After scrounging a Hot Tub, my son Garrett figures that he has stolen from me and deserves the title of

Top Scrounge

To me, who holds the title is not as important as the fact that our landfill site
has been spared one more item that still has some great value if simply given some
TLC by someone with the knack and who does not mind fixing a few problems.

July 15, 2001

Finally - something my wife agrees is not junk! A month after my son (center) scrounged this hot tub
he bought a house. Mom is OK with Garrett moving out, BUT made it clear that the Hot Tub Stays!)

Over hearing the previous owner mention how much it was going to cost to have his old hot tub hauled to the dump, Garrett quickly introduce himself and enquired as to why the tub was being scrapped. The owner informed him that he was tired of replacing a motor control switch that kept burning out and had purchased a new tub. Garrett figured this sounded like a pretty simple problem to solve so quickly offered to haul the old hot tub away for free.

Remember the saying "if it sounds too good to be true - that it probably is"? I figured that this hot tub may turn out to be an example of this (which it was) but, what did we have to loose. Considering the cost of a new tub, one could afford to spend a few dollars to repair the old tub and still end up with a great deal. This tubs design required that the tubs bottom, in addition to the four edges, be supported. The previous owner obviously had not supported the bottom so there were a few leaking stress cracks around the upper side walls. The heater had also obviously failed during the winter as a few damaged fittings were leaking. However, a little fiberglass repair fixed the leaking tub cracks and the leaky fittings were fixed with a little ingenuity. Of course we replaced the simple thermal temperature control switch with a fancy programmable electronic control. Several hundred dollars for repair and installation materials is still a pretty good deal for a tub costing $6,000 to $8,000 new.

July 15, 2001

With the truck, trailer and assistance of Barry, VA6DX, the hot tub was brought home. The first thing done was to set up and operate the tub in a bare open support frame to locate any leaks or other problems requiring repair before the open frame was insulated and closed in.
(left - hot tub testers hard at work)

Oct 13, 2001

After several weeks of hard work testing the tub, the tub was drained and repairs were made. The tub was then permanently located, 2" insulating foam board was placed over the earth, and 4" foam board was installed in the supporting frame walls before the exterior wood boards were applied. Also, the existing deck was extended to the enclosure and run along one adjacent side.

Decking consists of reused 2x4's and 2x6's that each have been thickness planed to the same thickness and jointed together to form a solid wood deck. Other than a few pressure treated 2x4's, that were purchased for use where there was soil contact, all wood for the existing deck and hot tub structure has been planed used or scrap lumber from new construction sites. The thickness planer and jointer have paid for themselves many times over. The deck close up photo shows the tightly fitted perfectly flat and smooth deck surface which will be later covered with indoor/outdoor carpet.

Equipment area
access door before
& after
insulation

Main pump, heater, control box and water filter.

The electric water heater is within the
horizontal white pipe above the pump motor.

A second pump is located on other side of hot tub
behind another access door.

Oct 20, 2001 – Time was short and winter threatened to come before the carpet was laid
so a temporary enclosure was constructed to allow maintaining a reasonable temperature
while installing carpet and the carpet adhesive cured.

October 21, 2001

The temporary enclosure allowed work to continue, day and night. Outside it may be -8°C (18°F),
but inside a small electric heater kept it a balmy 18°C (65°F) and allowed work to continue.
Right photo shows carpet still not installed, but a deck railing has been constructed and stained.

The carpet was installed and a duplex outlet W/P cover was used to house the home brew tub controls.

Within a week after winters first snow fall, warm weather returned and stayed for another 4 weeks. During this time a support frame was built for a fabric roof, staining was completed and Deck/Christmas Lights were permanently installed.
Nov 22 – Winter is finally here to stay. A temporary tarp was placed over the roof support structure and around 2 sides. The temporary tarp and attachment method ("C" clamps) will suffice until quickly attachable/detachable fabric covers with snap fasteners are made.

For more Hot Tub pictures check out Auntie's Kids Hot Tub Moments