Operation hot tub

February 3rd, 2010

The hot tub arrived on-site today and was promptly hoisted up to the roof by a giant crane.

Watching the crane operator from Plywood Supply gently position the spa into place with the help of several of the people on site was pretty amazing. It seemed extremely dangerous to me but stuff gets hoisted onto roofs all the time, I guess… usually without incident.

Three bald eagles showed up to watch as well, which was cool. The full photo gallery of “Operation Hot Tub” is available here.

Hot tub specifics

First let me say that comparison shopping for hot tubs sucks. There are a few web sites which claim to be “hot tub buying guides”, but most seem shady and designed to push you towards particular purchases. None seem particularly interested in taking a comprehensive look at the world of spas, from a consumer standpoint.

I made the decision to buy a HotSpring spa from Olympic Hot Tub Company several months ago for three reasons:

  • Some friends of mine have a relatively new one and love it.
  • HotSpring makes a mid-size model, the “Sovereign”, that fits into the space we had available and has a super-nice lounge seat inside the tub.
  • When checking out just about every single brand of hot tub, all of the salespeople were very quick to talk shit about other brands, but none said anything bad about HotSpring. Some even specifically said things like “Well, I can’t compete against HotSpring, but besides that, we are pretty much top of the class.”

It was this last point that ended up pushing HotSpring to the top of my list. I really want the Honda of spas here; trusty, good performance, and no maintenance. Many other tubs had a lot more bells and whistles, but I just want something that will never have to be replaced.

I can’t wait to fire this thing up. As mentioned in a previous post, the cost to run it year-round should be only about $14 a month.

Costs accrued during this stage:

HotSpring Sovereign Hot Tub$10,394.00

There are 1 other sites referencing this entry:

  1. So Here’s What Happened (on February 5th) : Andrew Flynn

6 Responses to “Operation hot tub”

  1. Lou M. Says:

    mike, can’t go wrong with Hotspring brand. We had a grandee model for a few years before we moved (sold it with the house) and absolutely loved it. Olympic is the way to go in terms of retailers and Hotspring is a no-brainer. Enjoy the tub! I still say it was the favorite thing from our old house and we are more than planning on getting one for our new project. With that view of yours it will be awesome!

    #1 - February 4th, 2010 at 9:31 am
  2. Anthony Says:

    Wow, that is one nice view. Great place for a hot tub.

    #2 - February 4th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
  3. Nic Says:

    You must be glad you chose to compare it Honda, and not to Toyota!

    #3 - February 8th, 2010 at 12:54 am
  4. Lou M Says:

    Nic:
    It’s not just Toyota
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100210/ts_nm/us_toyota

    #4 - February 12th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
  5. Wil Says:

    I love this site. Thanks for sharing all your hard work. I day dream about being able to build a house. Congrats!

    #5 - February 23rd, 2010 at 7:43 am
  6. [name redacted] Says:

    I know this is a late reply but how are you loving your Hot Tub??

    Editor’s note: It appears the company I bought my Hot Tub from decided to spam this thread. The email address was from “buckleupnetwork.com” which purports to be a “social media consultancy”. Not necessary, Olympic Hot Tub Company. Not necessary at all.

    #6 - July 23rd, 2010 at 8:36 pm