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

Top Scrounge

Who holds the title is not as important to me as the fact that a landfill site
has been spared another item which is still valuable 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 and Mom is OK with Garrett moving out, BUT made it clear that the Hot Tub Stays!

Over hearing someone mention how much it was going to cost to have his old hot tub hauled to the dump, Garrett quickly introduced himself and enquired why the tub was being scrapped. The owner said he got tired of replacing a motor control switch that kept burning out and had purchased a new tub. Garrett figured this was a fairly 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 - it probably is"? I figured this hot tub may turn out to be an example of this (which it did), but we had nothing to loose and considering what a new hot tub cost one could afford to spend a few dollars on repairs and still end up with a great deal. The tub, like many hot tub designs, required that the bottom, in addition to the outside edges of the four walls, be supported, but the bottom had obviously not been supported previously resulting in some stress cracks around the upper portion of the side walls which leaked. The heater had also obviously failed during the winter as a few fittings were damaged and leaked from the water freezing, but a little fiberglass repair fixed the leaking cracks and a little ingenuity fixed the leaking fittings. Anyone that knows Garrett and myself knows we would have replaced the simple thermal control switch with a fancy programmable electronic temperature control, which we did with one we had scrounged of course, and a few hundred dollars for repair materials was 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 and after the door was insulated.

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 behind the main pump and is accessed through another access door.

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 photos, check out Auntie's Kids Hot Tub Moments