Spilling over: a step-by-step primer to easily add spillover spas into a package pool design - Quarterly market report: package pools

Pool & Spa News, Sept 19, 2003 by Rhonda J. Wilson

A spillover spa may be one of the easiest add-on options to install on a package pool--except for one small detail. Where exactly do you place it in relationship to the pool?

"Not all package pool shapes are conducive to place a spillover spa as far as the radiuses on certain pools," says Robert Tarson Jr., package-pool installer and president of Tarson Pools and Spas in Syracuse, N.Y.

"I wouldn't place one on a corner of a rectangular pool because it would be difficult," says Tarson, who has been installing spillover spas for about six years. "So instead of a corner, we would move it down more in the center."

Once you get past placement issues and the excavation process, spillover spas take only about two hours to install, according to package-pool veterans. They say if you have a basic understanding of circulation issues regarding the hot tub and how it interacts with the pool, it leaves you little room for error.

"Spillover spas are relatively easy to install," says Michael Vassallo, another package pool installer and general manager at Rising Sun Pools & Spas Inc. in Raleigh, N.C.

"There are a bunch of companies that make pre-cast units, which are pre-plumbed in pre-formed shells that hook into the main filtration equipment," adds Vassallo, who has been installing spillover spas for 10 years. Installers just need to wire, and run plumbing lines to and from them.

For those interested in learning the installation process, remember to go to the source, so you'll never find yourself in a sink-or-swim situation, says Tarson.

"Just follow the manufacturer's instructions," he notes.

Here are five steps to installing spillover spas:

1 Figure out the depth of the shell for the spillover spas.

This generally occurs in the middle of the construction process when the digging and setting of the walls of the pool take place. "As you're digging the pool, you also dig out an area for thet shell to sit," Vassallo says.

The grading and leveling process may not necessarily be the same for each project. "Each installation is going to be different based on the circumstances of the yard and other factors," Tarson says.

2 Pour the foundation, which is called a footer.

Depending on how high the hot tub needs to be raised above the pool beam, installers should pour a concrete slab that's between 8- and 30 inches deep.

It's important to lay the proper foundation beneath the spa to support its weight when it's filled with water, so it doesn't end up settling. "If you don't do it right, the tub can actually float up as the concrete cures around the shell, or ground water can lift the spa up," Vassallo cautions.

"We always put 200 to 300 pounds of sand bags inside of the spa during the construction process," he says.

3 Connect the plumbing from the spillover spa to the pool filtration.

This may be the most challenging part of the installation process. Be sure to properly size the equipment for the pool with the spillover spa. "The farther the pump system is from the pool, the larger the equipment has to be," Tarson says. "You may need to upgrade your pump system to accommodate the spillover spa."

4 Provide drainage for ground water.

If the ground under the spa doesn't drain properly, it can cause shifting. To avoid this problem, backfill with a stone-type base. This will provide good drainage and a solid foundation for the spa.

"What I usually use to backfill around the spa is quarry or stone dust," Vassallo says. "It's almost like a sand, but it's made out of rock.

"It gives it a nice, solid base because you can't adequately compact the soil under all of the curves in a spa shell," he notes. "Stone dust is 100 percent compacted after it's washed in."

5 Connect the plumbing from the pool to the return jets on the spillover spa.

This is a preplumbed, premade vessel, so it's that simple.

Upscale upsell

Spillover spas add approximately $4,000 to the price of a package pool project, which means they represent a sizable profit margin for installers.

However, the benefits far outweigh the cost to consumers. "They make the pools look really nice, on an aesthetic level," says Robert Tarson Jr., president at Tarson Pools and Spas in Syracuse, N.Y. "In addition to being inviting, they just give another layer of enjoyment to the swimming pool."

Tarson installs spillover spas in approximately 25 percent of his package-pool projects. He includes them mostly in his new construction jobs.

"You can upgrade package pools with the spillover spas, but it's costly," he says. "It requires a lot of construction work."