives with me. She would not be using the hot tub at all. I don't anticipate having any hot tub parties, and at most I can see maximum 4 people in the hot tub, but most often it would likely be just me, or up to 3 people at a time, when family members come over. I've looked at a few 3 person spas, but would definitely consider a medium-sized 4-5 person spa. I've only seriously browsed the Internet so far, have not been to any dealers, but something on the order of the Sundance Marin seems like it might be a good size option. I tend to like the look/layout of the 4-5 person spas I've seen over the 2-3 person spas (I would like one lounger/reclined seat in the spa). I've looked at several web sites and tried to find recommendations on brands on the Internet, and of course there are lots of opinions, but it would be helpful if anyone could help me narrow it down by indicating some quality brands for a mid-range (price-wise) portable spa. I would appreciate any advice on brands to stay away from as well! Additionally, if anyone has any recommendations for dealers to work with in the San Antonio area, that would be terrific! (I'm on the north side, if that helps) I should mention that I'm not opposed to buying a used spa, especially since it would likely be cheaper than a brand new one, and I suppose it's possible that I might decide I'm not as nuts about owning one as I thought. Would anyone recommend that over buying a new one? Lastly, I currently have a 12' slab patio, and want to install a deck over it that will likely be 25'-30' wide and about 15' deep. I will likely go with composite decking, and am wondering as to whether it's better to pour an additional pad for the hot tub (I don't want the hot tub where the current slab is) and build the deck around it, or to put the spa on the deck itself. Putting it on the deck itself would potentially be a plus if at some point I do decide that I don't want to keep the spa. Hopefully I've provided enough information to garner some good recommendations/advice. Any other tips for a first time buyer are greatly appreciated! Thanks!