Hot Tub Pad Removal in Boise: Keep the Slab or Break It Out?

The tub's gone and the crew's carrying out the last panels. You're standing in the backyard looking at a gray rectangle of concrete with rust rings on it and a piece of conduit poking out of one corner.

That's the point in almost every hot tub removal in Boise when someone asks us what to do with the pad. It's a fair question. Answer it before removal day, though, because it changes how the job goes.

What's usually under a hot tub around here

Most of the tubs we pull across the Treasure Valley sit on one of three things. The most common is a poured concrete slab, usually about four inches thick, sometimes with wire mesh in it.

After that you'll see paver pads, and every so often a gravel base with a plastic spa pad on top.

Gravel and plastic pads are easy. They come up in a few minutes and leave with the tub.

Pavers take a little longer, but they're not hard. Plenty of folks in Meridian and Eagle want to reuse them for a garden path or a fire pit ring, so we stack them by the fence instead of hauling them off.

Concrete is the one you actually have to think about.

Should you keep the slab?

Sometimes, yes. We'd happily take the extra work, but honestly, a solid slab in a decent spot is useful.

We've seen old hot tub pads turned into grill stations, shed bases and a home for the trash cans. A lot of people in Nampa just set two chairs out there and call it a patio.

Keep it if it's level, mostly uncracked, and not sitting where you want lawn or garden.

Break it out if it's heaved, cracked all the way through, or right where you want grass. If it tilts toward the house, take it out for the drainage alone.

Our freeze-thaw winters are rough on concrete. A slab that's already settled usually keeps settling.

How hot tub pad removal actually goes

If you want it gone, we can usually take it out on the same visit as the tub. We just need to know ahead of time.

The slab gets broken up with a jackhammer or a sledge, depending on how thick it is and whether there's rebar inside. Then the pieces go out by wheelbarrow, usually through a side gate.

That haul-out is where the real time goes. A North End backyard with a narrow gate and a steep walk takes a lot longer than a wide-open lot out in Kuna or Star.

Once the concrete's out, we can pull up the loose base gravel too. That leaves you with dirt that's ready for topsoil or sod.

Concrete is heavy, and even a small pad adds up fast. So we price by the work and the volume involved, not one flat number.

You get a firm price at the free estimate before anything is touched. Clean concrete can often go to a recycler instead of the landfill, so that's where we try to send it.

Heads up: Find out where the electrical runs before anyone breaks up a hot tub pad. Most tubs are fed by a 240-volt line that comes up in conduit at the edge of the slab or is buried right beside it. We shut off the breaker and disconnect the tub, but making that old circuit safe is a job for a licensed electrician, so get it done before the slab comes out.

The stuff people forget about

First, the disconnect box. That gray box on the wall or on a post near the tub stays put when the tub leaves.

If the breaker's off and the wires are capped properly, it's not a hazard. It's just ugly, and an electrician can pull it.

Then there are sprinkler lines. Treasure Valley yards are full of them, and some installers ran lines right along the edge of the pad. We watch for them, but if you know where yours are, tell us.

Patching the lawn takes more work than people expect. Under the slab there's compacted base, and grass won't grow well in it.

Loosen the soil and add a few inches of topsoil before you seed or lay sod. That matters even more if you want it green before the summer heat shows up.

Timing plays a part too. Fall is a good time for this, since the ground's still workable and you can seed before the first hard freeze or wait for spring.

In the middle of a Boise winter the ground can freeze solid. We still do the work then. It just goes slower.

Hot tub removal in Boise, with or without the pad

When we come out for the estimate, show us the pad and tell us what you want that corner of the yard to become. We'll tell you straight whether it's worth keeping.

We've told more than one homeowner in Caldwell to leave a perfectly good slab right where it was and keep their money.

If you want both gone, we'll price them together and usually handle it in one trip. When the schedule's open, that can even be same day.

So here's the bottom line. The pad isn't an afterthought. Decide whether you want a slab, pavers or bare dirt before removal day, get the electrical squared away, and the whole job goes faster.

If you'd like someone to take a look, give us a call at (208) 692-3124. We'll check out the tub and the pad, give you a firm price, and you can decide from there.