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Putting A Portable Hot Tub "in Ground"


Walter

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I was wondering if anyone has ever done this. I was thinking about placing this ona concrete slab but we are now thinking we eventually want to add a pool. It might look better with having the portable hot tub "sunk" into the ground. Is this possible? And if yes, how? I am most interested in how someone would get to all the components if the tub is in the ground

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the sundance pic looks pretty cool. I guess you just gotta hope nothing breaks. lifting a 900 pound spa out of a hole to fix a problem doesn't sound too fun but I do like the way it looks.

From the Sundance pic provided in the link, I wonder if the far end of the spa is exposed or accessable? It looks like the ground drops off?

My only concern with an inground hot tub is accesability to the pumps, heater, controls et all. Eventually they will break. I've seen in-deck installations where the owners leave a section of decking that can be lifted up to allow access to the front panel. Would it be possible to do something similliar in ground? Ie; have some type of decking/skirting around the tub flush with the ground that can be lifted up WHEN the pumps, heater, o3, control panel needs mataince?

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  • 4 weeks later...

And building a vault with drainage and accsess is not exclusive to the village idiot Jim.

[/quote

I invented it, you can read about it on our site. I have also put in more spas like this than most anybody has. We have a way to put the spa in the ground and make full access for repairs, replacement, full drainage and basically save money for the consumers.

Most people in the spa industry still bury pipes in the ground and make access to repairs impossible and use a lot of wasted energy going into the ground, because they are idiots, like Sundance in ground tubs.

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I was wondering if anyone has ever done this. I was thinking about placing this ona concrete slab but we are now thinking we eventually want to add a pool. It might look better with having the portable hot tub "sunk" into the ground. Is this possible? And if yes, how? I am most interested in how someone would get to all the components if the tub is in the ground

I had the same idea when I was first thinking of getting a hot tub last year although I wanted to get a hot tub shell and embed it into the ground and then connect piping to the auxillary equipment located in a nearby enclosure. After looking at the stuff available, though, it was obvious that it wasn't possible to buy and install everything on a custom basis that would be within even a few thousand dollars of a pre-packaged unit like your tub. The only tubs that are installled in the ground are older concrete units (that are very costly to operate) or new expensive custom installs. Putting a pre-packaged unit into a hole in the ground like you want to do is possible but would severely limit access to the equipment. A better approach (and far cheaper) would be to put it on a slab and then build a raised deck around it maybe 18 inches or so above grade. Basically, let the deck become the 'ground' and then buildi it up around the tub to the height you want. Make the deck removable in pieces so that you can get access to the tub. I got a pre-packaged unit and set it up on a concrete slab with decking and all that was needed was to connect the power. Easy.

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Having done this for twenty years, I have put dozens of Self Contained spas into the ground using a vault. You can also use a retaining wall, stone wall, decking, or about a dozen other methods.

You need to allow lots of drainage, and I contend that the only real way to do that is to allow about a 4" diameter drain pipe or two which run downhill away from the lowest part of the vault.

If you can't do that, then design a sump pump set into the floor near the equipment area. BUT - if you are going to rely on a sump pump, be sure it has a battery backup. I have only had one of these flood, and it was not one I designed or installed. They replaced an older wood tub, but it was the low spot of their yard! And the incident took place during a huge torrential rainstorm. Their yard drained into the vault, as it always did. The sump pump was running as it always was. But when the power went down to the whole area, and, they had a problem.

BTW - the drainage is not so terribly important for normal use, reasonable amounts of rain or even splashing. It's for those times when you toss in the garden hose to refill the tub and walk away and forget it. I have had many many folks do that one.

As far as access to the equipment: just build one end of the hole bigger than the tub by about three feet. Cover that with whatever you want. I have built planters which hide the access, decks, one or two teak hatch covers like a boat would have - looked nice and felt good to stand on in the cold weather - I have even put a section of exterior plywood covered with decking material which perfectly matched the concret work all around the tub.

You will not have to get to that stuff very often, so it's not like it has to be on hinges or something.

Here's one shot of a tub set down: the planter is the access cover. The gap around the tub was bridged with the stonework, and then a bead of resiliant deck seal was used to close the final gap to the plastic edge. That was covered with sand while still wet, and the excess sand cleaned off later. It matches the grout almost perfectly. This one was done about ten years ago - I have more if you would like to see them.

IPB Image

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AH HA! So it was YOU chas, that invented digging a hole? Actually, one of the first portable spas I installed, a Malibu, was put in a hole in the ground, with cinder block retaining walls and a piped gravity drain. That was over 25 years ago (how much over, I ain'ta sayin). As the new kid, it was my job to dig the hole. CURSES to whom ever it was that invented the SHOVEL.!

Having done this for twenty years, I have put dozens of Self Contained spas into the ground using a vault. You can also use a retaining wall, stone wall, decking, or about a dozen other methods.

You need to allow lots of drainage, and I contend that the only real way to do that is to allow about a 4" diameter drain pipe or two which run downhill away from the lowest part of the vault.

If you can't do that, then design a sump pump set into the floor near the equipment area. BUT - if you are going to rely on a sump pump, be sure it has a battery backup. I have only had one of these flood, and it was not one I designed or installed. They replaced an older wood tub, but it was the low spot of their yard! And the incident took place during a huge torrential rainstorm. Their yard drained into the vault, as it always did. The sump pump was running as it always was. But when the power went down to the whole area, and, they had a problem.

BTW - the drainage is not so terribly important for normal use, reasonable amounts of rain or even splashing. It's for those times when you toss in the garden hose to refill the tub and walk away and forget it. I have had many many folks do that one.

As far as access to the equipment: just build one end of the hole bigger than the tub by about three feet. Cover that with whatever you want. I have built planters which hide the access, decks, one or two teak hatch covers like a boat would have - looked nice and felt good to stand on in the cold weather - I have even put a section of exterior plywood covered with decking material which perfectly matched the concret work all around the tub.

You will not have to get to that stuff very often, so it's not like it has to be on hinges or something.

Here's one shot of a tub set down: the planter is the access cover. The gap around the tub was bridged with the stonework, and then a bead of resiliant deck seal was used to close the final gap to the plastic edge. That was covered with sand while still wet, and the excess sand cleaned off later. It matches the grout almost perfectly. This one was done about ten years ago - I have more if you would like to see them.

IPB Image

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AH HA! So it was YOU chas, that invented digging a hole? Actually, one of the first portable spas I installed, a Malibu, was put in a hole in the ground, with cinder block retaining walls and a piped gravity drain. That was over 25 years ago (how much over, I ain'ta sayin). As the new kid, it was my job to dig the hole. CURSES to whom ever it was that invented the SHOVEL.!

Now I am confused. Jim said he invented it even though I worked on one that was the second tub in a 28 year old hole. That guy musta stole that idea from Jim??? Then Chas says he invented it, then Doc. Boy I wonder if we should believe the self proclaimed spa god or these other guys....... :lol:

Jim invented the shovel! He said so.

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Now I am confused. Jim said he invented it even though I worked on one that was the second tub in a 28 year old hole. That guy musta stole that idea from Jim??? Then Chas says he invented it, then Doc. Boy I wonder if we should believe the self proclaimed spa god or these other guys....... :lol:

Jim invented the shovel! He said so.

No, I didn't claim credit for inventing this. That would be rather strange, don't you think?

B)

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HOLD ON THERE Roger! I never said I invented digging a hole, just that I dug one. Someone else actually instructed me as to how to dig it, where to dig it, how deep to dig it and how wide to dig it................ and then had the nerve to tell me I hadn't dug it deep enough (I tried to blame that on the sewer pipe running through the middle of the hole).

You dig man? Groovy huh?

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  • 4 months later...

Nobody ever gives me credit for it, but I invented digging HALF a hole (I think it's because I like to do everything half-a**ed). This invention went unused for many years until someone finally realized you could install a spa halfway into a hole. I'm still waiting on the royalties for that.

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  • 1 year later...
Nobody ever gives me credit for it, but I invented digging HALF a hole (I think it's because I like to do everything half-a**ed). This invention went unused for many years until someone finally realized you could install a spa halfway into a hole. I'm still waiting on the royalties for that.

Planning to do the same as you. Sinking my Sundance Marin 18" in the ground. What kind of suggestions you have to build around it? Do you have pictures of your hot tub?

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