Restoring or Repairing a Hot Tub or Spa

Restoring or Repairing a Hot Tub or Spa

Restoring or Repairing a Hot Tub or Spa is a fun project. What I love most about what I do is the sheer variety of projects that I get to work ok. From custom new builds, to “rescue missions” where things have all gone wrong to restoring or repairing hot tubs and spas.

In this video I will try and explain some of the key steps to help you with your repair or restoration projects. I’m currently undertaking a couple of these projects with customers so that has been the inspiration for this video.

Restoring or Repairing a Hot Tub – Checking the Structure

Whether you have acquired an old plastic shell tub, or you have bought a new home that has a discarded in ground tub in the back yard, you are going to want to visually examine the structure.

For the plastic shell tub, open up the cabinet and have a good look inside. The older plastic shell tubs used to have a wooden structure that is holding it in place. Remember, when full of water, the tubs can hold upwards of 1000L / 220 Gallons which weighs in excess of a ton!

You need to make sure that the sub structure is going to support it. Check for any sign of rot or broken supporting beams. Of course, replace any that stand out.

For your in ground tubs, it can be a little harder to check the structure. If it protrudes at all from the ground, check the walls for cracks or signs of subsidence. If it is a concrete tub, clean it thoroughly and look for any cracks that might have appeared over time. If you can visually see them, it is best to repair them with an epoxy resin or putty before you do a water test.

Check if it is a water tight structure

The next stage is pretty straight forward, you are going to need to fill the tub and see if it can hold water. Remember, if you don’t have any control room kit connected you will need to plug any pipework that is coming out of the tub first. It is also a good idea at this point to block off any jets, drains and skimmers that are connected so you can test just the physical hot tub vessel for leaks.

Leave it overnight and see if the water drops at all. If you do find any leaks of course go ahead and repair them, it is not rocket science this step.

Checking the Plumbing

Once you have checked the structure, next step is the plumbing. Over time, if hot tubs and spas have been left and unused, then the pipework can go hard and brittle and crack. You want to be looking for any signs of this.

Look for any kind of a build up of “gunk” around any joints, this is usually an indication that there is or has been a leak. Best option here is to cut out and replace any parts that you think may be suspect.

Any union joints should be opening and the rubber gaskets inside replaced. If you can’t open them, cut them out and replace. There is no point in having a union joint with a rubber gasket that has failed, it will just leak.

How do I work out what pipe does what?

Quite often, just like one of the projects I am involved with at time of writing, the control kit has all been removed and the pipework has just been left. You need to identify what does what.

That can be pretty simple. Quick indicators – any 2” pipe work is generally water. If you have a mix of sizzes, then the smaller pipe is usually an air line. If you can physically see the pipe work then you should be able to trace it back.

You are looking for the inward suction first. This is the pipe and corresponding grills that you usually find at the bottom of your tub. These will connect the front, suction end of the pump.

If you are not sure, a great way to find out is get a hose and start filling with nothing plugged. The pipe where the water starts coming out first will be the suction side as the lower inward suction drains will be at the lowest point in the tub.

Conversely, you can always try forcing water down the pipes and seeing where it comes out. Out through the jets then you have the return or outward flow all sorted. If it appears through the drains, then this is the suction line.

If you have multiple pipes, then there will always be a suction line and a return line for each pump that was originally on the system. If the plumbing is in place, then you should see the union nuts where the pumps were originally connected, even if they have been removed.

Flush the Pipework

With the pipework identified, the next step is to get some pipe flush into the pipes to try and give them a clean. What you don’t want to do is turn them on under pressure and force all the dirt muck, dead animals etc etc onto the jets and block them all up. So, remove the jets and get some pipe flush solution into the pipework and move that round with a hose to give them a good clean.

Once the system is back up and running again, you will want to do this properly using the pump to move the flush around, but you should do this first just to get rid of any heavy debris.