I just got some old jacuzzi from craigslist and it has some issues but nothing major that I can tell, but I am not a spa expert. The shell looks good, no cracks, it has a small patch in the bottom but when I bought it I saw it running and it wasn't leaking. So now I am ready to install it.

First question is how do I remove the existing skirting and still move it around? The existing skirting is damaged and I want to build it into my deck. Can i just remove all the wood and let it set on the center? The skirt was damaged and needs to be rebuilt.

Second question, I live in Iowa and temps rise and fall, should I pour a slab or put in sona tubes and a ground level deck? I have a current deck that I will expand that is about 3ft off the ground and I want the hot tub top to be about a foot above the deck, not flush.

I just got thru replacing my tub skirting. Moving it aournd while it was withoit the cabinet was a little tricky. I picked up one side of mine and kicked a length of pvc pipe under it. i didn't need to move mine very far so I was able to keep it from rolling off yet still move it around with ease.

I set the base on mine flat on my deck then built walls to support the rim. You don't have to get too fancy. I've seen some tubs sitting on gravel beds. I would place a plywood under the footwell if I did this, then build the deck and short tub surround walls to fit. You can place your tub on pavers. The larger red ones work real good. Just level them with a good base under them.

My tub is about 500 gallons, so that'll be about 4000 pounds of water. My deck is just a few inches off the ground so my structure is sitting on 25 simple cement pads directly under the tub. (Someone gave me a large stack of them). If you do the math, it's only about 160 pounds per pad so mine is way overkill.

Once you have your new surround built, add a simple layer of the sheet styrofoam insulation tacked to the inside of the new cabinet walls. It'll add a little extra r value to cut down on the heating bill.

Don't worry yourself up about it too much. I rebuilt mine in two afternoons. It was easy and fun, and it looks how I want it to look now.

OK I am working on my hot tub again this spring because I want to get it going for summer. I built a new frame for the tub to sit on but as I was putting it together the acrylic got several hairline cracks in it (from setting it on its side). I found the tub refinishing kits and wonder if this will work. (I really didn't like the original color anyway.) Has anyone used one of these acrylic repair kids where they have to sand and fill and paint? How did it turn out? There is some spray paint that my friend tried to use to patch the cracks but that didnt work, can I use acetone on acrylic to remove the paint and even maybe mend some of the cracks? I would like to paint it white or gray with fleck in it (rock finish), instead of the blue/gray/white swirls in it now. I still have not put a foundation down for the tub to sit on. currently I have about 4" of gravel and 2" of pea gravel, then I have some 4x8 cement capstones then 4x4 frame with plywood for a base. I am thinking about getting rid of all that and just pouring cement slab. I am just not sure how hard it will be to do since I have never done it before. I just did my first 2 cement posts which turned out to be very easy. IMG00149.jpgIMG00150.jpg I am planning on putting a bench at tub level around the edges before I am finished. The winters get very cold and I was going to make removable panels and roof for turning it into a sauna in the winter. IMG00146.jpg If anyone has been down this road I would appreciate the advice.