Dumb yardscape questions...

[audette]

DH and I are somewhat new to home owning, and while we still have a project list a mile long, one thing seems to wrap together a bunch of wants, and we are trying to figure out how to make it happen.

DH wants a hot tub. I am... still a bit meh about having one, but can be convinced.

To make that happen, we need a concrete pad, with possibly some sort of surround/cover over it, and maybe extended for some covered patio space. And, 220 power run to it, which means a big electric effort at the house, because our current panel is maxed out.

I also have this crazy idea of putting some solar panels on the roof of the patio cover, too.


We are, at best, inept at home improvement. This involves a whole lot of different trades, too. Is it the sort of thing we would go to a landscape person for, and they would sub out the rest of the work? Do we need to find a general contractor instead?

We are still learning to adult, it seems...

[dr.girlfriend]

I don't know much about it but have you looked into an inflatable hot tub? My friends have one and I don't think it requires much, so you could have it as a start and see if you really like/use it enough to go big on the real one?

I also think there are probably like "hot tub installation" people like there are pool installers or whatever. Maybe even the same people?

[InBetweenDays]

If you know what you want in terms of location and design of the concrete pad/patio, etc. then you could easily find one contractor to do the concrete work and whatever cover or pergola type structure you want. But if you don't know what you want or want to do a larger yard project then you may want to bring on a landscape architect or designer.

FWIW we added a large concrete patio and got tub a few years ago. The electrical was not a big deal. The hot tub does need it's own dedicated circuit but it was easy enough to find and work with an electrician to get that done. Probably the easiest part is the entire project.

[k3am]

If your panel is already maxed out, you’d likely need a panel upgrade with any solar you add to the house. We had to have a minimum number of free slots in our panel when we added solar.. which was annoying since we had JUST upgraded our panel a couple years before.. just not enough of an upgrade.

[definitelyO]

we had a hot tub at the house when we moved in. It was not covered. my friend's hot tub also does not have a patio over it. So not sure if that is really a "need" or just a want. Personally I LOVE sitting in a hot tub and letting the snow come down on me - so guess it depends on your climate.

the concrete pad is best practice and probably code - but I don't think ours had one.

I'm talking in the past tense as we did not use it enough to justify it and had it removed about 8 years after we moved in.

[jwright]

In my area, most of the individual trades will not have a GC (general contractor) license and therefore cannot hire or supervise other trades as subcontractors.

For example, when we built our pool we hired the pool contractor, but then also had to separately hire and pay directly the electrician, plumber, landscaper, fence carpenter, etc. The pool contractor gave us recommendations of who to use and when they should show up, but I still had to call, get quotes, get them the information they needed and pay them. It wasn't quite like being my own GC but it was still a pain in the butt.

In your situation, I would start with the hot tub provider (or whoever has the largest part of the job) and he has likely worked with all the other groups that you will need to talk to; it will definitely be a big project.

[treedimensional]

Landscape construction contractor, Class A.