Page 1 of DIY Hot Spa "tub" any bods who can help with this?

Had an idea to create a cheap hot spa in garden, mainly for muscle therapy for son.

What does anyone think about building an octogan shaped pool from wood such as softwood decking. say about 4 to 5 feet across and about 3 feet deep.
Using foam of some sort on base and around top edges.
Insert a PVC type liner (probably made specially by someone), maybe about 3 or 4 mm thick. Clip securly around top edges of wooden pool. This will provide the basic leak proof tub.

A heater, filter and air blower is then needed to provide the hot/warm water, bubbles and clean water, etc. Any ideas on this?

I thought of a electric shower which heats water instantaneously and a shower inline pump (may need to be commercial grade) if about 700 gallons of water in tub.

Could also use polystyrene to insulate, etc.

Just looking for any other ideas (please no spam :( )

Especially from pluming engineers who maybe able to help with the heating/bubble arrangement. Needs to be made weatherproof to IP65 (say in an enclosure) and will need to be piped into the tub, so that the tub does not leak.

Another DIY project which will hopefully save me thousands.

Nice idea - if only we had the weather! (and the back garden didn`t back onto a bus route!)

Would think that the water pressure in that arrangement would cause it to collapse quite quickly?

Did a quick google, and came up with this http://www.hotspringsenthusiast.com/Tub.htm, in which a guy builds a hot tub true Blue Peter style using a kid`s paddling pool and a coffee machine. :D

Seriously, I`m not sure how much you would save as the proper kit would probably be as pricey as a complete spa. Especially if it`s for your son, you don`t want to either boil him alive or electrocute him.

What about a second hand one? There must be places that does them?

Thanks WRabbit, the guys coffee machine, seems to imply that a standard electric shower would work to heat the water, with a thermostat temperature control in the water to allow it to heat only up to required temp. This could also, allow topping up off heat as necessary, as it cools down.

Also, he mentioned my thought re insulation with polystyrene sheets, etc. Could use some bean bag stuff wrapped around tub? to allow it to follow contour of sdes, etc.

The air blower is the main sticking point. I think this could be done with some sort of pond/pool/fountain pump, which could recirc the water around some sort of tube arrangement with various holes in it to allow small jets to flow out.

As regard water pressure, if the octogan sides are locked together using a special wood joint/clamp system, or even steel bands clamped around and tightened, etc then the pressure should be equal over the whole surface area. Could even build the tub out of breeze blocks, cement etc and then put liner inside. with wooden seats, etc.

I think it is feasible, could buy a decent small inflatable pool and surround it with decking to hide it, etc with hoses like washing machine ones connected to a shower and pump (shower pump?).

This item was edited on Friday, 16th April 2004, 23:50

I thought about this last year, and calculated the cost of the tub using concrete blocks, render and swimming pool mosaic tiles. It worked out not much cheaper than buying a budget one. The main reason for buying one in the end was I thought the mosaic tiles might be too unconfortable. I got the tub in November last year, what a great investment. I reckon I am in it 4-5 nights a week.

I got mine from here.....

www.oztubs.com

This item was edited on Monday, 19th April 2004, 15:31

Thanks Matt_j, had a look but budget won`t stretch!

The main problem is not containing the water, but is heating and air blowing it.
I think that I could run a hose from my bathroom from the electric shower to the tub, this will provide heated water and fill tub, probably take a day though!!!!!

A "tub" could be made from breeze blocks, with a PVC type liner or covered in mosaic tiles, it could be made as a square blockwork tub and therefore could use cheap square tiles instead of mosaic ones. This should waterproof it. Then wooden seats could be fitted, and fixed and a wooden base made which could sit off of the base of the blocks.
A gap would allow pipes to be run under the wood and above the blockwork (covered in tiles) so that they do not impinge in the seating area.

I would have thought that an electric shower and a pump could be bought from a plumb shop and repackaged into an IP rated enclosure to provide the heat/bubbles, etc.

The only thing I need help with is the plumbing/electrical bit.

1. Size of shower pump?
2. Type of electric shower and water sensing thermostat?
3. Means of keeping the water at correct temp?
4. How to make the water swirl (jet) to give the desired spa effect? (Hose with holes or some sort of nozzles such as copper tube flattened to create small openings, etc.

Any more ideas out there?

I think the idea is sound, just needs a bit of help from a bod who knows about pumps/heaters, etc. I thought of a kit which you can get to turn your bath into a whirlpool type, so may explore this.
Surely it must be possible for under a grand?

This item was edited on Tuesday, 20th April 2004, 00:55