Recessing spa controls into decking

[MitchL]

Greetings! Enough lurking, time for my first question:

Short story: We bought our new house with an existing 17x34 inground pool ca. 1973 - equipment was ancient (1995 or so), plaster delaminating. Spa control valves jammed for more than 15 years, heater had never worked.

So we're going for the big overhaul: new plumbing, new equipment (Pentair intelliflo, intellitouch, mastertemp heater, etc.), new plaster, etc. Bringing the pool & yard up to code sure has been interesting (meaning expensive!).

The question: The pool has an attached spa. My wife likes the idea of the spa remote in/near the decking at the spa so we can adjust speed and temp, etc.

I'd like to mount the spa control in the decking (pavers), not in the coping or tiles, and I'd like to recess it slightly with a cover.

Does anyone have any ideas about a box with a cover that might be suitable for this? I'm imagining some kind of little plastic door I could open to reveal the controls underneath. The door would hide the controls from the sun and be less of a tripping hazard than mounting on the deck surface itself.

Perhaps something like an irrigation valve box, but prettier and smaller, if that makes any sense.

Certainly something like this must exist, but I'm probably not looking in the right places.

Thanks!

/Mitch.

 

[Richard320]

What you want is called a "floor box." You see them in schoolrooms, meeting rooms, and convention centers. It so you can have a power outlet or AV hookup in the middle of the room. I don't know that they'd be weatherproof enough for flush mounting outdoors, though. I could see it just filling up with water.

Having the controls vertical, an inch or so above the deck, and then camoflaging it with a bench, or a planter, or a decorative rock would be my preference.

At least you have a search term to google now.

 

[MitchL]

What you want is called a "floor box." You see them in schoolrooms, meeting rooms, and convention centers. It so you can have a power outlet or AV hookup in the middle of the room. I don't know that they'd be weatherproof enough for flush mounting outdoors, though. I could see it just filling up with water.

I would construct or modify such a box to drain water away, but any drainage scheme would probably fail under some circumstances.

Having the controls vertical, an inch or so above the deck, and then camouflaging it with a bench, or a planter, or a decorative rock would be my preference.

I guess that's where I'm heading. Until now, my pool decking area has been very stark - this would be the first object that protrudes above the decking near the pool. I should plan for some planters and such, while the decking has been opened up for re-plumbing, to run irrigation pipes for planters.

At least you have a search term to google now.[/quote]

Yes, I've been looking at "access boxes" and similar things. I'm handy enough to construct this out of PVC or HDPE on my own (have a homebrew CNC). Time to talk to the Google again.

Thanks!

/Mitch.