How Are Hot Tubs Built?
Have you ever wondered how exactly a hot tub is built? There are actually quite a few steps involved. From deciding on the design to putting on the final finishing touches, building a hot tub requires a team of highly skilled experts. If you are curious as to what the process is for building a Hydropool hot tub, keep reading below.
Design & Acrylic
Once the hot tub design had been determined, the shape of the mould including where the jets will be located are formed. Acrylic is poured over the mould and clamped with a frame to secure while it is heated to become malleable. Once it forms into the mould it is cooled to harden in the final desired shape and becomes the shell. The shell is then removed from the hot tub frame to allow other steps to be performed.
Coating
Once the acrylic shell has been made, next step is that layers of fibreglass are applied to build a stronger, durable shell. Any air pockets that form in the fibreglass need to be hand rolled to remove. Finally, a thick, insulation foam is added, and the edges of the shell are trimmed to remove excess material.
Jet Installation
Once the hot tub shell has been cast and the insulation applied, holes are hand drilled for the jets. A sealant is added to connect the joint and shell and locking rings are added to keep secure. Then the tubing is attached to each jet.
Final Touches
Next, the pumps are connected to the tubing, as well as the lighting and electrical equipment. The acrylic shell is placed back into the hot tub. All wiring and plumbing are inspected, and the insulation foam is sprayed on the hot tub shell. The panelling is then attached and a final quality control check is completed.
Major Steps
As you can see, there are quite a few phrases that a hot tub passes through while it is being built. At Hydropool, there are actually 19 major steps that take place during a hot tub build. These are:
- The mould is designed
- The colour of acrylic is selected
- Acrylic is heated and piled into the mould, which creates the shell
- Vinyl/polyester resin finish is applied
- Hot tub gets weighed to confirm even distribution of fiberglass
- The Sea-Wolfe precision trim saw removes excess acrylic leaving a clean bevelled edge
- Hot tub passes through the precision drill booth and triple fastening station to secure the high flow plumbing
- Spa pump anti-vibration base is assembled and installed
- The hot tub is placed through a 6-8-hour water test to ensure the best hydrotherapy massage function and to test maximum self-cleaning filtration
- Filtration jets added that push debris towards high flow skimmer and pre-filter
- Hydroclean floor vacuum is installed
- Dual-Core pressurized micro-filtration system is added
- The hot tub cabinet is installed
- The Polymer base is installed
- Exclusive Hydrawise thermal shield installation is completed
- Thermal Shield installation is added
- Heat shield hardcover installed
- Insulated thermal shield blanket wrap is added
- Eco heat exchange technology is added
After Inspection
After the final inspection has been completed and the hot tub has been packaged and wrapped, there are two more important steps that follow. First, it gets loaded onto the dealer’s truck and finally, it gets delivered to you!
To learn more about the features of Hydropool hot tubs, download a hot tub buyer’s guide.