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built the sunroom of our dreams, with an indoor hot tub!


burntsushi

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Hey all, first time poster, but I've been lurking for a while. I figured I'd give a quick summary of the project, with a focus on the hot tub. But I'd be happy to answer any questions if folks have them!

Album link starting from our old screen porch: https://imgur.com/a/NS2ZvC9

We bought the tub first (Hot Springs Limelight Beam), last November, and then reached out to a four season porch company that works with the spa company to build sunrooms with hot tubs in them. It was important to us to get someone who had experience building rooms with indoor hot tubs in them because they do impose some special requirements. Here are some:

  • The floor had to be structurally reinforced and a structural engineer had to sign off on it. That report was in turn required to pass inspection.
  • The sliding door in our room is actually taller than a standard sliding door. This was why we bought the tub first, so that we could ensure the design of the room would fit the tub. Originally, the contractor was resistant to doing this, and instead, suggested that we build the room around the tub. But this seemed horrific to us. What happens if the tub is for some reason irreparably broken? Or what happens when it dies in 20 years and we want to get a new one? Sure, you could take apart the one that's inside, but how do you get a new one in... (The sliding door isn't wide enough to fit the tub, so we do have to remove both halves of it, but that's a pretty simple job given how rare it will need to be done.)
  • We wanted to use moisture resistant materials as much as possible. This is why we chose cedar wood for the ceiling. And porcelain tile for the floor (with a foam backer board underneath it, which is waterproof). Similarly, we added closed cell spray foam insulation to the ceiling for an additional moisture barrier.
  • You need some way to vent the humidity. So we had a 800 cfm exhaust fan installed into the ceiling. It also works great for ventilating cigar smoke!
  • Seal coating all wood used in the room for additional protection.

So the hot tub determined a lot about what kind of materials we'd use for the room. It also takes up about a quarter of the total room space (room size is 18'x18'). So that also limits what we can put in it.

As for design, I wanted a more rustic look (I would have gone full log cabin theme haha) but my wife likes the more modern style. So we basically tried to blend them together. I think it came out pretty good:

  • For the accent wall (sharing a wall with our house), we hired a mason to put up real stone. It took one guy three days to put up each stone individually. We think it came out great!
  • We used a porcelain tile for the floor, which helps with grip while it's wet. The water also seems to dry pretty quickly, which is great.
  • We put a small emergency drain next to the tub in the floor that drains water outside. We don't intend to use this regularly, but was nice to have in case something bad happens. For draining, I just plan to use a pump and run a hose to the back yard.
  • The ceiling is cedar, which we understood to be good for dealing with moisture. The ceiling also has closed cell spray foam insulation as an additional moisture barrier. (The same stuff that is inside the floor.)
  • We installed a Mitsubishi Split (pictured on the stone accent wall) to help make it comfortable in there in more extreme weather. (We live in central Massachusetts, so hot summers and cold winters.) It's also meant to help keep the moisture levels of the cedar in check and help dehumidify the hot tub.

There's a lot more that I could say, but I'll stop there. Happy to dive into any particular area if you like.

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