The enjoyment of an outdoor hot tub can be lessened during bad weather, but in a light rain it, and you, can be protected by installing it in a hot tub gazebo. Many are available in kit form and others can be designed to be part of your outdoor deck.
Planning to install a hot tub gazebo onto an existing deck can be a challenge as the extra weight of not only the hot tub gazebo, but the hot tub itself. A filled hot tub can weigh as much as 5,000 pounds without people in it. If the deck is not reinforced, it will be a disaster waiting to happen.
Building the deck from scratch makes allowing for the extra weight for a hot tub gazebo much easier. The standard deck building routine can be used for the portion of the deck that will not be used to support the hot tub gazebo. Extra support posts will be needed as well as extra joists for the part that will support the hot tub gazebo.
Open And Closed Roof Gazebo Is Option
There are several designs for a hot tub gazebo which are free-standing, meaning they don't have to be built into a patio deck. The same principles for base construction and installation of power and other utility lines will be the same. Due to the weight of the hot tub, it needs to rest on a solid foundation. The foundation can be extended to include the base for the flooring of the gazebo.
An open top gazebo can offer little protection from rain, but allows the sun to get through for tanning while sitting in the water. Others offer a two or three sided hot tub gazebos, which can offer protection from elements from the three sides while leaving one side open to capture the feel of being outdoors.
Another option for a hot tub gazebo is a full enclosure with tinted windows that can be removed for an open-air ambience. Although with a fully enclosed hot tub gazebo, there will be the extreme humidity increase when the cover is removed and a potential odor from chemicals used in the hot tub.
Whatever type hot tub gazebo you choose to use, insure there is a open spot for draining in the event of a leak. No one looks forward to problems, but realize something. At some point, will probably allow water to escape. Probably it will be just a small leak but if something big gives way and you have no drainage, there could be a huge mess.
