Paging ElGuapo...Hot Tub Advice Needed

[Damien Falgoust]

So today I closed on a townhouse...quite possibly the coolest townhouse in Dallas. Walking distance to some cool Lower-Lower Greenville bars, three stories, kickin' kitchen with a grill burner on an island. Top notch. But the best feature is up top: a 700 square foot rooftop deck. Take a gander:

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/3036/p1000075mediumlg5.jpg

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/9262/p1000076mediumgc8.jpg


Oh yeah, did I mention it has a view of the Dallas skyline?:


http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/5434/p1000077mediumej0.jpg


Anyway, this thing will hold a hot tub. It's rated for like 2.5 tons of weight and has 220 volt power already. I aim to put one up there, and for pretty much the same reasons El Guapo had his. Only thing is, I've never even owned a pool. So I beseech you for advice on purchasing a high-quality item that will suit my particular needs.

(Yes, that is a hot tub already up there in the pic...I bought the model unit, and the developer plans on moving it to the buildings under construction -- seen in the skyline shot -- when they are ready. He said that when he was ready to move it, if I had a tub ready to go, he'd direct the crane to lift mine up for free, which is a pretty decent deal in exchange for just leaving a crappy tub up there for several weeks.)

[nutsak]

I'm coming to visit.

[Sarkus]

Jesus, I can feel the heat just from those photos.

At least you won't have spend much money keeping it heated. :-)

[NoWayJose]

I'm coming to visit.
Your first score, Damien.

[Flowers]

I wish I was your dad, that's how proud I am of you.

[Lorini]

I did a lot of research on hot tubs and Jacuzzi was the winner. I talked with independent hot tub repair people and they said Jacuzzi had the best rate of repair (or needed major repairs the least). You can also look in craigslist and other local classified and see which hot tubs are being re-sold. At least out here, you'll see a lot of Cal-Spa's because they are junk. Not many Jacuzzi's. I've owned a Jacuzzi tub for 10 years now. 8 years with my first one, and then I moved and got a second (bigger) one. I did have to have a repair guy come out once in those 10 years but it cost me less than $200.

Also if you care about quality, don't buy your hot tub from Home Depot or Costco/Sam's Club. They get lesser units that don't hold up as well as the ones you get from a Jacuzzi dealer. I looked at Sundance tubs but they didn't have the reputation that the Jacuzzi's did and also weren't price competitive.

That's my .02, let me know if you have questions. I had to pay about $250 to have a crane airlift my hot tub into my back yard, so you are getting a good deal.

[Bahimiron]

Lorini's got it right about jacuzzi.

One tip you might want to keep in mind if you're willing to be a little patient? If there's a home show coming up in the Dallas area, your local Jacuzzi dealer will almost always be there and in that environment they are a lot more willing to talk deals than they might be in the store.

[Lh'owon]

"Hi, I'm from QT3. I'll just run upstairs and get the tub going, ok? Oh and where's the fridge?"

[Skipper]

...<stuff about a cool sounding hot tub>...

Lorini you play WoW as well right? Can I come over?

[bloo]

Woohoo! Damien's having a roof party! Someone tell BaconTastesGood!

[Lorini]

All Qt3'ers are welcome at my house :)

[Damien Falgoust]

Thank you Lorini and bahimiron for actually giving advice.

The rest of you freeloaders are always welcome at casa Falgoust. Just give me some warning.

Now, let's all shame ElGuapo into giving his insights. I want to know what model is best for drinking beer with your buddies and spending quality naked time with ladies. All the spa ads I see tout therapeutic benefits, which I couldn't possibly care less about.

[Kraaze]

I owned a cheap softub for several years and let me tell you I miss the hell out of that thing. I'm not doubting all the people who say that Jacuzzi is a top notch brand but a softub you can maintain and reposition and and set up yourself which is a big plus in my book.

Expect some maintenance overhead. You have to play around with chlorine levels and water ph and changing filters and so forth all the time. I ended up having to do something for my hot tub every week.

In terms of entertaining I found it worked a lot better to keep it up your sleeve until after the third or fourth round of drinks. If you advertise a hot tub party then people bring suits. If you wait until everyone has had a few drinks and then just casually mention that a dip on your hot tub would be great . . .

Well you are a smart guy, I'm sure you'll work it out ;-)

[Funkula]

So when's the first mutual release party?

[DoomMunky]

Just fill the hottub up with penicillin and cut out all those expensive trips to the doctor.

[Damien Falgoust]

I stopped by the local Jacuzzi dealer at lunch and...wow, they are expensive.

[tiohn]

I stopped by the local Jacuzzi dealer at lunch and...wow, they are expensive.

Yea, but can you really put a price on pussy?


Well, actually you can. But that's illegal.

[Lorini]

I stopped by the local Jacuzzi dealer at lunch and...wow, they are expensive.

Yep they are. The problem is that the cheap(er) ones give out. My neighbor paid $1500 for a Cal-Spa and it lasted one and a half summers. After that it was going to need a motor replacement at ~$800 or so. That's still cheaper than a Jacuzzi but what happens when the heater gives out at another ~$600? and then the jets?

You can try it, but it's risky. Also, look at the smallest tub you can use, not the biggest one. Many hot tub owners have visions of half a dozen people using their tubs 3 or 4 times a month, but really, most people don't care that much about hot tubs anymore, and most of the time you'll be using it by yourself or with your SO. If you have kids and you want them to use it, fine, but I can assure you that you don't want to be in the tub with them :).

[Damien Falgoust]

So I took everyone's advice and got the Jacuzzi, after many weeks of indecision. It took a LONG time to arrive, but it finally got here. So here's some delivery pics, pics of the new deck, along with some deck furniture I've bought along the way. These are a little out of order, so bear with me.

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/5852/P1000100Medium.jpg
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/8862/p1000092mediumuu2.jpg
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/3197/p1000093mediumif4.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6319/P1000104Medium.jpg

[Damien Falgoust]

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/7969/P1000106Medium.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3987/P1000095Medium.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/7024/P1000111Medium.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/8486/P1000096Medium.jpg

[Damien Falgoust]

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3317/P1000097Medium.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6748/P1000109Medium.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2797/P1000105Medium.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1275/P1000098Medium.jpg

[Damien Falgoust]

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2373/P1000099Medium.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/200/P1000110Medium.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/5609/P1000103Medium.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2974/P1000101Medium.jpg

[Damien Falgoust]

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/7930/P1000102Medium.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3874/P1000094Medium.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3546/P1000108Medium.jpg

[SpoofyChop]

Are you gonna put frops in that? ;)

[Euri]

What is the setup of your townhouse? Is it long and narrow, or are they split down the middle the other way? If not they look enormous.

[Hanzii]

I really don't like you and I hope it rains a lot where you live*



























*=cool setup!

[John Merva]

Very nice!
Must be great to live in a country where you don't have to worry about moving furniture in and out of the rain all the time!

[Thrag]

Now I'm not one to brag, but I have a pretty big deck. It also has an awesome view (I'm on a ridge looking east at the Sutro radio tower and twin peaks). I'm damn proud of my big deck. However you sir, have given me a little deck envy.

[Damien Falgoust]

What is the setup of your townhouse? Is it long and narrow, or are they split down the middle the other way? If not they look enormous.
Here is a PDF of the floorplan (http://www.tempolavista.com/dallas-condo-floorplans/Matilda-B.pdf).

[Matthew Gallant]

If not they look enormous.
It's Texas-- he owns the entire building and paid $3.50 and a belt buckle for it.

[Damien Falgoust]

But it was a really nice belt buckle.

[Euri]

Here is a PDF of the floorplan (http://www.tempolavista.com/dallas-condo-floorplans/Matilda-B.pdf).

I like!