Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: kervis on June 07, 2006, 07:30:42 am
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My husband will be building a PAVER patio for our hot tub. It's measured out in the yard now! :) I know that somewhere in these 305 forum pages, people have posted pictures and info about how and why they used what they did to make their patios for their tubs. I don't want to spend the time to go through all those pages. Does anyone happen to know any threads on this, or has posted something themself? He has already built a beautiful cobblestone patio for our entrance/exit/eating area, and now will use matching 16"x16" blocks for the hot tub and fire pit areas. I would just like him to have some visuals to look at, if possible. Thanks!
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Try the search function- you should be able to narrow things down quite a bit.
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I don't have any pictures to give but for my patio I put 2" thick blocks for the patio and 4"thick under the tub so if it settles with all the weight water will have no place to settle at the base of the tub and should help in keeping the rot away.
Good luck
Ivan
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Try the search function- you should be able to narrow things down quite a bit.
Thanks-- I had not noticed it before. I'll try it and see what happens!
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Kervis, with the search function, pay attention to the date range functions. This is an
annoying err, interesting feature ::) that unless you change it only searches back a few days.
I'd love to see pics of your set up. Eventually, I would like to re-do my deck and patio area, and pavers with a fire pit is something I'd like to do. Cobblestones....sounds nice.
Good luck, :D
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My husband will be building a PAVER patio for our hot tub. It's measured out in the yard now! :) I know that somewhere in these 305 forum pages, people have posted pictures and info about how and why they used what they did to make their patios for their tubs. I don't want to spend the time to go through all those pages. Does anyone happen to know any threads on this, or has posted something themself? He has already built a beautiful cobblestone patio for our entrance/exit/eating area, and now will use matching 16"x16" blocks for the hot tub and fire pit areas. I would just like him to have some visuals to look at, if possible. Thanks!
Yes. I posted some photos a couple months ago and last week. We used the 1ft x 1ft patio pavers on a bed of gravel and sand. Solid as a rock and a bit less expensive than pouring concrete.
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=wtb-hottub;action=display;num=1145195169;start=0
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Thank you, thank you! I had seen yours and Anne's as well but have been unable to find them using that search engine. I shall keep plugging away. Your patio looks great.
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Thank you, thank you! I had seen yours and Anne's as well but have been unable to find them using that search engine. I shall keep plugging away. Your patio looks great.
Thanks
It was a fair amount of hard work, but we felt accomplished and proud. It's not difficult, but it can be taxing and tiring at times.
We used 2x6 PT wood to create our box form. Dug out 6-8 inch of sod and shovelled in some gravel. Levelled the box form and filled it high enough so the pavers would be flush with the box form.
For the PT box form I did use some of those metal corner fasteners (similar to metal joist hangers). I also reinforced the sides of the box form by hammering in some 18 inch re-bar right next to them. These steps are probably overkill, but I didn't want the weight of the tub to destroy my form by causing bowing or the corners to seperate.
My buddy who pours concrete said the pavers and box form should be just fine.
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For what it is worth, I put my tub directly on gravel, because I could. I wish in hind site that I had done pavers on top of travel as TN did, since I have loose gravel exposed that is awkward and can be messy. I had trouble deciding what size to make my "box" since i have a "wrap around" steps that I wanted level with the tub. That meant making the gravel box bigger than the squarefootage of the tub. In the future, I may move the tub and add pavers, but that requires a lot of man power.
If case you want a reminder of what this looked like:
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=wtb-hottub;action=display;num=1145502643;start=
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I have pavers on a sand base. It works fine.
Orignally it was for a used tub that sat there for a year, and I made it slightly bigger for my caspain. It has worked out well for me. I'm hoping though that over the next few years, I'll be able to do some stamped concrete work, and put the tub on that.
For size, I would not make the base the same size as the tub or just slightly larger. I made my paver base about 1' larger around than the tub. I wish made it more like 2.5' or bigger. The grass around the tub takes a beating and it;s a pain to get the lawn tractor next to it.
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I have pavers on a sand base. It works fine.
Orignally it was for a used tub that sat there for a year, and I made it slightly bigger for my caspain. It has worked out well for me. I'm hoping though that over the next few years, I'll be able to do some stamped concrete work, and put the tub on that.
For size, I would not make the base the same size as the tub or just slightly larger. I made my paver base about 1' larger around than the tub. I wish made it more like 2.5' or bigger. The grass around the tub takes a beating and it;s a pain to get the lawn tractor next to it.
regarding your problem with grass: Roundup
I spray my fence, deck, house, etc. with Roundup...works great (be careful)
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regarding your problem with grass: Roundup
I spray my fence, deck, house, etc. with Roundup...works great (be careful)
I don't have a probelm with the grass commng through the pavers, butrather the edge of the pavers and the lawn. It's there that the grass is taking a beating. I should have made the pad a couple of feet wider to give ample room to walk around. This is espcially true at the front of the spa where I stand to do maintence.
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Pavers on a sand bottom. The pavers under the hot-tub had a concrete/gravel combination for added support.
(http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/655/hottub3dr.jpg)
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cappy,
that's exactly what I want to do around my tub, pool and deck. I really like that.
Did you do it yourself or hire someone?
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Man that is one nice lookin tub! And the pavers are beautiful too! All you need now is an off set umbrella ;)
(Like the one my hubby got me because he is too lazy to build a pergola!) >:(
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Thanks! We hired someone. Actually, a friend who owns a landscaping business.
Boni, how 'bout a picture?
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Pros and Cons:
Pavers do allow for drainage and Pavers look great.
However I have found that ants can be a real problem, the sand below the pavers are perfect for a home and they kick up the sand from between the pavers and create quite a mess that can get tracked into the tub.
If I were to do it again I would place the Hot Tub on a poured concrete base.
We are moving our Hot Tub onto a two tier engineered Steel and concrete ten foot high deck, right off our family room, Much better location, more privacy, great view, and the Tub has a 19 inch height exposure above the floor for ease of entry.
Just my 2 cents
Regards, Zz
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One remedy to the sand and paver issue is to use a mortar/cement mixture.
I enter my tub from my deck, so i don't track much sand into the tub, but inevitably some makes its way in there.
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There is also a product that comes bagged- more expensive than mortar by a lot but you dont need a lot of it.......cannot remember the name but it is basically a sand with a glue/mortar in it. You distrubute it in the cracks, gently get it wet (so it stays in the cracks) and it hardens to a fairly impenetrable surface. I think it would be plenty to discourage ant activity. Polygonic sand? Polymetric sand? Sommin like that :-/
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Ann- I used this sand product two weeks ago and it was calles Locking Paver Sand. Very fine sand is swept over the pavers and than sprinkled lightly with water two or three times.
I holds the pavers together very well and does provide a nice seal. I doubt the ants won't be able to penetrate it though. Ants have a lot of time and patience on their side.
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Just returned from our cabin (just outside Brainerd, MN) to read all of your helpful comments and suggestions! **(BTW, there is an old, round wooden hot tub that we can use there! We have no electricity and no running water. The hot tub is run on a noisy generator :( and the water is pumped up from the lake using the same noisy generator. We have a clean, clear lake, but as the summer goes on, the hot tub turns green and full of algae and people use it anyway :P--gross but fun! We're in the deep woods, for goodness sakes!)**
Cappykat--great picture! I notice that you left ample space around it like Drewstar suggested! I shall do the same. Anne, I love your new photo--the lights are cool! It's great to hear what has worked well and what you all would change. The countdown begins now....I'll post pictures when the whole thing is finished! Thanks for all of your tips. :D