DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi,

I am planning to locate a hot tub weighing about 1500 kg, when full of water and people, on an area of decking. My question is, how should I go about supporting the decking for this weight. The tub is 7ft x 5ft and I had planned to support it on wood posts (100mm sq) , concreted into the ground at a depth of 18ins. The ground is quite hard clay. I thought about using 12 posts, (4 x 3 matrix) double joisted on either side of the posts and then further joists and noggins in between. The joists would be 50 x 150 mm. What are yout thoughts ?. The alternative is laying a concrete foundation and sitting the tub on this foundation and then building the deck around the tub.

Thanks,

Ian

As a permanant feature you may be better to concrete a base. The joist idea would hold it but takes no account of the water which may run under the tub and just sit on the deck, which may eventually lead to rot as you would obviously not be able to treat the deck under the tub when its in place.

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