DIY Considerations Before Installing your Hot Tub

While some people prefer to hire contractors to install their hot tubs for them (and some hot tub sellers actually make this a value-added service for each purchase), there are those of us who prefer to do the work ourselves. This consideration is often made because it's a cheaper option than hiring someone, but more importantly, there's a sense of satisfaction knowing that you did the job yourself. On a more practical standpoint (something that our wives rarely understand!) if we do the installation ourselves we have in depth knowledge of the workings of the hot tub and where it all connects to everything else in our house. This makes future maintenance and repairs a snap instead of having to call a "specialist" every time something goes wrong. Here are some of the most important considerations to take before you get to work on your hot tub.

Inside or Out?

This is the first question to ask. Indoors or outdoors? Both have their appeal, and both demand equal amounts of work, just of a different nature. Outdoor hot tubs will often need a gazebo or something unless you're going for the full open-air approach. Therefore, unless you already have outdoor shelter where you can place the hot tub, you'll likely need to build one. Outdoor hot tubs are more relaxing, but you'll need to place it in a section of the lawn or backyard where your underground plumbing lines run. This may also be more troublesome if your water heater is located inside the house, since water will have to run from outside into the house to be heated, and only then can you run a separate line from the heater back out to the hot tub. Therefore, unless your water heater is external too I'd recommend keeping the tub indoors.

Indoor Location Considerations

Assuming that you decided to install your hot tub indoors, where's a good place to put it? One of the best locations I'd recommend is in a room adjoining your bathroom. The reason is pretty simple: most people who want to soak in a hot tub often take a shower before and/or after soaking, so if your hot tub adjoins a bathroom you're fine. Otherwise you'll have to make a small shower stall for your hot tub room. Also remember to place the hot tub in an easily accessible part of the house; some people prefer secluded spots like the basement, but this can literally be tragic in case of accidents when you're alone. Drowning in your basement is NOT a good idea...

The Tools and Equipment

The main tools you'll need are metal saws for the plumbing, monkey wrenches, and the usual assortment of screws, wood saws, and hammers if the hot tub has any wooden components. Aside from the usual gear any good handyman should have around the workplace, some special items you'll want to get are things like waterproof sealing putty for the pipe joints as well as extra power cables (waterproof of course!) for connecting the hot tub's switches safely to the house power lines. Naturally, if you'll be delving into wiring, you'll need splices and cable strippers just in case you need to adjust wiring lengths, as well as stand-alone power plugs that you can splice onto the wires when you get the lengths right. One safety tip here: get waterproof duct tape to wrap the plugs securely if you're splicing! The last thing you want is to leave portions of the wiring open, especially near all that water...

The Tub

The tub itself is often something you buy from a shop and install yourself. However, if you're truly ambitious and want to actually MAKE one yourself from scratch, remember several basic rules: All you need is a concrete shell. Ceramics are all well and good, but a DIY hot tub is best made from cast concrete since it's highly improbable that you have a ceramic casting kit large enough... Now, once you've made plans for the basic concrete lay out of the shell, just plan where the water and air (assuming a Jacuzzi) pipes go, and you're set. As a general rule of thumb, the drain is set at the bottom like any other bath tub, and the water and air pipes are set halfway up the height of the sides of the tub. If you've got the knack for it, cast the tub WITH the pipes already inserted; otherwise you'll need a concrete drill later on and that gets expensive (and requires casting a new tub if you screw up drilling the holes). Lastly, no one wants to bathe in a tub that's just plain gray cement; buy some tiles that you can use to cover the surface of the tub to make it look and feel more comfortable to bathe in.

Plumbing Considerations

Lastly, remember the basic rule of plumbing: water goes in one set of pipes, and out another. You'd be surprised at the number of DIY expert wood workers and metal workers (my Dad is an excellent example!) who suddenly forget this simple piece of logic when you throw water into the equation. Just plan the layout of your pipes beforehand: know where your primary water source is located, any plumbing lines that run near the hot tub's location (both incoming and outgoing!), the water heater, and any water drain lines going out of the house to your sewage. As long as you can keep these four lines from getting mixed up you'll avoid flooding the house. Hopefully.