Siting a spa - leveling

[davelinde]

We found a good deal on a small spa (DreamMaker) on Craigslist, pick it up tomorrow. I had assume the spa would have some means of leveling but I just googled the manuals and find that the site needs to be level. hmmm.

So we are going to put it on our (new) paver patio and the pavers are pitched by design. I just checked the site we intend and in the 6x6' footprint we have a pitch of about 1/2" front/back and 3/8" side/side. Here are the options I've come up with so far:

- ignore it and let the spa tilt

- build a bed of sand to level the base

- call the paver guy back and have the pavers reset at level


Personally I think the pitch is a bit too much to ignore and the manual stresses how important it is to be level.

I like the sand bed idea but I suppose the sand could scour out after a few heavy rains?

I'm leaning towards having the pavers reset, not sure how much effort that would be.

Any experience, opinions or other solutions?

 

[TIMMAH]

when i did my 8x8 concrete slab i did a 1/2 inch picth to drain water from under the spa. but that 1/2 inch looked more like a 1 inch in the spa. i ended up getting a concrete planer to make it level.

if you have the cash or doing it yourself, i'd get the pavers reset level. it will look a lot nicer and that tub will be there for a long time. i think you'll be kicking yourself next year or so if you don't.

for sand you could pull the pavers and fill the hole with sand until it's even with the lowest pavers. you could also fill it with pebble rock witch might look better. the pebble rock idea might hold water.

if it was me i would relay the pavers.

 

[davelinde]

yep - I'm leaning towards having the pavers reset. We still have enough base material to pull the pavers, compact a new (level) base) and set the pavers again. My wife is worried it will put a bump in the patio that would be a problem if we ever decided to ditch the spa. Personally I think we could set the pavers a third time if it came to that.

We had 2000 feet of paver done and they still need to come back to do some final cuts around the pool and seal them. I'm thinking the charge to reset 36 feet will not be too much.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Is there any other option? Could you make put down some sand and some wedges that fit on one end and some type of border made of stone to hold the sand from running out from under the tub? Or maybe make wedge shaped slab of pressure treated wood for now?

 

[davelinde]

Is there any other option? Could you make put down some sand and some wedges that fit on one end and some type of border made of stone to hold the sand from running out from under the tub? Or maybe make wedge shaped slab of pressure treated wood for now?

I'm pondering options. The spa manual shows that the majority of the weight will rest in the center of the base, with only a little actually being carried by the perimeter. So shimming just an edge is not good. The problem with fabricating a wedge is that 1/2" over 6' runs out to a sliver pretty fast.

Now I'm thinking I may reset the pavers and set the spa in a bed of sand to take out any irregularity. However the immediate problem is that the volunteers I thought would be moving it today are MIA... so it's still not picked up.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Is there any other option? Could you make put down some sand and some wedges that fit on one end and some type of border made of stone to hold the sand from running out from under the tub? Or maybe make wedge shaped slab of pressure treated wood for now?

I'm pondering options. The spa manual shows that the majority of the weight will rest in the center of the base, with only a little actually being carried by the perimeter. So shimming just an edge is not good. The problem with fabricating a wedge is that 1/2" over 6' runs out to a sliver pretty fast.

Good point. What about just making a "sandbox" - heavy plastic inside of some border of treated wood - you could use some pavers to hide the wood maybe. Then inside the perimeter load sand and level it then set the spa on top. You might need to leave weep holes of some type but then again maybe not.

 

[davelinde]

So my volunteer help showed up - I had a linebacker and a box truck with a lift gate. Moving the spa was easy - I have great friends!

It is now temporarily set and it does need a little leveling. The paver guy suggested he pull a 10x10 area (around the 6x6 spa) to raise an end to level and then blend the grade back to the remaining patio. He said it would be fast, cheap and come out looking good so now I'm waiting for him to get back. He had some minor work to finish anyway so it won't be a separate trip for him.

This weekend was too cold for a spa anyway. Maybe by next weekend!