ᐅ Base/Foundation for a Hot Tub

We had a Softub in the garden for a few years during the winter season in our older house. We actually got it spontaneously at a trade fair. With our setup (prices until 2015, green electricity), it cost us between €25 and €28 per month.

At first, it stood freely in the garden, but we soon got tired of our friendly neighbors lifting the cover off the garden fence at night and asking how we were doing. However, we insisted that the enclosure could be opened for stargazing and to watch the snowflakes dance. The climate stimulus does the trick.

Firstly, it was great. The jets have plenty of power—you won’t want or need anything more. The standard jets direct the flow in an adjustable direction. There are also accessories available with a kind of moving pivoting disc inside, ideal for sitting in front of them for a while. The American electric motors are almost indestructible long-runners under our conditions. Don’t ask me exactly what’s different—I know nothing about electricity, or even less.

Secondly, we had to carry out extensive research and take measures to reduce noise because we had neighbors in the residential area. After all, it always has to circulate water. In this regard, I would never place it on anything that can vibrate, but rather sink it into something heavy. Most of the noise actually comes from the equipment unit. The first neighbor felt disturbed before the pool was even switched on.

Thirdly, water care was time-consuming. I eventually got tired of kneeling in front of it for 10 minutes every evening to maintain the water. However, we really demanded a lot from the pool water: always kept at 38°C (100°F), entering from the front door, dropping clothes on the way, then going out the back and jumping into the pool. If the water should remain sparkling clean, you basically have a constant patient. We couldn’t avoid improvements in water care. The water was like a living organism, almost adapting to its users.

For us, it was worth ordering filters with silver ions from the USA; they just barely got through customs.

Just so you know: a good control system for a top-class hot tub, which handles checking and dosing for you, already costs around $10,000. By the way, in terms of hygiene, a round pool is much better than a square one. There are no dead corners in a round one.

We gave it away to a person living alone when we sold the old house. They didn’t maintain the water but just filled the pool as they pleased and then drained it again. They used it for three years; this year it’s going on eBay due to infrequent use.

You will enjoy it!

Gabriele

@fach1werk: Thank you for sharing your detailed story about your Softub. I will probably choose something with minimal vibration, because although the nearest neighbors are 50 meters (164 feet) away, we don’t want to cause any noise disturbance ourselves. The chance of someone looking over the fence is unlikely—it would require a determined effort to even notice someone sitting inside, and without entering the property, there is no line of sight. Silver ions are known to me from the motorhome sector for keeping water germ-free. They work very well. For about 10 months (10 months), the power will come from the photovoltaic system or the battery. It’s still uncertain whether we will run it during winter, but if so, only with green electricity. It is important to us overall not to consume more electricity than we produce on the roof.
Did you also have the "cover" on it?
Thanks & best regards,
Max

We only set it up during winter; in summer, it was stored in a side room. The lid was always kept on, and the unit had to work significantly harder to heat if the securing straps were even slightly forgotten. Essential for winter use.

Best regards, Gabriele

This morning, an entire thread disappeared here. The topic was: setting up a whirlpool tub, whether or not to leave space in the screed.
What happened there?