We have shipped cedar hot tub kits out of West St. Paul, Manitoba for 27 years, and the question that comes in most often is not about the wood. It is whether a normal person can put one together, and what it costs once everything is added up. Fair question. The price on the kit is the easy part. The base, the wiring and the weekend you spend on it are where people get caught out.
Here is the whole picture, with our own numbers.
What a DIY hot tub kit actually is
A DIY hot tub kit is a wooden tub that arrives in pieces and goes together on your pad. Ours ship with the floor already built on pressure treated 4×4 joists, the cedar staves cut and milled, the stainless steel bands and screws, the bench seats, the connection kit for the heater and a set of instructions. You are not sawing anything to size. You are assembling, not building.
The wood is the part that matters. We use clear Western Red Cedar, 1 1/2 inches thick with no knots, in 47 inch staves that give you about 43 inches of water depth. The staves lock together with a canoe joint and the floor boards with a tongue and groove, which is what keeps the tub tight once the wood swells. The bands are 304L stainless, so they do not rust and stain the cedar.
A 4 person tub weighs 400 to 700 pounds empty. Full of water it can top 6,000 pounds, and with six adults in it you are near 7,500. Keep that number in your head. It decides where the tub can go.
What a DIY hot tub kit costs
Kit prices move with the size of the tub and the heater you choose, so here are our current package specials in Canadian dollars. Each includes the tub, the heater, the connection kit and an R-14 insulated cover, and the 36 inch packages include the cedar seats.
- Electric 2 person Ofuro package, C$4,952 (regular price C$5,826)
- Electric 36 inch 4 person package, C$7,582 (regular C$8,920)
- Wood fired 36 inch 4 person package, C$7,795 (regular C$9,170)
- Heat pump 36 inch 4 person package that heats and chills, C$10,005 (regular C$11,770)
Those are the kit costs. The number people forget is everything around the kit.
The base runs from almost nothing to a few hundred dollars. Gravel, sand and patio stones from the building supply store are all it takes, and most people already own the shovel. A deck is a different story, which I will get to.
Electrical is the big one. A 5 kW electric heater needs a 240 volt, 30 amp circuit on its own breaker, installed by a licensed electrician. The further the tub sits from your panel, the more the trench and the wire cost, so pick the spot before you price the job. A 1.3 kW heater runs on a standard 120 volt, 20 amp circuit if you want to skip the electrician, but it heats slowly and I would not put one on a 4 person tub in a Manitoba January.
A wood fired heater skips the wiring entirely. The stove circulates water by thermosiphon, so it needs no pump and no power, just a brick or concrete pad beside the tub and about 8 feet of stove pipe. It heats a tub in 2 to 4 hours on dry hardwood, against under 12 hours for electric. The trade is that you are the thermostat.
Shipping is quoted separately for every order because it depends on where you live. We deliver anywhere in Canada and the United States, to the door.
Then the running costs, which are small but real. Budget for sanitizer, filters and the water to fill it, and keep the insulated cover on between soaks. The cover is where most of the heat would otherwise go.
The tools you need
This is the list from our own assembly sheet, and it is deliberately boring.
- A screwdriver
- An electric drill with a 1/8 inch wood bit
- A rubber mallet
- Two adjustable wrenches
- A saw or a utility knife
- A level, which is not on the sheet but you will want it for the base
That is it. No table saw, no router. If a kit asks you to buy tools, it is not a kit, it is lumber.
Count on two people. One person can assemble a small tub, but staves are easier to hold in line with a second pair of hands, and the floor is awkward to move alone.
How the installation goes
Plan it as a weekend. The tub body takes 1 to 3 hours, the seats another 1 to 2, and the plumbing 3 to 4. The base is extra and is best done the week before so it can settle.
Build the base first. Our foundation guide has the full detail, but the short version is this. Mark out an area at least a foot wider than the tub on each side, plus room for the heater and spa pack. Dig out the grass and topsoil to about a foot. Put down a layer of sand, then crushed limestone or drainage rock between a quarter and a half inch, and pack it with a plate compactor. Lay patio stones on top, tight together, and check level in both directions. A small tub needs a pad at least 4 1/2 feet square, a medium 5 1/2, a large 6 and an extra large 7. Pick high ground that drains. A hot tub overflows every time three more friends show up.
Set the floor. It arrives in one piece. Position it on the pad, check level again, and point the plumbing side toward where the heater will sit.
Stand the staves. Each stave drops into the groove around the floor and locks to its neighbour. The mallet is for seating them, not for persuading them. Work around the circle, then fit the stainless bands and snug them evenly with the wrenches. Do not crank them tight on dry wood. Cedar swells when it meets water, and the bands get a second tightening after the first fill.
Fit the seats. The bi-level bench goes in on its supports. The higher step makes climbing in easier and gives kids a shallower spot.
Plumb and connect the heater. The connection kit joins the tub to the spa pack or the stove. This is the part that takes longest, and it is where you read the sheet in the box twice before you cut anything.
Fill, tighten, and wait. Fill the tub. Expect some weeping between the staves for the first day or two while the wood takes up water. It is normal and it stops on its own. Snug the bands again once the wood has swelled, then heat it. Under 12 hours on electric, 2 to 4 on wood.
Our assembly page has the videos, including one titled Even Canada’s Worst Handyman Can Assemble, which tells you how much faith we put in the kit.
The mistakes beginners make
Putting it on a deck without asking a carpenter. A full tub is 6,000 pounds on a few square feet, and most decks were not built for that. If you want the deck look, set the tub on a ground pad and build the deck around it. It is cheaper and it will not sag.
Choosing the spot by the view instead of the power. Every metre of trench and wire between your panel and the tub costs money. Measure it before you fall in love with the far corner of the yard.
Overtightening the bands on day one. Cedar swells. Tighten after the fill, not before.
Skipping the compactor. A base that settles unevenly puts the tub out of level, and a wooden tub out of level weeps at the high side. Rent the plate compactor for an afternoon.
Forgetting the gate. The floor comes in one piece and it is wide. Check the path from the driveway to the pad before the truck arrives.
Build it yourself, or let us
An honest admission. Not everyone wants to spend a weekend on this, and some yards are hard to get a pallet into. We can ship any tub fully assembled, so the work on your end is the base and the connection. The kit is the cheaper route and most of our customers take it, but factory assembly exists for a reason.
If you already own the two adjustable wrenches, you will enjoy this. If the tool list made you tired, order it assembled.
Questions people ask before they order
How much does a DIY hot tub kit cost? Our packages run from C$4,952 for a 2 person electric Ofuro to C$10,005 for a 4 person heat pump tub that also chills, with the heater, connection kit and cover included. Add the base, the electrical run if you go electric, and shipping to your door.
How long does it take to assemble a DIY hot tub? Five to nine hours of work for two people, plus the base. Most people do it over a weekend.
Do I need an electrician for a DIY hot tub? For a 240 volt heater, yes, and in most places the circuit needs a permit. A wood fired stove needs no wiring at all.
Can I put a hot tub kit on my deck? Only after a carpenter has done the load calculation. A full tub weighs as much as two small cars.
Want to see your tub and its price before you commit? Build and price it in the design studio, or call us on 1-800-759-8990 and we will talk through the spot you have in mind.
DISCLAIMER: The Site cannot and does not contain medical / health advice. The medical / health information is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Accordingly, before seeking any form of medical advice, diagnoses or treatment based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with your GP or other qualified health practitioner. You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something mentioned on this Site. The use or reliance of any information contained on the Site is solely at your own risk.
