Sam Spade asked:




If you are lucky enough to have a Cedar hot tub in your back yard, then you will probably want to incorporate this into your landscaping layout somehow, and the most common and attractive way to do this is to install your hot tub onto a decking. This article lists out the steps as simply as possible that you need to follow, if you are going to be installing Cedar hot tubs yourself.

1. Choose your location. This needs to be a square, 8 foot by 8 foot. It is easier if this is a flat area. Dig stakes into each corner, and measure the diagonals, corner to corner. Both diagonals should be equal size - about 11 foot 3 inches.

2. Use a string to join up each stake, and join up the diagonals, making an ‘X’ shape. Where the X crosses, this will mark out the center - put a stake in this position.

3. Pound in four more stakes, in the center of each side of the square. Also pound stakes in between the center and these four posts, 32 inches from the center.

4. Now you need to put in four more stakes, by measuring 32″ up and across from two of the last stakes you put in. This will mean you have a total of nine stakes within the square.

5. Where each of the stakes are, you need to dig a 15 inch by 15 inch square, and fill each of these newly dug holes with 2 to 3 inches of sand.

6. Use a shovel to level out the sand in each of these holes.

7. Place the footing of your deck on top of the sand, and wiggle it around until it is level in both directions. Use a spirit level to make sure it is perfectly level. Do the same for each of the nine holes that have the footing in.

8. Next, you need to tamp any loose soil into the gaps around the footings, so that they are solidly in place and can’t move.

9. Now you’ll have nine completed footings inside the middle of your 8 foot square. The next thing to do is to nail two 8 foot boards that are 2 inch by 6 inch, together. Do this three times, which will leave you with 3 beams, 4″ by 6″.

10. Set the post in the center first. The posts need to be whatever height you want your deck. Make sure all posts are the same height.

11. Place ‘post to beam’ ties on each of the posts, using the holes provided to nail them through. Place the beam over the outside posts, and do this at the other side. Fill in the nail patterns for each beam.

12. Nail a joist, 2″ by 6″ to each end of the beams. To the ends of each of these joists, nail a rim joist.

13. Mark the joists on the outside every 6.35 inches. You need to nail the decking boards so that they cover the rim joist.

Following these steps should leave you with a perfect deck platform to put your hot tub!