I live in northern Indiana and I will soon be installing my first hot tub. The unit is a used 1997 Sundance Montego and it currently has plumbing leaks, but I am in the process of taking care of that.

I had a 4" concrete slab poured and I will be building a deck around 3 sides of the tub. I have heard of people building a 2x4 base for their tub to get it off of the ground to help in insulating the tub in the winter. I like that idea and as luck would have it I have ten AC2 pressure treated 4"x4"x8' laying around that I could use to build this base.

My question is what type of spacing should I use between these 4x4s for adequate support? I understand that I need to keep support under the foot well and I can design accordingly. In addition would it be helpful to place some styrofoam insulation between the beams? Finally should I consider a drain of some sort out of this 4x4 frame so that the water can escape should the tub develop another leak in the future?

Any help or input is appreciated!!!