Who wouldn’t want to have a hot tub in their backyard? Coming back home after a hard day at work, unwinding immersed in melt-stressing bubbling water – what can be better? There are countless benefits of having a spa at your home – it’s good for your mental and physical health, it can help with post-injury recovery, it will increase the aesthetical value, as well as the resell value of your home, it will give you a nice opportunity for spending time with friends and family, and so much more. Nevertheless, hot tubs are quite costly, and if you don’t choose properly, they can be even costlier.
This is why it’s very important that before even starting to look at hot tubs, you learn as much as possible about all the things you need to take into account to choose the right one. There are several common mistakes people make when it comes to buying a hot tub, and several key factors that can help you narrow down the right one, and be able to fully enjoy all the benefits it can offer.
Find Solutions to Possible Future Issues in Advance
Our minds have an amazing ability to blank out the flaws of the things our eyes find beautiful. So, because we tend to buy with our eyes, when it comes to things as big and as expensive as hot tubs, things that will hopefully serve us for many, many years to come, it’s smart to start choosing on the basis of other criteria that have nothing to do with beauty and fast forward to the future, trying to imagine the possible issues.
When it comes to hot tubs, one of the first things you need to learn about is maintenance. All spas will require a lot of maintenance, which is the biggest complaint of most owners, and before even thinking about buying it you should get ready for it. Once you decide that you are ready for it and that you can maintain your hot tub on regular basis, you need to learn what kind of attention it will require in order to function properly.
Maintenance & Initial vs. Ongoing Costs
And more than that, aside from the regular cleaning, which you will probably do yourself, to keep it in order and always be able to enjoy it, and to avoid future repair costs, you should also consider the help of spa services which have trained and experienced technicians with specialist knowledge. Furthermore, you also need to be ready that in spite of regular spa service, sometime in the future you may require some more serious spa repair, which can mean additional costs.
So, on top of the responsibility and the time you’ll need to spend on your spa, you need to consider the ongoing costs for the hot tub service, as well as the possible spa repair. Different spas will require different things, depending on their features, but also depending on their quality, which is why when you think about the cost of this new perfect addition to your home, don’t focus too much on the initial investment – as spending more now, may very well mean spending less later on. But, when it comes to the initial cost, also don’t forget about the installation costs, including delivery, electricity, installation of a base, such as a deck, concrete slab etc., accessories, such as a cover, steps etc., and chemicals.
Another important thing to do in order to make a good choice is to learn about the dealer – their policies, their customer service, as well as after-sales service, what kind of repair and spa services they offer, their reputation, the availability of needed parts and so on, as well as about the manufacturers and the quality of their production.
The Importance of the Dealer
After you´ve found a dealer that you trust will provide you with the proper service, and you´ve taken possible future issues and their solutions, you need to make sure that you choose a hot tub that will fit perfectly into the place you’ve chosen. So, before allowing yourself to fall in love with a hot tub, make sure that you take the proper measurements so that you don’t find out that you don’t have enough space in your backyard for what you’ve envisioned.
As a matter of fact, you should pick the spot where you want to create your new small home paradise even before starting the search, and then, once you learn about the difficult side of owning a hot tub, take the dimensions and the limitations of the space into consideration to further narrow down your choice to spa pools that can fit perfectly in the spot.
The Final Touch
Knowing your limitations (such as available space and your budget) and your specific requirements, or in other words your reason to have a spa at all (whether it’s for relaxation, for the physical benefits, for specific physical reasons…), will help you narrow down your choices significantly to create your new favourite area in your home. After all of that, things get a little bit easier and far more interesting and fun – choosing the right hot tub features, the number of seats, the right jets, etc., and, finally, allowing your eyes to take over, and choose the design that looks best.
