Parafly9

Thanks! It's not QUITE finished, I do have latticework coming in for that lower deck. Also, as far as accessing the equipment, it is a little squeeze, but there are holes drilled into the joists so I can access the screws, and from there I can shimmy the cover out underneat. It will be a little bit of a pain in the a$$, but I think I can make do. Happy with it so far. I'll try to get some pics of it running with the lights on and everything.

OK, I promised, here are two more. Sorry the q uality isn't too super I took them last night. I will try to get better ones. We had a rainstorm and half our lawn washed out

Used it this weekend for the first time. I have to tell you, I think I enjoyed it the most with all the lights OFF and just looking at the stars. What a great time I had this weekend, Used it Friday night, Sat. night, and last night. The deck is being finished today. I'll snap a few more photos this week when I get some time. Ummm, can you turn your photos before posting? You are making me have to soak longer in my tub due to the next strain! Sorry! Anyways, the guy installed the deck around the tub, but he put the deck literally flush with the hot tub. I assumed when we said "flush" that the deck would be built directly at the underside of the lip of that acrylic-type of tub material, but he built it (literally!) flush with the tub. I ended up shelling out another $500 for him to dissasemble and lower the deck and rebuild it at the right height. I'll try to get some more pics ASAP !

Used it this weekend for the first time. I have to tell you, I think I enjoyed it the most with all the lights OFF and just looking at the stars. What a great time I had this weekend, Used it Friday night, Sat. night, and last night. The deck is being finished today. I'll snap a few more photos this week when I get some time.

Some of us enjoy problem-solving

I have a couple pics so far. As of this morning, the concrete pad and all wiring is done. They are moving the hot tub into place this morning and building a deck around it with (4) guys. The deck guy tells me they will be able to finish it today.. hopefully my wife can fill the tub late this morning and tonight we can actually use it! Pictures; (more to come:) Tub at end of driveway, still wrapped up Conduit run to house (turn head ninety degrees to view!) Pad w/ deck support posts Pic of house - railing from upper deck to break and attach to new deck surrounding hot tub

I'm also curious. Wife and I are scheduled for our first hot tub soak on Saturday if all goes well with pouring the slab and building the deck tommorrow.

I have a Costco spa, but it's the keys backyard (online) one, it's 1' in on each side. I'm not sure if yours is different. Didn't the manufacturer send you a brochure or somethign?

Any possibility of posting that info here? I have the information at home unfortunately, but I will def. try to get it. Stay tuned.

They sent me an email with an attachment with all the info about hookup / getting ready / etc. Anyways, this got a little more expensive than I was hoping for, but what are you going to do. I have a guy there today running electric and another guy pouring the concrete pad. Tommorrow the tub will go on the slab and the following day they are building a deck around the whole thing. Wednesday - Thursday evening hopefully I will be hot-tubbin!

They sent me a package. It looks like if you look at the "front" of the spa (I'm assuming w/ the controls?) its at the left hand corner closest to you.

I got the shipping confirmation already! How long does it take for them to actually get here once they ship?

Just curiuos - if we lose power this winter, what happens? Does the tub stay warm for along enough time with its own insulation; or will I have serious problems? In other words, if power is down for, say, 24 hours, wll the tub be OK? Thanks for the advice

Would I need a cement mixer truck to come deliver a yard of concrete or could I just bag and pour it myself? It is only what, a 6" slab with that's 7' by 7'? That's about a yard of concrete.

I've had a Keys spa for almost 2 years and I did a PT frame with gravel and it's help up fine so far for me. How deep did you go? Just do a 2x4 braced PT flush with the ground and filled with gravel? I want to make sure I do this right. i'm not worried about aesthetics (which is why i am leaning away from using concrete) as I plan on building a deck around it and concealing the underside with some removeable lattice.

Im' getting a spa delivered in 2 - 3 weeks and am curious about this as well. I am going to be building a deck around the spa at the height so I am not particularly concerned about aesthetics of the substrate. From what I have read and understand, I can just dig 2 - 3 inches down and put down 2 - 3 inches of gravel, leveled. Does that sound acceptable?

OK, ordered the Discovery aura spa today. From what I gather, I will probably see it in my driveway in about 3 - 4 weeks. Anything special i need to do to prepare as far as a gravel bed? Or can I just dig a 2 - 3" square hole that is nice and flat, and fill it with some peastone, and I'll be good to go? Thanks! Nick

Hi everyone, I'm in the market for a Spa. I've got a lower budget here. I had a couple sales pitches through PM (please stop that - say it here or don't say it at all). I saw a new site where I think I can get some good prices. As a former military member, I have access to AAFES which is the air force's "store". They sell Gulf Coast Spaas for what I think is pretty cheap prices! For example, the LX 11000 is $6400 The DX 5000 is $4239 LX 7000 is $5229 Are these good prices? i was thinking about doing Costco's Discover Aura brand but is this a better brand spa? Thanks Nick

Just getting my bearings on all this. How does something like this look? http://providence.craigslist.org/hsh/304281938.html

Thanks for the information. In that case, I will forget about the propane. I was going to put the tub on the ground and build the deck around it (probably flush with the top). I'm actually moving south of Worcester to Uxbridge. To be honest, I just don't think I will have 6k+ to shell out at this point, although I would probably at least look at them. I just want to keep it **reasonable** I anticipate myself using the spa probably 2 - 3x per week, and at least 1x per week. The location of the deck is the easiest way to get to it without going into the basement.It would be roughly 10 - 15 feet to the spa then.

My existing deck is Pressure Treated. I obviously will continue that around the hot tub. Did you stain yours afterwords? It looks dark. Nice setup, very similar to what I woud like to do.

OK I'm sure being a "hot tub" forum this place probably has it's fair share of knowledgeable people so bear with me here and try not to beat me up if any questions I have seem dumb. My wife and I are purchasing a home and somehting we would really like to add to the backyard is a hot tub. We live in Massachusetts, so insulation / heating costs (esp. in the winter) are a concern. We would like something for probably at least 6+ people as we will do entertaining at our house. We don't have a budget ironed out in stone, but we do want to stay very reasonable. I would honstly like to stay under $6k, and less if possible. Anyways, I have done some reading here, and I don't need all the best features. Costco seems to have a nice unit by Keys Backyard (Discovery Aura) (http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?...av=&browse=) Is this a decent product? Will it cost me a fortune to operate? Are there any known issues with this? Also; we have propane tank on the exterior of the house tha, as of now, is only used to supply the fireplace. I was thinking it would be worthwhile to have the propane heat the hot tub vs. electricity. How do I do that? Do I need to buy a special hot tub? Or are all hot tubs heated just by 220v? Thirdly, I want to build a deck around the hot tub. The way the house is right now, we have a walk-out basement, so the deck on the house now is about 8 - 10' above grade with a staircase going down to the yard. The staircase has a landing about 5' over the ground, so I was thinking about "T'ing" off the landing with a 2nd set of steps down to the hot tub and then simply building a surround around the hot tub. Do you usually build the decking flush with the hot tub or 1' or so down? I have seen it both ways. Also, the decking I currently have is just Pressure treated. Is that fine to use? I would like a riche color later, but I could just stain it, right? (new homeowner here in case you couldn't tell) Finally, the pad - does it need ot be poured concrete? IMO, if crushed stone works, then I would just rather use that, a) becuase it's easier to place and move down the road and no one is going to see it anyways. Thanks for the help!