Deck Planning for Your New Hot Tub

Think of a Hot Tub?

From the Real Cedar Blog

The addition of a hot tub to any home is an exciting event. Hot tubs frequently become home-life hubs for many families. A place to relax and reconnect with friends and loved ones. Sometimes a place to recover from physical activity or even injury. Often a retreat form hectic schedules and busy lives.

Deciding to add a hot tub to your home is the first of several steps a new owner must take. There are quite a few jobs to done in order to prepare for its arrival. An experienced spa dealer will be able to walk you through the entire, step-by-step process and even provide detailed pre-delivery instructions that will make the task very manageable.

Following are a few of the major considerations that you may need to work through.
Where should my new hot tub go?

Some homeowners like the idea of placing their hot tub in a remote area of the back yard. While there may be privacy advantages, be sure to consider usability. As a rule, the more accessible your hot tub, the more it will get used regardless of weather.

Once you’ve identified one or several places where you might want your hot tub, measure and mark off that area. This will help visualize the spa and its surroundings. Will there be enough room to move around all sides of the hot tub? Is there space for steps if you need them? Can you get to the hot tub’s access panel? How about the view?

Is my existing deck sturdy enough for a hot tub or do I need a new one?
If an existing deck is the ideal location for your hot tub, be sure to have a licensed professional inspect the existing structure. Obviously hot tubs and the hundreds of gallons of water they contain are very heavy. Before your hot tub is placed on a deck, you must make sure the deck is structurally able to support the weight of the filled hot tub and the maximum number of people that it accommodates.

If designing a new or replacement deck, make sure that the plans account for adequate a load capacity. Again, your local dealer can provide you with weight specifications and, possibly, scale renderings that will greatly assist you and your contractor with planning and design. And make sure you choose a durable & long-lasting building material for your new deck. There are some gorgeous high-performance woods, including naturally beautiful & rot-resistant Western Red Cedar, to use in construction of a tasteful, personalized deck.

The delivery path
An often overlooked but potentially frustrating issue for delivery of any large household item is getting to its final location. Is there a wide enough delivery path from the road to the selected space? Is there enough vertical clearance between the path and the eaves of the house, wires or cables, tree limbs? Have you accounted for the height of the dolly?

Electrical considerations
It’s highly recommended that you have the electrical work done professionally so that you can enjoy your hot tub to its full potential, for years to come. Most hot tubs run off 220 volts, which a licensed professional can easily install for safe use any time of year. Also plan for additional outlets and lights you may want while enjoying your spa.

Tech tools
As you embark upon the design process, you may want to use an online tool to help with the planning. Caldera Spas offers a 3D Deck Design Tool, an interactive, step-by-step deck planner that you may find useful.


Making an investment in preparing for delivery of your hot tub is well worth it, and will result in a hot tub you and your family will enjoy for years.

Deck Planning for Your New Hot Tub

FREE Online Deck Designer Tool for the Do-It-Yourselfer

Humboldt Redwood has created a FREE easy-to-use deck design tool.

Of all the tools you'll use to build your deck, this one may be the most powerful.

Adding or replacing a deck.

Decks are a popular and rewarding do-it-yourself project. A well designed deck adds beauty and value to your home, and thanks to Humboldt Redwood Deck Designer, the process of building it just got a whole lot easier.

Decks are an extension of your home.

In many parts of the country they are used year-round. A deck adds living space, beauty and value to your home. It also provides a great place to enjoy family, friends, entertaining and barbecues.

Online Deck Designer for the do-it-yourselfer.

Within minutes the Deck Designer will take you from a few ideas to a comprehensive deck plan, complete with a detailed list of the supplies you'll need to build it.

Your personalized Deck Designer Report will provide you with:

• Full color deck design diagrams
• Full color accessories diagrams
• Deck design diagram
• Comprehensive listing and cut list of all materials required
• Design Report suitable for permit submission

Take advantage of this FREE deck design tool: CLICK HERE

Stop in a find what you need for that upcoming project!

Front Range Lumber Company is your full-service lumber yard and building materials supplier. 

We stock quality products in the most popular sizes and styles, plus many hard-to-find items you can't get from a big box store.

And, we can custom order just about anything available, and deliver it all to your home or jobsite quickly.

Delivery for only $19.65!

What do you need for that upcoming project?

We'll deliver it for only $19.65!

To celebrate our 50th year in business, we're offering delivery within the extended metro Denver area for only $19.65…all year long! 
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Honorary Life Member of Mountain States Lumber and Building Material Dealer Association

John E. Gunzner was named an Honorary Life Member by the 

Mountain States Lumber and Building Material Dealer Association

We are proud to announce that
in 2014 John E. Gunzner was named an Honorary Life Member by the Mountain States Lumber and Building Material Dealer Association due to his contributions to the industry, the community and our business. 

The Mayor of Lakewood stops by Front Range Lumber

Last Spring on Spotlight on Lakewood, Mayor Bob Murphy headed over to Front Range Lumber to find out how the local business is able to keep up with national competitors.

How To Tell A Real Lumberyard

A real lumberyard:
>Carries wood up to 20’
>The staff knows how to read a tape measure
>Special orders aren’t a special hassle, but welcomed
>Carries lumber grades for their usefulness, not a grade enabling a low price 
>Delivers at a reasonable rate within a same or next day basis
>Helps you load your materials
>Has extensive experience selling materials, not just extensive experience
>Goes by a name, not a employee number
>Carries an extensive inventory – not just the “key” items

Want to shop at a real lumberyard? Stop by today!

TREX 

This is not to be interpreted as a warranty nor should any of these hints override any of Trex’s own instructions. Please refer to their full instructions or call 1-800-BUY-TREX or access www.trex.com Decking material should be AT least the newer versions of “1x” or 2x material (Trex or otherwise). Trex is NOT structural and should not be used for supporting posts, joists or beams. Save the 1x for trim, fascia etc. We suggest that you ALWAYS use the 2x6 boards on stairs. Prevent waviness or “warping” of Trex by storing as flat as possible. Placing it directly on a driveway is a popular and certainly adequate method. However, the preferred method of storage is to lay the Trex across multiple “stickers”, that are approximately 24” apart (2x4’s or other scraps of lumber placed underneath to hold and support the product off the ground). Do not use treated lumber for this purpose as it can stain the Trex. Avoid laying Trex directly on rock or gravel beds or other irregular surface to prevent any marring of the product.

COLORS

ALL Trex colors fade somewhat. These hues: Madeira Red, Woodland Brown and Saddle Brown fade a very nominal 3-5%. In essence, they’ll remain the same color. Winchester Gray will change to a medium-gray. Regardless of their beginning status, all boards of the same color will eventually fade to a similar color. Each piece of Trex has red or black printing along the side of the board. This will indicate the source of that particular board including the plant, shift and year manufactured. We recommend that you re-cut both ends of each piece of Trex to obtain a clean crisp end. We recommend that you
keep at least one end “scrap” for possible reference in theunlikely event of a warranty claim. Always verify that the entire shipment you receive is the same color, BEFORE the project begins. Remember some of the pieces you receive may have faded more than others. Although Trex is a man-made material, each batch (this can mean different lengths or sizes) may start out as slightly different colors due to the manufacturing and distribution/ storage/handling process. Not to worry though, all will fade to the same general hue. Please allow approximately two months for Trex to attain its final color. 

The New Transcends version of Trex are colorfast in the following colors: TreeHouse, Gravel Path, Firepit, Vintage Lantern, Lava Rock and Spiced Rum.

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Front Range Lumber: We're a Sponsoring Member of BUILT GREEN COLORADO

Front Range Lumber: We're a Sponsoring Member of BUILT GREEN COLORADO: 

We are proud to support this program by stocking decking and engineered wood products that are listed on the Built Green checklist. Whether...

We stock it!

It’s such a natural product and America’s greatest renewable resource but it’s not perfect.

Regardless of grade, wood can split, twist, warp, cup, stain, weather, bow and crack. MDF moldings, engineered lumber and composite decking all mitigate some or all of the problems of all “pure” wood products. However, they come with their own set of disadvantages. For example, you cannot stain MDF moldings for a natural wood grain color and pattern look. One of the other “disadvantages” these man-made products have created is the increased expectation for a consistent and high quality. This is where wood falls down. 
By its very nature wood is NOT uniform in color, grain, weight, density or appearance. With these variations comes a wide range of qualities that the industry standardizes into differing grade levels. As part of those grade rules, wood is graded under varying standards. For instance, 1x boards are typically only graded to on side and one/two edges. Think about it – most uses of a 1x board leaves only those surfaces exposed. In the case of cedar boards, they are only graded to the one rough side. Framing lumber is usually judged on its knot and strength aspects, not its appearance.
We should expect boards that simply aren’t perfect, Mother Nature isn’t taking orders from us humans.
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A Full Selection of Cedar!

We stock a full selection, including longer lengths of boards, timbers, decking, dimension sized lumber, lattice, post caps and so on. The quality we’re seeing is excellent, some of the best we’ve seen. Watch availability and pricing. As of June, the mills are having difficulty logging; the wet spring and early summer are hampering access to the trees. This tightens the supply side dramatically creating some spot shortages and higher prices.

Find out more!