When someone imagines a hot tub in their mind’s eye, they might see a romantic couple sitting in warm bubbly water under a starry sky with a full moon illuminating the water’s surface. But this then begs the question, “Can hot tubs be installed indoors?” The fact is that they can! But that’s not to say the process is as easy as installing a portable outdoor hot tub. It takes a lot of planning and special construction to end up with a fully functional indoor hot tub that doesn’t cause any problems. In this article, we’ll go over some of the main considerations you need to keep in mind if you’re envisioning an indoor hot tub.
Make Sure It Will Fit!
This seems like a very simple concept that shouldn’t need to be mentioned, but there have been more than a few hot tub installations that have been stalled because the hot tub is too big to fit in the installation area of choice. This can become even more problematic with an indoor hot tub. If you’re building a new room specifically for the hot tub, you may want to hold off-putting in the last wall until the hot tub is safely inside. If the room is already built, measure to make sure you can get the hot tub components in through the door.
Proper Flooring
Flooring materials such as carpet, hardwoods or artificial turf will not work well with a hot tub. It may seem like a lot, but when a bather leaves the hot tub, they can bring a gallon of water with them. This doesn’t bode well for non-water-resistant flooring materials. You’ll definitely want to install something that’s slip and water-resistant.
Proper Wall Protection
Because the walls of the hot tub room will be subject to high levels of moisture and humidity you need to make sure they’re made of the right materials and properly protected. Failure to do so can cause you to end up with rotting studs, joists, and drywall. If your walls aren’t built with materials such as concrete, cedar or glass, you’ll need to make sure any drywall is water-resistant, and a vapor barrier is included to protect the framing.
Adequate Ventilation
Ventilation is a must with an indoor hot tub. Without proper ventilation, the humidity and moisture will wreak havoc on the frame of the house. A high powered, but quiet, ventilation fan needs to be accurately positioned to do its job properly. You should consider the expertise of an HVAC technician to make sure the ventilation system is effective.
Water Source
Hot tubs hold several hundred gallons of water. You don’t want to be filling your hot tub by walking buckets from your kitchen sink to the hot tub. Having a water source close to the location of the hot tub will make the job much easier and safer.
Room Temperature
To decrease the amount of condensation and moisture in the air of the hot tub room you’ll need to be able to control the temperature. Unheated rooms do not make good locations for hot tubs as the temperature difference will result in condensate and high levels of humidity.
Odors
Because you’ll need to use chemicals to keep your hot tub water clean and fresh you may have a high concentration of odors around the hot tub. This is rarely a problem with an outdoor hot tub, but it may be unpleasant when these odors are transmitted through your whole house. Even with proper ventilation, this can still be a problem. Fortunately, there are now types of indoor hot tub chemicals that will keep your water clear and safe without any resultant odors.
To learn more about indoor hot tubs, download a free buyer’s guide today.