Placing a spa on a deck is very possible assuming it can safely hold it’s weight. Ask your salesperson for the dry weight of the tub, dimensions and water capacity (either in US or imperial gallons). An Arctic Kodiak model weighs approx. 1200 lbs dry, it holds 418 imperial gallons (10 lbs/gal.) giving us 4180lbs. This adds up to 5380 lbs. The Kodiak is an 8′x 8′ spa which translates into 64 sq. ft. Your deck needs to be able to support approximately 85 lbs/sq. ft. Make sure to consult with a licensed carpenter if you’re going to tackle this job on your own.
Incorporating a hot tub into a deck is common. A couple of things to take into account are making sure there is access to the equipment and remember an Arctic has access doors on each side of the spa. Cut a hole roughly 18″ wider all the way around the tub. Then use pull out type panels, that match the decking, to fill in these areas. Also, remember that you may not always be in this home and will either have to leave the spa behind or cover the hole. It is much safer to “countersink” the tub rather than have the decking come right up to the lip. The reason, it’s much easier to enter and exit a spa while sitting on the lip and swinging your legs over than to step down into the water. Water will distort the distance needed to go to reach the first step and spas are slippery! So have a safety bar to enter and leave the tub or sit down on the deck and swivel.
