Home-made hot tub

damagegt

After going back to college in September all of my time has been spent in college so Iv started a small project for the weekends.I decided on a small 4-5 man hottub.It will have just over 1500 liters or 1.5 cubic meters of water heated by a stainless back boiler built in to a stove with 2 inch piping.

Heres a few pictures of the start.If anybody has any questions or suggestions fire away.

roxybing

question - Can i have a go when it's finished

suggestion - Only nudist girls allowed

Hootanany

What's the masking tape for:)

damagegt

Hootanany wrote: »

What's the masking tape for:)

That was the make-believe hottub before I got off my ass and started it.

damagegt

roxybing wrote: »

question - Can i have a go when it's finished

suggestion - Only nudist girls allowed

Hmmm maybe for a small fee as for the nudist ill try my hardest but I cant promise anything.

LK_Dave

Do you have a set of plans or are you making it up as you go along?

fair play to you.

damagegt

LK_Dave wrote: »

Do you have a set of plans or are you making it up as you go along?

fair play to you.

I have a general plan of what I want to achieve but as with anything I'm sure Ill have missed something.

harry21

I love 'build' threads.

Eathrin

What are you using for the interior of the tub?

damagegt

Im going to line it with 1" exterior grade wbp and I have a mate that works with a industrial flooring company so I can then coat it with 20mm of a black flexible resin mixed with purple crushed quartz,this can be rounded and polished.Ill then build 3 steps either side and deck it out.Ill make a lid and also deck that out so I can get over it.Im going to use some old marine rope to make hand rails so you wont fall over the wall

nacimroc

Great idea for a DIY project! You going loading it up with pumps/jets? You going to form curved seating or just flat?

Best of luck with it! Keep us updated! The more pics the better!

damagegt

nacimroc wrote: »

Great idea for a DIY project! You going loading it up with pumps/jets? You going to form curved seating or just flat?

Best of luck with it! Keep us updated! The more pics the better!

Cheers.The seating with be slightly angled down by 10 degrees and all internal corners/edges will be rounded.I was thinking of pumps/jets but they will drive the price up and will need electrics.I'm going to leave access and space in case I want to add them later. But for now Ill just add a simple aerator and some 1" pvc piping with holes in it and see how that works.

paddy147

dont have a go at me for asking here,but......


Are you blocking access to the house,in the event of an emergencey and gaining access to the house or having an escape route?????

What if firemen or ambulance staff need to access the property to save a life or lives????

LK_Dave

damagegt wrote: »

.....I was thinking of pumps/jets but they will drive the price up and will need electrics.I'm going to leave access and space in case I want to add them later. But for now Ill just add a simple aerator and some 1" pvc piping with holes in it and see how that works.

It was either Aldi or Lidl but one of them was selling jacuzzi mats for baths in the past couple of weeks....could be a temporary solution.

I note in an earlier post you said that you'll be using WBP board and a 2" proxy with quarts mix. Can you keep us informed where you bought these, product names (if the mods permit) and how much they cost? Ditto for the pumps, pipes etc?

Cheers

damagegt

paddy147 wrote: »

dont have a go at me for asking here,but......


Are you blocking access to the house,in the event of an emergencey and gaining access to the house or having an escape route?????

What if firemen or ambulance staff need to access the property to save a life or lives????

Nope it has steps up and over the top from each side which will be the lid
.Also 4" x 4" posts from the ground up the hand height when standing on top on the lid with rope used as the hand rail.Also there is access to all areas of the house from the far side.

damagegt

LK_Dave wrote: »

It was either Aldi or Lidl but one of them was selling jacuzzi mats for baths in the past couple of weeks....could be a temporary solution.

I note in an earlier post you said that you'll be using WBP board and a 2" proxy with quarts mix. Can you keep us informed where you bought these, product names (if the mods permit) and how much they cost? Ditto for the pumps, pipes etc?

Cheers

I will where I can,Its 1" exterior wbp and 20mm of product. As I said a mate of mine works with a company that specializes in industrial flooring so the finish product will come from him at a reduced cost but I will supply the name.I have yet to source the ply as this will be expense and require a bit of shopping.The pump Ill be first using is a live bait well aerator pump, I use for fishing at the moment.

I don't know how well it will work but it will give me a base product to work from.

dathi

you are going to need a pump filter and ozone generator to clean the water or else you will end up lying in a bacterial soup of your own making :eek:

damagegt

dathi wrote: »

you are going to need a pump filter and ozone generator to clean the water or else you will end up lying in a bacterial soup of your own making :eek:

I know this is the biggest problem I have.How to keep it clean.But to be honest it isn't something I'm going to be using everyday,just a project to stop me going mad.Iv built a drain hole in to the plans so when Im done ill be emptying it and cleaning it out.Im hoping this will be enough and if not iv also left enough space it install equipment down the line

damagegt

Just so you can see what the 20mm resin/quarts mix looks like.It will be the same as this but with purple fleck and slightly flexible.I could make it slip resistant but it dulls the color so I'm undecided on that.

LK_Dave

A quick search for ply prices on Google found.....

http://www.woodworkers.ie/prices/p_sheet_plywood.shtml

Listed are WBP & Marine ply plus others.

cram1971

dathi wrote: »

you are going to need a pump filter and ozone generator to clean the water or else you will end up lying in a bacterial soup of your own making :eek:

No need for an ozone generator (although would be nice), A large filter and regular testing and chlorine dosing and shocking will suffice. When not in use, lower the temperature (actually how are you going to control the temperature) this will reduce the need for sanitation.

OP in relation to Jets you can buy kits for custom built hot tub they can be pretty pricey, I rarely turn mine one as they are quite noisy and I just like to sit relax and have a beer

paddy147

LK_Dave wrote: »

A quick search for ply prices on Google found.....

http://www.woodworkers.ie/prices/p_sheet_plywood.shtml

Listed are WBP & Marine ply plus others.

18mm thick 8 x 4 WPB is around 25 euro in a builders providers.

beazee

cram1971 wrote: »

No need for an ozone generator (although would be nice), A large filter and regular testing and chlorine dosing and shocking will suffice.

Ozone generator would be nice. And a regular testing would at least be every 3-4 days. Not that easy to stabilize ion content plus you need to keep the water flow (= noise & monies).

Otherwise two weeks still water and you get that foam that can only be dealt with pool shock.

More time wasted maintaining water quality (eg: rain) than enjoying beer while watching movies outside on a wall.

vicwatson

Shall watch this thread with great interest. Whats the time frame for completion OP?

bbam

I can't fully tell from the pics but is the timber on the ground defniitely pressure treated?? It doesn't look like it is...
if it is you should be retreating the cut ends as it will expose the core of the timber which the pressure treating won't have accessed..

How flexable is the product you plan on finishing the interior with? that weight of water, will probably bend the ply slightly, possibly enough to crack the interior if its not flexable enough.

EDIT:
Having looked at the photos again i would worry about the strength of the structure.. guessing it will hold about 1,000l of water that is about a ton of water. The joints look all nailed together?? I'd be thinking minimum screwed joints to resist seperating and possibly metal strapping to be sure. I'd definitely worry that the structure isn't strong enough to resist the weight of the water...

damagegt

bbam wrote: »

I can't fully tell from the pics but is the timber on the ground defniitely pressure treated?? It doesn't look like it is...
if it is you should be retreating the cut ends as it will expose the core of the timber which the pressure treating won't have accessed..

How flexable is the product you plan on finishing the interior with? that weight of water, will probably bend the ply slightly, possibly enough to crack the interior if its not flexable enough.

EDIT:
Having looked at the photos again i would worry about the strength of the structure.. guessing it will hold about 1,000l of water that is about a ton of water. The joints look all nailed together?? I'd be thinking minimum screwed joints to resist seperating and possibly metal strapping to be sure. I'd definitely worry that the structure isn't strong enough to resist the weight of the water...

The pictures taken were just the first temp to check all measurement.Only some joints have been nailed.Soon after the pictures were taken it was all dismantled, preserve applied and stored away to dry.When I have the ply gotten ill reassemble and fix together with 80mm screws and all major joints strapped with galva band.

damagegt

vicwatson wrote: »

Shall watch this thread with great interest. Whats the time frame for completion OP?

Im back in college so this is a weekend project for me.So I cant say for sure.

nacimroc

bbam wrote: »

EDIT:
Having looked at the photos again i would worry about the strength of the structure.. guessing it will hold about 1,000l of water that is about a ton of water. The joints look all nailed together?? I'd be thinking minimum screwed joints to resist seperating and possibly metal strapping to be sure. I'd definitely worry that the structure isn't strong enough to resist the weight of the water...

I was thinking the same thing and was wondering about the ground under it also as it looks like a shear drop the other side of the wall, but figured he had a plan in mind. It's more a case of pulling the sides together than anything else but a few strong corner braces and triangular braces along the bottom should do the trick. 1.5 tonnes is a lot of weight.

The pressure is on now:D You can't let us down!

damagegt

Ill get it done dont worry .As i said earlier I dont think ill keep the water in it at all times maybe only for 2-3 days max.I was just talking to a mate and he is going to have a look at my place and see would it be worth while running from the houses main boiler.
There is a drop on the far side but Iv covered that.

fergal.b

interesting project a bit like building a boat inside out I would go with BS 1088 marine ply over WBP it's alot stronger and won't have any voids in it, I would also coat the inside with fiberglass cloth "not mat" to bond everything together and make it waterproof as epoxy on its own can crack with the movement of people getting in and out and by the movement of the wood in different temperatures, no matter how strong you build it wood will move. Also glue all the plywood together with epoxy resin making sure to coat all the cut edges to stop the laminates coming apart in damp conditions, I use west systems epoxy as it's proven to be water proof over time where as I'm not sure if the flooring epoxy will be.
Best of luck with it I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

damagegt

fergal.b wrote: »

interesting project a bit like building a boat inside out I would go with BS 1088 marine ply over WBP it's alot stronger and won't have any voids in it, I would also coat the inside with fiberglass cloth "not mat" to bond everything together and make it waterproof as epoxy on its own can crack with the movement of people getting in and out and by the movement of the wood in different temperatures, no matter how strong you build it wood will move. Also glue all the plywood together with epoxy resin making sure to coat all the cut edges to stop the laminates coming apart in damp conditions, I use west systems epoxy as it's proven to be water proof over time where as I'm not sure if the flooring epoxy will be.
Best of luck with it I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

Thanks fergal. Thats great advice.Im looking forward to it myself

MadsL

You could simplify by using a snorkel stove actually in the tub.

http://snorkel.com/

damagegt

MadsL wrote: »

You could simplify by using a snorkel stove actually in the tub.

http://snorkel.com/

Nice idea but nearly $900 for a stove ,Ill stick to my first plan.

Lurching

Any updates?

damagegt

Sorry Iv been quite busy lately but I managed to get the treated frame put together over the weekend.The ply will be here sometime next week so I should be able to start plying it out the weekend of the 17th .Ill upload some more pictures later.

damagegt

Just a couple of pictures.Ply arriving during the week.So when that's in ill more then likely coat it the same week.

housetypeb

Nice work and well done on your project,shows what can be done with a bit of graft and ingenuity.
I know a guy who made his hot tub by buying a big old refrigerated milk tank that farmers use to store milk until it's collected, he cut the top off of it, made a few modifications to it and it works fine by all accounts.

damagegt

housetypeb wrote: »

Nice work and well done on your project,shows what can be done with a bit of graft and ingenuity.
I know a guy who made his hot tub by buying a big old refrigerated milk tank that farmers use to store milk until it's collected, he cut the top off of it, made a few modifications to it and it works fine by all accounts.

Does he go by the name Matt ?

housetypeb

No, his name is Dave.

damagegt

housetypeb wrote: »

No, his name is Dave.

I know a Matt from westcork that done it that way.

vicwatson

damagegt wrote: »

I know a Matt from westcork that done it that way.

Any more work done? The frame is looking good.

damagegt

vicwatson wrote: »

Any more work done? The frame is looking good.

Iv got the ply and the resin but its xmas exam time so its taken a back seat for the moment.

05Mav

Wish you could get those exams out of the way to so we can see some more progress. All the best with them by the way.

Don't mean to hi-jack your thread but @ Fergal.b would you be able to do all the inside in fiberglass or would it work out too expensive.

What would be the process be, start with Fiberglass Cloth and then layers of Mat and then a Gelcoat finish.

fergal.b

On the boat I just lay the cloth over the wood and spread the epoxy on with a squeeze then another 2 coats using a roller or brush with a 3 hour gap in between, I used 6oz cloth but you can get heavier if you want. The cloth is from http://www.shorebreaksurfboards.com/ and I paid €4.95 a meter so if you add on the price of the epoxy I'd say you could do it for under €100.



When it's set you can leave it showing the the wood or primer and paint it like I did with the bottom.


There is no gelcoat used as you can get a perfect finish on the epoxy, if the tub is to be left in sunlight you would have to paint or varnish it for UV protection.



The inside is also epoxied so if I was to fill it with water and turn on the bilge pump it would make a perfect jacuzzi:D

05Mav

Wow great looking job.
Did you use marine ply.
What sort of paint did you use.
Sorry damagegt for the hijack.

fergal.b

05Mav wrote: »

Wow great looking job.
Did you use marine ply.
What sort of paint did you use.
Sorry damagegt for the hijack.

Yep marine ply and toplac by international paint.
If you have any questions on the boat build you can get me here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=66827237




.

bazery

Any updates? or has it been too cold. looks great btw

fergal.b

See I told you it was just like building a boat

gutteruu

I passed his house the other day and he has it out the front now instead

harry21

He got sick of that, gone portable now!!!:D

http://www.jokeroo.com/pictures/funny/awesome-homemade-pool-on-wheels.html

Addle

Hope you got the project finished in time for the good weather!