Add a Spa onto existing inground pool

[azsoccerpop]

Hi,
We currently have a very basic 13k gallon play pool and I am thinking about adding a 6 person spa that would spill into the pool. Filtration is a Triton II TR100 sand filter driven by an IntellifloVX VS pump. I am upgrading the controls to an Easytouch 8. There is no automated valves, yet. Does anyone have any experiences good or bad with this type of project? What eqipment was added to the existing? Expected cost ranges? I can place the spa in an area between the pool and the equipment pad so the runs would be short. We have natural gas for the heater but it is not trenched to the backyard and I would have to upgrade the wire from the main panel to the used Easytouch controller if I brought in more equipment. Is this doable or overkill? Thanks for anyone willing to comment

 

[Jimrahbe]

pop,

Have you ever been in a gunite spa??? If not, you really need to try one before you buy one.

My gut says the cost will be 40 to $50K...

Let's see what our other members have to say.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JamesW]

Just get a separate standalone spa.

Trying to add a spa is probably not worthwhile.

 

[azsoccerpop]

If 40-50k is accurate, absolutely not. Just tossing the idea around to see if anyone has done it and what they experienced.

 

[JamesW]

Pictures?

What deck do you have?

It is a lot of work and it will be expensive to do it correctly.

 

[Dirk]

Absolutely try out both an in-pool gunite spa and then a standalone fiberglass spa. At best, one will a be squared-off concrete box with matching flat bench and a handful of pool returns spewing bubbles, the other will be a selection of a half-dozen comfortable, contoured fiberglass lounges of different heights and shapes and reclines, each surrounded by multiple massaging jets for neck, back and feet.

And while it's theoretically possible to run an in-pool gunite spa year-round while the pool goes cold in the winter, it's not anywhere as efficient as keeping a standalone toasty and ready to use 24/365.

And I think Jim's estimate could prove to be pretty close, where a standalone might be a fourth of that, for an ultra-deluxe model.

I try to talk folks out of a built-in when they are in the planning stages of a brand new pool. Adding one afterwards makes even less sense to me.

 

[azsoccerpop]

Sounds like it will cost more than the original pool build cost with little return. I will look into a separate as an option if I decide to add once. Thanks to all who took the time.

 

[Newdude]

Sounds like it will cost more than the original pool build cost with little return.

Well they have their place. They are stunning to look at, which is 98% of the time. But functionally they're really for entertaining. When a couple of you are out there having a blast, everyone is laughing too hard (and spilling drinks) to realize they're sitting on a concrete bench with 1 jet per person if they're lucky.

Standalones ain't much to look at, but give the heavenly spa experience. IMO it's more bathtub-y and there's a SHORT list of people I'd share a bathtub with, so hosting parties in my standalone ain't happening.

 

[gkw4815]

Standalone spas are one of the fastest-depreciating purchases you can make, right up there with backyard playgrounds and mobile homes.

Before buying a new one, I'd wait a few weeks to see if any cheap or free used ones show up on your local facebook marketplace in decent shape. Here in the Houston area, they seem to show up all the time. Mostly when a house sells and the buyer doesn't want that "big ugly thing" taking up space on the patio.

But I guess even a new standalone spa sounds appealing next to spending $40k+ to add one after the fact, if you'd actually use it a lot. FWIW, I use my integrated spa a LOT more than I use my pool. I've never actually tried a standalone spa, so I don't know what I'm missing .

 

[Jimrahbe]

My pull it out of my rear estimate is that about 50% of pool owners love their gunite spas, and about 50% hardly uses their spas, if at all..

Nothing against those that like them, I just think that the OP needs to know which group he is in, before shelling out $40 or $50K..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Newdude]

My pull it out of my rear estimate is that about 50% of pool owners love their gunite spas, and about 50% hardly uses their spas, if at all..

I'd expand that to include standalone tubs after the 1st year. There's a boatload of 500 gallon flower pots in the land. (Overgrown wildflowers, of course)