itsallgood Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 WOW, I am confused by this post. Apples to oranges comes to mind. How are the two related I think I get where he's coming from. Let's say you have a budget of $12,000 to build a home theater. You buy some couches, and some drapes, and a DVD player, and a new satellite system, and a whole lot of speakers- say $6,000 for all that stuff, leaving you $6,000 for a TV. You could get a 60" SONY or some other reputable brand, but you decide to get an 80" from a brand you've never heard of. You decide to get the 80 incher. Unfortunately, the big but cheap TV explodes after a few months. You're left with a lot of fancy furniture facing a blank wall, and some speakers that sound nice but don't do much without a screen. In other words, you need to consider the spa itself as only one component of your expenses. If you cut corners here, and something goes wrong with your "inexpensive" spa, you've essentially let the whole project go down the drain - at least until you can afford to replace it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.P. Roberts Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Ken, that patio does look great. I think your are going to be really happy with the decision to move the spa. Kudos on being smart and paying someone to do the work. Sure wish we had been. I'm just too darn cheap. Parsons, I'm still laughing about the "surface of the moon". We have the site excavated, retaining walls built and gravel down. This weekend we start sand and pavers. I'm really nervous about how it will turn out. I had the same attitude as parsons, "if they can do it, we can do it". I hope I still feel that way on Monday. Thanks for sharing your pics and stories. I am definitely NOT the DIY type. I can do the demo stuff, but if I don't know what I'm doing I leave it to the pros. I've spent the last week digging up our old patio, lugging bricks around and digging out stumps in the 90 degree heat. Not fun. But today the construction started, and I got to watch somebody else putting in forms and rebar. I've decided that I really prefer the "supervisory" role. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lparsons Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Parsons, have you posted any pics yet? I'll put up more pictures tonight, now that all systems are go. Currently I do have a couple of pics up from the day it was delivered: parsonsfamily.boldlygoingnowhere.org/~lparsons/HotTub And I'll presume it pictures of the hottub (which sits on cement) that you want to see, and not pictures of my lousy patio that I keep warning people about. Being as you can get pictures of Mars through google images, I figure thats a safe presumption. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lparsons Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Ken, that patio does look great. I think your are going to be really happy with the decision to move the spa. Kudos on being smart and paying someone to do the work. Sure wish we had been. I'm just too darn cheap. Parsons, I'm still laughing about the "surface of the moon". We have the site excavated, retaining walls built and gravel down. This weekend we start sand and pavers. I'm really nervous about how it will turn out. I had the same attitude as parsons, "if they can do it, we can do it". I hope I still feel that way on Monday. Thanks for sharing your pics and stories. Good luck to you. The best advice I can give is to level, re-level, re-re-level, and then re-re-re-level again, before putting down the blocks. If I had any sense about me when I started mine, I probably would have followed the instructions rather than trying to make it up as I went along I still have loose blocks in the middle of my patio from where it just wasn't quite right, and they've been in place for months now. You probably already know that if your local home improvement store has an incredibly long level (long enough to span the longest reach of your patio area) you should buy it. Similarly, if you can find a nice long, wide, heavy, tool (I feel dirty writing that phrase) for tamping down the blocks, you should buy it as well. Or you can be a fool like me and try to "make due". Which of course will just result in more trips back to said home improvement store ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinyBubbles Posted September 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Eww, a long heavy tool! I've been going nuts because my hubby had out a transom to do the grading. If I had to hold that dang stick up one more time, you could guess where that stick was going. We used a bobcat for the digging and compacted the dirt with that. We hand tamped the gravel and wet it down in layers. We had stakes in the ground with strings across them to get the gravel level. The sand we do this weekend and we are using galvanized pipe as runners that we will run a 2x4 across to get the sand level. When the pavers are laid we are renting a machine to tamp them down. As I'm typing this, I am rolling my eyes and thinking it may still look like mars. Now I remembering seeing your pics. Thanks. Do get us some night pictures with everything running. Happy tubbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark2550 Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Hopefully no pun intended but for (D.P. Roberts) when your pro's show up to repair your tub hopefully you'll never need it and some young kid comes out to fix it you'll realize there's that not much to them. If it be an electrical problem then it will take on a more challenging task for some and expierence will help in this catagory, but seriously some of you on this site need to get more hands on. (tiny bubbles ) I commend you for helping your hubby with the transit in the end you see the savings, it seems hard now but in the end results you'll know how the things were done and will appreciate your new tub all the more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennnis Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Don't forget the Wife will need to buy new bath robes, new color matching towels, new padio table and chairs, umbrella, deck lights, decorations, remodel the bathroom why, because your putting in a spa and she will not want your friends comming over and having to change in your current bathroom. But hey it is still worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
104 Degrees Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Don't forget the Wife will need to buy new bath robes, new color matching towels, new padio table and chairs, umbrella, deck lights, decorations, remodel the bathroom why, because your putting in a spa and she will not want your friends comming over and having to change in your current bathroom. But hey it is still worth it. What dennis said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinyBubbles Posted September 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Dennis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lparsons Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Don't forget the Wife will need to ..., remodel the bathroom why, because your putting in a spa and she will not want your friends comming over and having to change in your current bathroom. Ahh, man ... We just finished re-doing the OTHER bathroom in our house! I wonder if we'll gain 1.5" all the way around by tearing these walls down to the studs? But hey it is still worth it. Damn right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart A Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 We got our spa in April, and about two weeks ago I finished the garden, the last job was laying a new lawn. All in all we ended up replacing the fences, making a concrete base, installing a decking area, installing new drainage, building walls, building steps and laying paving slabs, oh I forgot the new plants etc... I dont want to add the cost of all this up. We are really happy now its complete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lparsons Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 We got our spa in April, and about two weeks ago I finished the garden, the last job was laying a new lawn. All in all we ended up replacing the fences, making a concrete base, installing a decking area, installing new drainage, building walls, building steps and laying paving slabs, oh I forgot the new plants etc... For our house, that's all another job for a different part of the yard... I dont want to add the cost of all this up. Does money really matter when the numbers get that high? Can't we just raise our personal debt ceilings like congress does? We are really happy now its complete. As are we. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart A Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 We got our spa in April, and about two weeks ago I finished the garden, the last job was laying a new lawn. All in all we ended up replacing the fences, making a concrete base, installing a decking area, installing new drainage, building walls, building steps and laying paving slabs, oh I forgot the new plants etc... For our house, that's all another job for a different part of the yard... I dont want to add the cost of all this up. Does money really matter when the numbers get that high? Can't we just raise our personal debt ceilings like congress does? Maybe so for you but we would not of done all this if we did not buy a spa. No need for me to raise my debt ceiling, I paid for this as I did it bit by bit, thats why it has taken so long. Now its time for me to go into the spa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chart_boy Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Get 'er done and enjoy the winter! I put in a 8x8 used CalSpa over a year ago. I got it for free from a neighbor. I upgraded the house electrical (200amp), which had to be done anyway (I just needed an excuse) and it cost $750 from a good friend, with materials. It cost another $475 for the 220 & GFI for the tub. I poured the 8x8 slab for $250. Just bought a new cover ($349) and lift ($149). Chemicals run about $30/mo. Electric is about $35; more in the cold Detroit winters. The tub sits about 50' from the back of the house, on the side of the detached garrage - right off the 20x15 paver patio. Real peace & quiet with privacy. Cold walk out in the winter, but worth every step. Hated the work, didn't want to spend the money; enjoy the tub 3-4x per week. Kids like it to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinyBubbles Posted October 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Get 'er done and enjoy the winter! Hated the work, didn't want to spend the money; Can I get an Amen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.P. Roberts Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Electric is about $35; more in the cold Detroit winters... Real peace & quiet with privacy. Peace and quiet in Detroit? How can you relax with all that gunfire going off? Sorry, I couldn't help it. Ohioans have to make fun of That State Up North at every opportunity (it's in our state constitution). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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