Recommendation for spa blower holes - re-surface in progress

[tpabrad]

I'm currently getting my pool resurfaced and retiled. I have a spa that spills over into the pool. When I bought the place the current blower was dead. I bought a new one and it works great. There are a number of holes drilled into the seats around the spa and the thing cranks really well. We don't use it often but it is nice to have when we want to kick it on. I had multiple places tell me the holes would be problematic when resurfacing and they advise to just go over them. If they mark them and attempt to drill them out it could cause issues with leaking. It is too easy to knick the pipes underneath and causes too many issues. I would love to keep them but I also don't want this job to go south. There are 4 return jets in the spa itself and appears to be connected to the Venturi tube a few feet away (if I cover a jet water comes spitting out of the tube). So the big question is what do I do? Is there another way to hook up the blower going through the jets or should I just scrap the whole thing and move on with the seat holes covered up? The installer is happy to attempt to keep the holes open but he was uneasy about the idea.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mas985]

Are you saying there are both vent holes near the spa AND a blower? Normally, there is one or the other.

I hate blowers. If the spa is designed properly, you should never need a blower. The problem is many PBs just don't know how to properly design a spa without a blower.

EDIT: Never mind. I think I understand now. There are bench jets correct? These are what you are considering covering. Is this why a blower is required? Do they not work without the blower?

 

[tpabrad]

Are you saying there are both vent holes near the spa AND a blower? Normally, there is one or the other.

I hate blowers. If the spa is designed properly, you should never need a blower. The problem is many PBs just don't know how to properly design a spa without a blower.

EDIT: Never mind. I think I understand now. There are bench jets correct? These are what you are considering covering. Is this why a blower is required? Do they not work without the blower?

Correct, there are holes directly connected to the blower in the seat. I have been told the tubing normally used for these holes is usually flimsy which makes it easy to puncture, hence causing lots of issues when trying to resurface. Unfortunately the pool is on its original surface and tile job from 30 years ago. Bought the place last summer and this is the first costly project we took on. The 4 jets are connected to the Venturi tube. I'd say there is at least 30 small holes around the seat vs the 4 jets. So it does add quite a bit to the spa. This was built back around 1990 so it wouldn't have been anything current. I'm sure back in its day the design was a great idea.