Hot tubs...do you use yours?

[Dueller]

Wife is beginning to get a hankering for a hot tub recessed into the deck off our bedroom.

When we first started looking at buying a bigger home last year, we vaguely were interested in buying a house with a pool. Ultimately nixxed the idea based on expense/upkeep. Plus, we can join the Yacht club 1/2 mile from our house for $100/month and it has a killer pool area. $1200/year won't touch what we would spend on maintaining a residence pool. In any event, I've posted pics of our new house and those of you who have seen them know our back yard is like a rain forest with a tremendous tree canopy, so definitely no pool for the current house.

But I digress....wife thinks she would really enjoy a hot tub. She has some recurring back pain and thinks it would be soothing/therapeutic. Or maybe its the menopause thing that's going on. Who knows?

If we did the hot tub we'd put it under a gazeeebo structure so we could have a fan centered over it and so it could be used in rainy weather. It would be somewhat sunken so you didn't have to climb up to get in it.

What about you hot tubbers. Get bored with them quickly? Enjoy them? Size? Any other advice/suggestions? Got pics of your set up?

[Embraer]

if i had one, i'd be in it EVERYNIGHT

[72 four door]

You will get bored quick. The newness wears off fast. I even built a house for mine with a TV and sound system. I use it 5 times a year. Taking the cover off and on is the chore,especiallyin the winter.

[Rikao4]

hotflashes and hot-tub = you will be sitting alone,
tubs like the one your thinking off..
are easy to operate & your $$ is your limit..
jets galore,colored lights,ice chest,muzak,
mine is part of the pool..holds about 6..
for me..enjoy tub> jump into pool..repeat...
?..does your lady like & take lots off hot baths..
go from there..

Rika

[Zeke]

I had an in ground jacuzzi as part of a pool years ago and one wife ago. We did use it at least once a week, but it was a hassle to warm it up first. I wouldn't want one of those that stays warm. Nasty water.

If I could heat water by solar during the day and drain it into a small unit, then pump it out to the garden the next morning, I could go for another one. Or, one could get one of the biggest they sell and use it as a mini pool. But, w/o gas heat, they are expensive and as I said, the elec ones that stay hot are just polio ponds to me.

[Dueller]

Originally Posted by Rikao4

hotflashes and hot-tub = you will be sitting alone,
tubs like the one your thinking off..
are easy to operate & your $$ is your limit..
jets galore,colored lights,ice chest,muzak,
mine is part of the pool..holds about 6..
for me..enjoy tub> jump into pool..repeat...
?..does your lady like & take lots off hot baths..
go from there..

Rika

LOL...in our old house we had a garden tub in our master that we used together and alone several times a week. Wife really loves hot soaking baths. Unfortunately, the one drawback to the new house is the master bath is not laid out so we could add a large jacuzzi tub.

Personally I've always thought an indoor spa tub would get much more use than a hot tub merely on the convenience side. The hassle factor of a cover to deal with etc seems like it would take something away from the experience.

If it were me I'd want an ofuru (sp? japanese wooden tub) for outside soaking.

[wcc]

[Zeke]

LOL, that's hilarious how the chick in the black is trying to make us think she has any tits at all.

[TheMentat]

We bought our house with a hot tub, and get some use out of it in phases. Sometimes we'll go for a couple months without using it, other times we're in it every couple of days. I'm not sure that I'd shell out the dough for one if my place wasn't already equipped. Would rather spend the money at Pelican Parts...

[Tim Hancock]

My wife and I haved used ours daily for the past 13 years. It is a big mother humper and seats about six. It has taken up one bay of our two car garage for too long and with the kids in college, I have just talked her into downsizing to a two person oval that will allow us to park another car in the garage. I think I am going to order this one (The one she picked 13 years ago was about $6000) for $2599. http://www.spadepot.com/shop/Belize-Oval-II-Spa-P917C307.aspx She likes having it in the garage for weather reasons and so that we can hop in without swim suits.

Don't get caught up in all the fancy jazz that they try to upsell you with. Although ours is loaded with jets, my wife and I NEVER use the jets.... We simply soak in the hot water for about 10-15 minutes.

My wife has fibromyalgia which is why she bought it in the first place, but also got wrapped up in getting a did fancy model. I can count on one hand how many times my wife and I have had more than three people in it (my kids OTOH did occasionally have friends over so they obviously had several people in it).

[TimT]

Ours is used year round, We have it at our Vermont house, where my mom lives year round now..she uses it almost daily when... and when I or my bros are at the house it gets used multiple times during the day..

My bro and nieces enjoying the hot tub.. I think it was around 10 deg when the pic was taken..

[bivenator]

Did she drop a contact lense? It took me awhile to figure out what I was looking at.

[sammyg2]

We have a spa on the side of the pool. We've only had it about a year but we use it at least once a week except when it's really cold outside.
in the summer we use it more often. We don't like to crank it up really hot though, usually only around 94 degrees.

[Hugh R]

Have a built in that is way too big like you could put 10 or more people in. Came with the house. We use it every other Saturday or so. The thing is huge, like 750 gallons, way too big to use and heat daily.

[TimT]

Did she drop a contact lense?

not sure what she was doing in that pic...

We always told the kids about using a sauna then rolling around in the snow..using pine boughs or whatever to rub the skin..of course this applied to hot tubs

Niece sitting in the snow in 10 deg weather... Lab looking at the stupid human lol

[strupgolf]

Hot tubs are like girlfriends. They are hot at first, then get old, and then they start to annoy. We had one, but it was a pain to keep clean and hot.

[aigel]

I would kill for an oversized bath tub. But I would not want a hot tub. The thought of soaking in the same water over and over isn't very appealing. Also, you shower before you go in the hot tub and after too, so you might as well take an old fashioned bath ...

George

[Paul K]

We have one. Use it a lot in winter. Make sure it's close to the house, and no one can see you in it. Maintenance isn't a problem, I take a water sample down to the outfit the tub came from, they analyze it & give me a printout of what chemicals to add. Pretty simple.

[RoninLB]

my retired friend customized one as an aid to body aches.

big pumps etc that do a job on him

[LeeH]

Our house had an above ground hot tub by the pool when we moved in. I used it more than my wife. Eventually the electronics started acting strange. I opened it up to find that small ground squirrels were nesting inside and nibbling on the wiring. I cleaned it out, fixed the wiring and sealed the base. Two weeks later I went to use the hot tub and it wouldn't work. The squirrels were back. Cleaned it again, fixed the wiring again, and sealed it up again. Two weeks later... I gave it to a friend of mine after it happened again. He fixed it and used it regularly for a couple of years before various parts became unrepairable.

We have a large garden tub, but not jetted. If we ever remodel our master bath I'd definitely put in a jetted tub. I think it would get plenty of use.