Deck Or Concrete Pad?

[cpuKEN]

Any suggestions regarding having a concrete pad installed vs a deck?

(the deck will be with treated lumber and not the synthetic type materials)

Cost?

Comfort?

Other?

thanks

Ken

[THE SPA GUY]

Any suggestions regarding having a concrete pad installed vs a deck?

(the deck will be with treated lumber and not the synthetic type materials)

Cost?

Comfort?

Other?

thanks

Ken

Either would work, if you put the spa on a deck some things to consider. if your deck is off the ground and attached to the house. depending on your spa if there is a 24 hour circ pump you should not hear or feel the vibration in the middle of the night, if your main pump is the circ pump, if the spa kicks on in the middle of the night you may hear it and the vibration. but as for which is better both would be fine . level flat surface, also dependinf on were you are located if putting on a deck off the ground make sure the base of your spa is solid not open to the tub, if no base the cold air at night will cool the spa kicking on the heater. just a personal prefence. sorry do not have costs, hope this helps you out.....on my personal spa i have pavers going to it with one of the customer spa pads for the tub itself.....

[CMACD]

We are putting ours on a 4" concrete pad with Trex surrounding it. Pad will be $600 for an 8'x8'. Deck quotes haven't come in yet.

[cpuKEN]

Just spoke with my 2nd deck builder via phone and we discussed several items.

He brought up a good point that I had not considered...

Why not use standard lumber (versus premium - less knots) since the majority

of the deck will be underneath the spa and not visible!

He also game me the option of nailed vs screwed in boards. I was figuring the

higher end deck would make use of screws but the 1st quote I got was going to

be nailed. This guy (2nd quote) mentioned that today's nails for decks will hold

just as good as screws, even though he will do it either way (screws cost a bit more

due to mostly labor increase).

Now I think I will forgo premium lumber for the 10X10 ft deck section and save a few dollars.

I'll probably also go with nails. My existing, 2nd story deck, has nails too.

Ken

[wkearney99]

A tub is VERY heavy, personally I'd prefer to have it resting solidly on reinforced concrete. As for decking material, consider rot problems. Water is going to splash out of the tub. That water is going to land on the deck, and possible seep under the tub. Do you really want regular lumber underneath it? Appearance aside, at least the synthetic stuff isn't going to rot through where you can't see it. But I've no idea which material would be better for actually supporting the full weight of a tub. Water weighs 8.3lbs per gallon. Do the math, is the deck designed AND permitted to support that considerable amount of weight?

[cpuKEN]

A tub is VERY heavy, personally I'd prefer to have it resting solidly on reinforced concrete. As for decking material, consider rot problems. Water is going to splash out of the tub. That water is going to land on the deck, and possible seep under the tub. Do you really want regular lumber underneath it? Appearance aside, at least the synthetic stuff isn't going to rot through where you can't see it. But I've no idea which material would be better for actually supporting the full weight of a tub. Water weighs 8.3lbs per gallon. Do the math, is the deck designed AND permitted to support that considerable amount of weight?

I guess I wasn't totally clear... when I say regular lumber I mean Pressure Treated lumber but of regular grade.

as opposed to Pressure Treated lumber - Premium grade (fewer knots).

So in any case, it will be pressure treated lumber.

Thanks for your reply.

Ken

[north_of_boston]

This is what I used -- have you seen it?

http://www.ezpads.com/

My Arctic Yukon has a "forever floor" but I still didn't want to put it on the ground ... as long as you have a level space, this looked like the best solution for me, I used it.

Prior to this, I built a platform -- I used 8 x 8 x 8's (pressure treated), filled the "sandbox" with stone dust, leveled it, then put marine grade plywood over it. Covered it with vinyl (old ripped up pool liner) and put the tub over it. That worked, too.

[E. Olson]

This is what I used -- have you seen it?

http://www.ezpads.com/

My Arctic Yukon has a "forever floor" but I still didn't want to put it on the ground ... as long as you have a level space, this looked like the best solution for me, I used it.

Prior to this, I built a platform -- I used 8 x 8 x 8's (pressure treated), filled the "sandbox" with stone dust, leveled it, then put marine grade plywood over it. Covered it with vinyl (old ripped up pool liner) and put the tub over it. That worked, too.

That does seem pretty cool, but I would think it's dependent on your local soil conditions. In my area (Harvey, La.), subsidence is a big concern. All slab houses use piles here, and while a hot tub foundation would not require piles, concrete footings are advised. I would be afraid of one of these EZ Pads becoming un-level due to subsidence (again, at least in my area).

[Stuart A]

A concrete pad gets my vote. If it is done properly you will never have to worry about it.

[BigDfromTN]

I would vote concrete also.

Permanent fix and no problems later.

[THE SPA GUY]

concrete pad is my vote , yes i have sold the ez pad, the leisure concepts pad , and the confer pad. they work just fine, but for the cost of them now, you can pay just alittle bit more for a pad,,