Pictures Of My New Brick Patio

[Warp9]

I'm finally pretty much finished with laying a brick patio in our back yard. The intent is now to purchase a spa to put on it. I can now finally get serious about shopping for the perfect spa. I still need to get a 240V circuit hooked up, but we're getting closer!

For anyone interested in seeing pictures from different stages of the project, take a look here.

The patio area is 10 feet by 12 feet, and sits next to our wood deck. I'd estimate that it took roughly 40-45 hours of hard work to complete the project. We're thinking of cutting out some deck railing and installing a small set of stairs that leads directly to the brick patio for even easier access to the tub. Privacy will be an issue, so we'll either get some privacy screens or perhaps install some sections of privacy fence a couple feet away from the patio to enclose the spa on the two sides that are exposed. This would also help block wind, and with North Dakota winters, we need all the help we can get to keep things comfortable.

-- Greg

[Yunus]

Wow looks like a really good job. If you were closer I would try to hire you to do mine

[limulus]

Nice job. I did a similar project a few years back at a previous home. Hauling tons of sand and brick is hard work indeed. We're getting a spa within the next week installed on our deck. Once the reinforcing is complete, that deck will be as firm as a runway (6x6 lumber is heavy!).

[B0Darc]

Nice job. I did a similar project a few years back at a previous home. Hauling tons of sand and brick is hard work indeed. We're getting a spa within the next week installed on our deck. Once the reinforcing is complete, that deck will be as firm as a runway (6x6 lumber is heavy!).

Sounds like you're doing your deck reinforcement right. It's alot of weight to consider when it's full of water. When I looked at spa installation options I didn't see brick patio as an option...and i am in NO way an expert. I do however understand why you are supposed to have the options I was offered. I mean it's not like the spa is going to crash through the brick and fall to China, but the surface where your spa weight is distributed needs to be uhhhm "monolithic". By that I mean not prone to subtle random shifting, which it strikes me is exactly what a brick patio would be capable of doing.

Not to be a buzzkill as I am very likely mistaken., but small localized (single brick) shifting underneath could allow single weight bearing members/struts/corner posts of the spa to settle out of structural alignment. Again I'm not the guy to provide those answers... but there are guys on here that have experience putting spas on brick patios. Nice work BTW looks nice. Personally from my research i underwstood you needed a reinforced deck, 4" thick concrete slab, or those pad dealies... which are obviously not as heavy duty as brick, but have the benefit of being larger flatter surfaces which resist pressure points by distributing the load... something I don't think the brick would be especially great at. My Spa Salesman said i could make a bed of pea gravel but I didn't find that advice anywhere online,and it strikes me now that pea gravel also might work but could allow your spas frame to shift and an out of alignment frame could equal a cracked shell... maybe it's just me, and this definitely something that would happen over the long haul... or maybe with just a heavy rain.

[Warp9]

When I looked at spa installation options I didn't see brick patio as an option...

I chose a brick surface after looking at recommendations in the Pre-delivery instructions from HotSpring. The surface should be fine, as long as I installed it properly.

I like the brick surface a lot better than a concrete pad, aesthetically. I think it will also be better as far as resale value for the home. If/when we move, I expect we'll probably take our spa with us, and a brick patio in the back yard will probably be more desirable than concrete.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who has experience with a spa on a brick patio. Did you run into problems? Did bricks settle and shift over time?

-- Greg

[Yunus]

The HotSprings dealer in Maryland has 6 hot tubs full of water on his brick patio. Also the Dynasty dealer I visited had their hot tubs on a brick patio. I'm sure they don't leave them sitting in one place as long as a homeowner would but I would also think if the patios caused problems they would not have installed them in their stores either.

[kengorman]

I'd love to hear from anyone else who has experience with a spa on a brick patio. Did you run into problems? Did bricks settle and shift over time?

Greg,

I installed my 450 gallon tub on a paver patio a little over a year ago in September 2007. Since then, the bricks haven't shifted or settled at all.

A little bit after we installed the tub, we expanded the patio and moved the tub. There is no evidence that the weight of the tub had any effect on the pavers.

Ken

Original Install

Expanded patio

[Wet in ChiTown]

I had my patio paver put in about a month ago and I love it.

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

Most of the upper end tubs have a base that is structually sound, not made of would and a support stucture for the tub that allows them to be placed on properly prepared groud such as pavers peastone ect.