Will My Deck Hold A Hot Tub – What is better: having a deck in your garden or sitting in a hot tub to relax? The answer for hot tub people is both; sitting in a hot tub
Out on your deck. Combining a deck and a hot tub can really create an amazing place to hang out and soak, but what does a deck need to support a hot tub?
Will My Deck Hold A Hot Tub
Essentially, you need to double the deck supports to hold a hot tub. You need bigger wood and more of it. All this would need to be engineered to the details of your specific project such as how high from the ground, how much total weight, and more.
Do I Need Planning Permission For A Hot Tub?
Mixing a hot tub and a bridge can come in many different forms. You might already have a concrete slab patio out back with a hot tub on it and you just want to surround it with a raised deck so the tub has a sunken feel. Or maybe your ideal spot is twelve feet from a master bed slider and you want to make sure you have enough wood underneath to jump every night and not pray for the strength of your deck.
If you want to learn more about some different hot tub deck ideas and how to implement them then read on, but if you just want to talk to someone now about your next backyard project then give us a call at 970-663-2868 or just . shoot us an email.
To get off on the right foot, it is essential to take all the measurements of your garden or project area. We need to consider the fence or property line, the size of the deck in relation to the house, and finally, where to put the hot tub.
For decks at ground level, we do not recommend installing the hot tub on top. Instead, we suggest placing the tub on a concrete pad. This offers the much needed hot tub floor. Then we build the bridge around it, because this makes the whole process much more efficient.
Hot Tub Prices
But what if you want to remove the hot tub from the deck after a few years? We also have options for this. Any deck built around a hot tub is made up of framing members. We keep them at least 1 inch away from the surface of the hot tub. This gives enough room to remove the hot tub if desired. The deck offers support to the short cantilever so that it fills the area closest to the tub leaving a nice clean reveal.
You will have some creative control over the height of your deck, but not much. I say that, because there are many fantastic places to attach a bridge to the back of your house, for example, and one of them is the main floor or the roof of the house. Well, this is already a constant, so you probably want to walk out your back door on a platform.
Deck height is not the only thing to consider when installing a hot tub. We also need to take care of the concrete pad if this is the direction you want to go. First, we build the concrete pad according to the local building code.
The installation team also receives feedback on the operation and dimensions of the tub arm and cover. In addition, we also take the authorizations for the bridge in mind so as not to encounter permission complications later.
A Guide To Installing A Hot Tub On A Raised Deck
It’s easy to miss these crucial points if you’re trying to DIY this and install the deck and hot tub alone. In addition to these factors, we also maintain a gap of up to 1/4″ inch between the deck boards and the tub. This gives the hot tub and deck room to expand and contract in extreme weather conditions.
We don’t specialize in one shape or size of deck because we build them all and have built somewhere in the thousands of decks at this point, some quite large with a hot tub.
Sometimes the bridge is at a higher level than the bathtub or we have to deal with a uniform terrain to build the bridge. These things do not bother us as we have some of the most experienced and certified technicians for the job. The engineer will look at your project and make decisions about the attachments, connections and the size of the material from which your bridge will be made.
If you do this DIY, then you will have to understand what sizes the posts and what size framing material you will use. The posts used are usually 4×4, 6×6, and 8×8 inch material and framing lumber is usually in the 2×6, 2×8, 2×10, or 2×12 categories.
Custom Deck Builders
Another big factor will be the beam layout to provide ample support for the amount of weight a hot tub holds. Again, check local guidelines and if it takes 8 inches on center, then you will have to double your joist count. Those spaces are narrow enough to work at 8 inches on center. That also adds to your hardware bill which definitely adds to the overall cost.
In these cases, we start by determining where the hot tub will fit and where the outside dimensions of the deck will fit with a rope line or marking device. Again, this step involves following the local building code. It also allows us to determine the spacing requirements for each post forum.
Following local code, we will punch holes in the ground with a huge drill called an auger so we can have an inspector come out and sign. We can then pour the concrete to create the caussons that your deck will sit on.
We can then use lasers to figure out how high to cut the posts that hold your bridge. After a ledger is attached to your house and a perimeter frame installed, the beams begin to clear. Our crews have so much experience with so many different projects that stages like this can literally fly.
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If you are on your own, this part can be very complicated as you need to use a lot of temporary wood to hold pieces. You need to order 2 × 4 or 2 × 6 extra and use it as diagonal bracing. It would be a slow process, but with enough patience and time you can get something up in the air.
Another important aspect of the construction of a thermal bath is to fragment the elevators. These provide access to things that are hidden under the deck like the hot tub service panel. We don’t want to remove the decking if something goes wrong with the hot tub, so we plan and create small deck hatches or access panels.
First we marked the location of the elevator outside the hatch on the bridge beams. Depending on the width of the stretch, we remove one or more beams to provide the space that the discovery needs. We can then create a small rectangle in frame to work for the maintenance of the thermal bath. Now we can create another couple of rectangle frames that just barely fit into that finished access frame hole.
You can attach the lower of the two frames by making the upper frame removable and hoping to perfectly flush with the rest of the bridge frame.
How To Frame Your Deck To Properly Support A Hot Tub
So now we should have a very solid frame that has passed at least two inspections and is ready for decking material. Your specific project or personal preferences will determine if you start in the house and work or start with the board outside and work in.
No matter which way you choose, after lowering the first board, you can really start flying. This is especially true if you use a hidden fastener system and some air tools to actually nail those panels in place.
This step is usually much easier with a partially loaded deck which means you have loaded the frame with about 60-80% of the deck boards loose to make a temporary place to stand while you attach the decking to the frame.
Also, if you are not using hidden fasteners and removing the boards then just use something like a triangular speed square to create a consistent gap every time.
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As you are doing the decking, you can mark and cut the port of the access panel. You will be almost right on top by adding screws to the inner and outer frames of the access panel and marking where the cut will go. Then at the end hit a line and cut the free access panel. It should now be almost indistinguishable from the rest of the deck.
This can actually be the trickiest part, especially if you’re going at it alone. A very ideal situation would be to use a real hot tub engine or be in the process of buying a new one. I say that because these mentioned people had to deliver hot tubs to many different people
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