Brick pavers for hot tub base (and rain)...

[drumd8on]

Hello, I am installing a brick paver patio as a base for a hot tub. I have done quite a bit of reading on all the steps involved, but encountered an issue that I can't seem to find a straight answer to.

All was going fine with the digging until I got three days straight of rain. I was left with quite a bit of water in the area I dug out (I dug to 8 inches exactly). I notice the dirt in some areas of the dug out area are kind of squishy and allow the soil to move a little when stepped on (just slightly).

My question is should I let this completely dry out before adding gravel sand and pavers? I fear that with a heavy hot tub, it might actually cause some of the pavers to sink a little and in turn, cause a leveling problem. However I am not sure if this is something the sand and gravel will help with in terms of distrubuting weight evenly once everything is laid.

Secondly, do you all recommend using a hand tamper, or should I just rent a power tamper and keep going over the area until it is firm?

It isn't too big (about 70 sq. feet)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I attached a pic to show you what I am working with here. Bricks are 4x8 and help show actual size of the project.

[NCSULandscaper]

if you dont have that stable of a base when it gets wet, then i would dig down even more, add more gravel compact it all well then lay the pavers......with the weight of a hot tub on the pavers, you dont want to skimp on the base.

[Fine Edge]

Why not pour concrete under the tub and lay pavers around it?
Seems like wasting money on pavers that are not going to be seen, concrete is cheaper and more stable.

[GLAN]

I put mine on a concrete slab.

Just thinking of the accounts we do with tubs..........all that I can think of are on concrete slabs


Hey.......and mine. I did it about 8 years ago. Used bags of Sakrete...:huh:

[Stonehenge]

You've got the pavers there, so you're probably going to want to use what you've got. (Though the concrete idea is a solid one - no pun intended.)

Hard to know how 'squishy' 'squishy' is - but if that area was hard as a rock before the rains, it might just need more time to dry out. If it stays squishy, do as NCSU recommends and dig untill it isn't squishy anymore, then start adding your crushed stone.

[sleepy]

Id use the xtra pavers for the walkway up to the hot tub. Dont you love getting out of the tub and stepping in mud? Mabye you could do a cool little shower area with a paver base so before and after the soak you could "hose off" ? a little screen from the neighbs out of bamboo or sumthin? Isnt landscaping fun?!!

[drumd8on]

Gotta love the power of the receipt! I returned the pavers to Home Depot and poured a slab. I will extend my patio (which is already pavers) to meet the slab. (That'll be next year's project.)

I spoke with enough people to realize I could have done pavers, but the chances were uncertain how they would settle in over time. If you are going to do something, you might as well do it right - Here's a pic. 6 inches of gravel/sand, 4 inches of concrete with fibers and all is well!

Thanks for all your input everyone.

[drumd8on]

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[Paul]

I know it's a bit late but where is the stub for the 220 volt power?

[drumd8on]

Good point you brought up...

I spoke with the technicians at the dealer about this before pouring the concrete and they actually said a conduit throgh the concrete isn't necessary. My hot tub is literally 6 feet away form the breaker, so we decided the conduit will be buried up to the slab and then have specially insulated cable covering that will run up into the hook up which is right at the base. They said it is done this way a lot and is no better than running up from underneath.

Thanks for mentioning that though. That is something I certainly had thought about during this past 2 weeks.

[drumd8on]

And at last, we have a hot tub! Next step will be to landscape the area surrounding the hot tub. I'll probably lay some stones or something. Any suggestions?

[Fine Edge]

How about those pavers you just returned!
Seems like they would tie in nicely with your existing patio.