Creating a home for my Hot Tub

[VABlue]

That thing is looking good, Eddie! I've never heard anything bad about Hardi siding, and wanted it on my new house. But it cost way more than it was worth to me! I do have it on my kennel, though, and even up close people think its wood siding. Being cement fiber, it shouldn't rot in the weather like wood will over time.

 

[EddieWalker]

Ron Hall and his wife Betty came by today, so with thier help and my parents, we put the hot tub in the gazebo. It went fairly smoothy, but I did miscalculate one pretty big part of it. I put the posts far enough apart to fit the hot tub through, but never thought about the width of my FEL bucket. Even worse, I never considered the angle of my yard in front of the gazebo and how my backhoe being on the side of the hill would affect teh width of the FEL bucket.

There was no way to fit it into the gazebo. After some head scratching, Ron figured we could lower it on some boards and slide it in. That worked out great!!!!

Once we had it inside, we were able to slide it around without any more trouble. What's really cool is how nicely it fits in there!!! I was a littel worried about how much space would be on the sides and the ease in getting around in there with the walls and hot tub in place. Luckily, it worked out nicely.

I put the wall back in place and screwed it down. If I ever need to take the hot tub out, I can remove the wall again with some effort, but it won't be impossible, nor will it destroy the rest of the gazebo.

Then I just installed the siding and got lucky in getting my Mom to put on the stain. She complained non-stop, but she got it done!!!! hahahaha

There's still allot to do, but I feel that I've turne the last corner and I'm on the way to the end of it now.

Eddie

 

[elalexander]

Looks great Eddie. I've enjoyed watching the transformation

 

[WayneB]

Looking good Eddie, just know your heart was pounding when you had the tub on the FEL!

Sound like you are close to sitting in the hot tub! That is if the kids give you any time in it.

 

[3RRL]

Yup, almost time to fire it up and get in.
Those were great photos showing how huge your TLB is. Good thing you and Ron had your thinking caps on to get it in there. Also nice to see your Mom helping you out.
Can't wait to see pictures of it heated up.

 

[Spiveyman]

Looks great Eddie. Several of us asked about how you were going to get that thing in there a while back, but I never saw an answer. I figured you either had a plan or hadn't thought about it, and either way it would be fun to see how you did it. Funny how those details can get you, slope of the hill and such.

 

[EddieWalker]

I haven't been spending too much time working on this lately, but instead, we've been in it almost every day!!! Hard to finish a project when you start using it. hahahaha

Steph wanted some shelves for the back wall to put a radio on and some decorates. I thought a piece of cedar would look nice, so I cut some up with my chainsaw, then sanded, stained and sealed it. This morninging I installed it and took these pics.

I also built a step to get into the hot tub, and to cover the outlets and drain lines. It's made of PT wood and covered in Hardi siding that we painted to match the hot tub and the trim. Then I broke up three pieces of tile to create the top.

Eddie

 

[WayneB]

Wow, looks great and happy to hear you are in it everyday! Winter is coming toward us up here now. Been in the twenties in the morning all last week and today it was 21! Hasn't hit the teens yet, but soon. sure would be nice to sit in a hot tub during the cool days.

 

[Bird]

Eddie, it looks great, but electrical stuff right over water? I'm assuming you're using short enough cords that if something like a radio falls off that shelf, it'll jerk the cord out of the plug before it hits the water.

 

[EddieWalker]

Wayne,

Our winter temps are in the 30's and 40's with allot of days getting into the 50's. It lasts about two months and then winter is over. We're looking forward to being in there when it's cold out, but I'm not sure about the run back to the house after getting out!!!

Right now, it's so nice out that it's not even cold when we get out. We take our time drying off and even hang out on the porch to cool off a little before going inside.

Bird,

The picture might be a little deceiving. The radio is not over the hot tub, but off to the side. I guess it's possible for it to fall into the water if everything happened just right, but with a remote control to operate it, I don't think it's likely. Just in case, all the outlets are protected by GFCI breakers in the panel.


Eddie

 

[Sigarms]

There was no way to fit it into the gazebo. After some head scratching, Ron figured we could lower it on some boards and slide it in. That worked out great!!!!

You know Eddie, since following your thread and looking at the demensions of the hot tub and looking at your structure being built, I was actually tempted to ask if it (hot tub) would fit in there or how you were planning on doing it beforehand.

I just figured you already had it figured out and I was curious to see how you were going to do it

Glad it worked out.

 

[KentT]

Looks great, Eddie, as we've come to expect from any project you tackle...

What's your preliminary reaction to staining the HardiePlank? I'm seriously considering building my garage with HardiePlank siding, rather than "fake logs" if I think I can get the stain to match close enough. I ordered a set of samples for the Woodperfect stains that you can get pre-stained, but I haven't tried them out yet to see what I think. You were experimenting with Min-Wax stains, as I recall. What did you end up using?

 

[EddieWalker]

We're extremly excited about the stained results on the Hardi siding. Only time will tell, but so far, it's very impressive looking with nobody being able to guess what it is who doesn't already know.

I did about 20 different samples with verying results. Actually, they all turned out terrible except for the Min-Wax Gel stains. After buying the one quart sizes, I saw smaller ones for sale at Walmart for around $6 each.

It only comes in the one quart size and runs around $12 at Lowes and Home Depot. I looked bigger sizes, but didn't find them.

It's just like the name describes it, a gel. It's thick like Jello, and you brush it on. It's important to start at one end of the board and work your way across. If you try to go up and down a row of boards, you will get a line where the old stain overlaps the new stain. We called that part of the learning curve.

It takes a full day to dry. Then we brushed on a coat of Helmmans Spar Urithane. I'm sure I spelled that wrong, but you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. This is to protect and seal the stain on the Hardi siding. Our is a satin finish, but you have others to chose from.

From what I'm told, this is the stuff you use to stain a metal or fiberglass exterior door and is designed for the elements. Nowhere does it say it's ok or designed for Hardi products, so this is where the big question exists. Will it last and for how long? I can't say, but will update the site when we notice any fading, peeling, chipping or other problems.

Here's a few more pics of the gazebo. You might recognize some of the people in the first picture, as they are all members of TBN!!!

Eddie

 

[KentT]

Thanks for the feedback, Eddie. I'll try to find a small can of that Min-Wax gel and try it also... it may offer more color choices too!

 

[WayneB]

Wayne,

Our winter temps are in the 30's and 40's with allot of days getting into the 50's. It lasts about two months and then winter is over. We're looking forward to being in there when it's cold out, but I'm not sure about the run back to the house after getting out!!!

Right now, it's so nice out that it's not even cold when we get out. We take our time drying off and even hang out on the porch to cool off a little before going inside.

Eddie

When it gets to the 40's up here it is tee-shirt weather. For the past two weeks it has been in the low 20's each morning. Several people up around us have hot tubs and use them only in the fall winter and spring. We had one for a number of years but I had problems with the pump and decided to remove it. The kids would go into it around 105 degrees and then jump into a snow bank and immediately back into the tube. Now that will stop the heart for a second or two. You have done an excellent job on the installation Eddie, hats off to the two of you for all the work you are doing!

 

[Spiveyman]

...I thought a piece of cedar would look nice, so I cut some up with my chainsaw, then sanded, stained and sealed it.

Eddie, that shelf is awesome! I'll give you credit, but some day I'm going to have to rip that idea and use it. That looks very cool. One question though, you said you "cut some up with my chainsaw." Are you just talking about the cut-to-length cut or did you make the cut all the way down the log to make the shelf side cut with your chain saw?!?! If it's the latter, I'm really impressed. Looks like you used a table saw those cuts are so perfect.

The whole thing just looks great. I'll have to say though, I had the same reaction Bird did to that radio "above" the tub.

 

[EddieWalker]

Kent,

I tried two of the gel colors, but only liked the one we used. Off the top of my head, I think there is about 8 or 10 to choose from. They are in a light yellow can if you have trouble finding it.


Wayne,
Snow sounds like fun for all of an hour or two, then I want it to go away!!!

Thank you for the kind words.


Spivey,
Glad you liked the shelf. I have another that's just about ready to stain, but Thanksgiving got in the way. After the holiday, I can get the shop dirty again.

I have a stack of Ceder logs that are all 8ft 6in long. I just rolled on off the top and lifted one end so it was off the ground. Then I cut it in half the whole length with my chainsaw. Some parts are pretty straight, others have a curve to them. Then I cut those two halves in half again so that I had four quarters. I then looked over each quarter and picked out what was straight and nice looking. There is allot of waste, but most of the ceders are already dead but still standing when I take them out.

I used 4 differnt sanders plus a sanding bock and hand sanding to get it smooth. I really doing this too, especialy the weird shapes on the log.

Eddie

 

[elalexander]

Hey Eddie. I haven't seen any "action shots " of your tub but while I had my camera out today I thought I'd snap a few of our tub and backyard before supper. After dinner we like to jump in and tonight my better ahlf tells me we are going to watch idol

It does seem the colder the better as long as the tub is not to far from the house while the snow is flying.

EL

 

[EddieWalker]

EL,

With all that snow on the ground, I can sure see a gazebo in your future!!!!

A suprise for me has been how hard it is to get into the hot tub. I'll stand there in front of it with my robe on, and not want to take it off. I hate the cold and tend to dramatize the pain I'll suffer just before getting into the hot water.

Getting out is easy. My body tempature is warm and it's nothing to dry off and walk to the house. I'm still hot when I'm in the house and have to take a cold shower to cool off.

We're in there several times a week. It's been a great way to relax at the end of the day, or just do nothing during the day.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

Just when I thought that I'd be able to get some work done on the projects that I want to get done, another surprise comes up that changes my priorities. One of my clients bought a brand new, endless swimming pool. It's rather large and the only way to get it into his back yard is with a crane. His hot tub is in the way, so for a few hours help this morning, I got the old hot tub. It's ten years old and ALLOT nicer then the one we already have. It's 50 amps, has all sorts of jets, LED lights, misters and features that our current, 1980 hot tub lacks.

Somehow, I need to take out the old hot tub and get the new one in there. First we'll do some work on the wood on the new one. Steph wants to paint the wood, and the access panel has come off. Both should be simple things to do sometime after the New Year when we have a little free time.

Now I'm glad that I procrastinated so long on putting on the screens of the gazebo. One less thing to take out.

Eddie