John Highstreet's Carpentry

   Hello again, here we are enjoying some beautiful   spring weather just outside Boston.

 On this page I'll take you on a tour of relocating  a hot tub from under a

covered porch to a new spot in the yard.

 I had moved the steps away, removing as few boards as possible in order to put it back easily when I finished moving the hot tub.

This is me "trying" to pull the tub out... it weighs the same as a VW beetle without the tires.

Wheels would be nice...

I had to experiment with the best way to move this thing by myself. If the guys who built the pyramids could do it, well so could I...

This is what ended up working the best for heaving it up and out: fulcrums, levers and extension boards. The cleat on the 2x12 (on the flagstone) is what the perpendicular 2x12 pivots against, the chain is the hinge, and voila!

It begins to move...

Ever so

slowly, inch

by inch  by

inch

by inch....



Then a moment of ...   ...satisfaction from pulling the molar, I mean tub, out.

Once on solid ground I will need to spin it clockwise for its new home, hence the dowels under the tub and on top of the sleepers (2x4's).

As CEO, I have certain privileges, like the ceremonial tossing of the dirt, which I did a couple thousand times, just to get it right. The shot is such a pose, I think I'm wearing nice shoes... After digging the hole I added

4-6 inches of gravel. Notice the pre-exsisting downspout drain behind me- I'll tap that later on.

Here I am, first batch of concrete mixed, and I got most of it on my pants.

Todd (holding pipe) is a master electrician  who  follows through on all the little details to get a job done right as well as safely.

Of course, he is a wicked jokester...

With the pad cured and flat, it's time to get the tub in the hole.

 Notice that all it takes is my index finger (left hand) to keep the tub from crashing into a million pieces....though I am gritting my teeth.

So while working on getting the MDO sides around the tub, I thought I'd begin priming the 1x4  decking. The phone rang, and I turned away for only a second...

PUPPY, Oh No!

cute little fart.

The arrow points to the two planes, height of tub lip and the exsisting decking. The span will be decked over, but I wanted to have a drain for water that would normally just collect on the surface to have someplace to go. So I ripped a piece of 2 1/2" PVC pipe, angled it for run-off to go directly into the drain pipe. The decking will have weep holes drilled for the water to drain. A fun detail, but also important to avoid standing water.



So everything is plumb and level, the deck heights match perfectly, the tub has fresh water in it and if it weren't 85 degrees, I'd probably jump right in. The pool cover clips are also lockable...

Let's take a step back and see what we have.

The stairs are back in place, there is a dock for easier access from the porch, and the addition of some creative landscaping with a corner piece of flagstone mixed with pond pebbles.

         Looks like it was always there. Shrubs and plants will be added over the weekend.

   Now, where is that puppy?



Thanks for tuning in, please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.