Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: Cyn on July 23, 2007, 10:16:36 am
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Would love some ideas for privacy screening. Need to screen two sides and one side needs to have something fairly close to the tub and about 6 feet tall or more because of a house set higher than ours with a second floor window within a direct sighting line.
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Would love some ideas for privacy screening. Need to screen two sides and one side needs to have something fairly close to the tub and about 6 feet tall or more because of a house set higher than ours with a second floor window within a direct sighting line.
You can try the search button. i think there are some threads on this topic with some great pics.
Can you plant bushes???
104 degrees
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Can't plant bushes...the tub is within a good sized patio and the bushes would have to be really big trees to cover that neighbors view from their window since the edge of the patio is a long way from the tub. Sorry, that maybe kind of hard to picture! :o I will try to search...thanks!
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Cyn
I am in the same boat to a degree - I am going to use willow branches tied closely together, that looks like a natural hedge, but at 2 metres high, it will keep out the really nosy peeps...I will post pictures soon...
Also, I am planning to plant some wisteria - it is a climbing plant that has nice 'broad leaves - doesn't flower for too long (no wasp and bees problem then) and grows very quickly....again will post pics as soon as I can...
Hope this helps a bit...
Nosh.
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Nosh-
Would love to see the pics when you get done!! Creative ideas are always welcome.
Thanks!
Cyn
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You can check out privacy screens and/or pergolas. Sundance Spas has some privacy screens available but I'm sure you kind find the same things at a patio & garden store.
http://www.sundancespas.com/Accessories/Complements.html
Or even Home Depot:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Navigation?marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125&Ntk=AllProps&Ns=P_Topseller_Sort|1&N=10000003+90401+501559&No=12&rpp=12&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&style=B
I also found these options:
http://www.balconyvacations.com/spa_hot_tub_privacy_screens.htm
http://www.deckmateusa.com/photo_album.html
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You can check out privacy screens and/or pergolas. Sundance Spas has some privacy screens available but I'm sure you kind find the same things at a patio & garden store.
http://www.sundancespas.com/Accessories/Complements.html
Or even Home Depot:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Navigation?marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125&Ntk=AllProps&Ns=P_Topseller_Sort|1&N=10000003+90401+501559&No=12&rpp=12&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&style=B
I also found these options:
http://www.balconyvacations.com/spa_hot_tub_privacy_screens.htm
http://www.deckmateusa.com/photo_album.html
My Advice: Do not buy the privacy screens listed on the Hot Spring or Sundance websites. They are both made by the same company (EON/CPI Plastics), are very expensive ($500 retail), but are cheap POS's. They may match the tub siding, but they only stay put when installed in a horizontal position. >:(
This was after one day attached to my new patio, and yes, the rust was from a just few days exposed to the elements:
(Aren't the holes in my new patio purty!?)
(http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q37/richs10/HSScreen015.jpg)
(http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q37/richs10/HSScreen011.jpg)
(http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q37/richs10/HSScreen007.jpg)
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Richs100 - I never seen them in person or priced them out - pretty darn expensive for being so cheap & flimsy! :P Thanks for sharing! Where you able to get any of your money back on it or were you out?
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All Rich needed was a support beam behind the privacy screen
and not just attach the bottom to the concrete and it probably
would still be standing.
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y273/ItsZep/Hot%20Tub/jan03.jpg)
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Richs100 - I never seen them in person or priced them out - pretty darn expensive for being so cheap & flimsy! :P Thanks for sharing! Where you able to get any of your money back on it or were you out?
No, I was able to get a full refund from my dealer who installed it. (Another benefit of using a good local dealer!) BTW, he installed the screen exactly according to the instructions that came with it.
Hey Zep: I consider myself lucky that it fell down so soon because every metal fitting on the screen began to rust after just 2 days outside. I figure, by now, it would look pretty nasty.
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There are a number of columnar trees that don't take up too much room and grow quite tall - we have a similar situation and we planted 5 European Hornbeam trees in a staggered row - it's going to take a year or so for them to completely cover things but the trees only take up about 10' long and 4' in depth.
Can't plant bushes...the tub is within a good sized patio and the bushes would have to be really big trees to cover that neighbors view from their window since the edge of the patio is a long way from the tub. Sorry, that maybe kind of hard to picture! :o I will try to search...thanks!
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There are a number of columnar trees that don't take up too much room and grow quite tall - we have a similar situation and we planted 5 European Hornbeam trees in a staggered row - it's going to take a year or so for them to completely cover things but the trees only take up about 10' long and 4' in depth.
I replaced the privacy screen with a row of 4 "red tip" bushes. It will take a few years for them to grow tall enough, but they can be trimmed into a hedge that will be a nice screen for the area.
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Two thoughts....I used arborvitae and it works well. If you are not in the north you could also try bamboo
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Bamboo will actually grow just fine in the north, but if you even consider it, research carefully. I love my bamboo, but my neighbors hate it and it has caused us problems. they are angry because it makes a perfect 30 foot screen and they can't see to get into my business. You do however need to maintain it as it grows at an unbelievable rate and spreads by underground runners. ;)
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I thought it dropped its leaves in the winter, allowing those prying eyes to peek
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There are many different Bamboo species, but the one that I have stays evergreen. If we get wet snow in the winter, the leaves will become loaded with snow and the whole stalk will bend over. My kids used to love playing in the giant tunnel that the bamboo made. As soon as the snow melts, it bounces back in place. We use it for all kinds of things from fishing poles, to garden stakes. I even use it for clothes line props. The kids love to take green pieces and throw them into a camp fire. The bamboo stores so much water that it makes a loud almost explosive sound. It is definitly a fast and effective privacy screen!
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Nosh-
Would love to see the pics when you get done!! Creative ideas are always welcome.
Thanks!
Cyn
Here is a shot of what the beech sticks look like....it comes in a roll 4 metres long and 2 metres high.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w15/Noshdaminsk/beech.jpg)
I will post a shot once they are up. We are also planning to put some lights on the beech for the night effect - you know, those little twinkly ones.....
Cheers
Nosh.
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Would love some ideas for privacy screening. Need to screen two sides and one side needs to have something fairly close to the tub and about 6 feet tall or more because of a house set higher than ours with a second floor window within a direct sighting line.
Have you considered an offset umbrella with zip-on screens?
Add material to screens, modify to suit, use when desired. And if you get one with a rotating base and tilt, might not even need the screens.
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Thanks so much for all the ideas!! Rich, those pictures were worth a thousand words. We had looked at screens like yours and we certainly won't be going back!! I can never get over how things supposedly made to be outdoors sometimes rust within days. Since planting is really out of the question...edge of patio too far from tub to screen that second floor neighbor's window, I will be looking into the other suggestions. A lot of the on-line suggestions were for screens that are way to short even though they could be used closer to the tub. Thanks everyone!!
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Thanks so much for all the ideas!! Rich, those pictures were worth a thousand words. We had looked at screens like yours and we certainly won't be going back!! I can never get over how things supposedly made to be outdoors sometimes rust within days. Since planting is really out of the question...edge of patio too far from tub to screen that second floor neighbor's window, I will be looking into the other suggestions. A lot of the on-line suggestions were for screens that are way to short even though they could be used closer to the tub. Thanks everyone!!
I got it!!! A hot tub umbrella ;)with a panal on one side 8-) I do not know how topost a pic or i would :'(
John 104 degrees
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Can't get an image, but I got a link.
10ft Offset Umbrella with Mosquito Netting
(http://www.patioumbrellas.com/patio-umbrellas/misc/products.cfm?action=view&key=BC060)
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Can't get an image, but I got a link.
10ft Offset Umbrella with Mosquito Netting
(http://www.patioumbrellas.com/patio-umbrellas/misc/products.cfm?action=view&key=BC060)
:)You go Lars 8-)
John
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Lars--went to the link, thanks!! Looks wonderful, but we get some pretty heavy winds and that was one reason we didn't want to do the screen pagoda's or whatever they are called. The reviews on the link state the umbrellas don't do very well in the wind.
Nosh--be sure and send the finished pics. How will it all stand up...what about wind?
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Lars--went to the link, thanks!! Looks wonderful, but we get some pretty heavy winds and that was one reason we didn't want to do the screen pagoda's or whatever they are called. The reviews on the link state the umbrellas don't do very well in the wind.
Nosh--be sure and send the finished pics. How will it all stand up...what about wind?
You can build a "slanted roof" over your tub. some what like a house with no sides or just one side.
John
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Well, I'd throw the supplied base away and stick a pipe in the ground, then slip the umbrella in the pipe, drill through, slip in bolt to pin umbrella in place.
Yeah, I've got an odd location too. ;) Have a 18' octagonal deck, but they didn't make it a perfect octagon. Framing a gazebo roof will not be fun. This looks a heck of a lot cheaper.
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Lars--went to the link, thanks!! Looks wonderful, but we get some pretty heavy winds and that was one reason we didn't want to do the screen pagoda's or whatever they are called. The reviews on the link state the umbrellas don't do very well in the wind.
Nosh--be sure and send the finished pics. How will it all stand up...what about wind?
Cyn:
---If you went with the umbrella Lars found, I would recommend using a base that slides under the tub and is held there by the weight of the tub and its water. I use one for my umbrella and it works great. You just need to make sure that you get the right base for the right umbrella pole. On my tub, the umbrella also doubles as a great hand rail for getting in and out of the tub when the umbrella is down. Here's a pic of mine. The base slides right under the corner of the tub.
(http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q37/richs10/patio010.jpg)
---Another alternative, although expensive, is an actual gazebo which is attached to the tub. This is what I had on my old Prodigy. It was made by an outfit called Sequoia and lasted for the life of my old tub (13 years) until it met Mr. Tree Limb. My old one was made out of redwood to match old tub skirting. The new ones I understand are made from the sythetic tub siding material now. Here is a link to their webpage. http://www.sequoiaworks.com/
I didn't go with a new one on this tub because I realized how much I liked the night sky. The umbrella and stand is perfect for me now.
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Lars--interesting installation idea, but remember that I would have to put the pipe in the patio and it is brand new so I don't think I will try that...although I may decide it is the best idea!!
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Rich...WOW, your idea about slipping the stand under the tub is great and your setup looks perfect!! I am with you on the night sky...thanks!
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Steel pipe, weld flange, concrete drill, bolts. Yeah, I'm a draftsman… ;)
Look around online, you can find several different offset umbrella/stand combos available. Wind is only going to be a problem if you leave the thing up during a storm. Make sure to get a retractable.
Richs100, nice looking setup. Now all you need is the screen enclosure.
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Rich...WOW, your idea about slipping the stand under the tub is great and your setup looks perfect!! I am with you on the night sky...thanks!
All the spa umbrellas go under the spa unless there on a deck. they do close so you dont need to worry about the wind.
John
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Cyn,
Why not put the trees/shrubs in oversized planters? My uncle has a green thumb and has one of the most beautiful backyards I've ever seen. He has all sorts of things growing in those huge planters. I can't think of their names right now but I'll ask. Also I'm not sure exactly how far away your tub sits from the patio edge but arboritae trees would probably do the trick. They're fast growing and can reach heights of 60' and widths of 15'! I bought some 5 footers this past spring and they're already over 6'. My uncle planted some 5 footers 7 years ago and they're close to 12' tall and 4' wide. Around these parts you can buy 8 footers for $50 - $60 each. Or you could just plant some typical mature trees.........
(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r165/tileman_photos/americanarbovitae.jpg)
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Chad - Thanks!! Unfortunately I do not have a green thumb at all. We had thought about the large plant/tree in planters idea, but am pretty sure we wouldn't be able to keep the poor things alive. And the edge of the patio plantings won't work due to an area where the walkway leading to the patio from our driveway would still be open and would require a mighty high gate since it is in the direct path of that perfect 2nd floor peeping-tom window!! My next house will be the one that sits on the hill...
I may end up desiging my own creation for this dumb problem and I will include everyone's name on the patent request!! We could make a fortune...
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I would try to stay away from anything solid.....the cool/cold breeze makes the soak!
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I would try to stay away from anything solid.....the cool/cold breeze makes the soak!
SSSSOOOOOOO True. plus you feel boxed in :)
john