You don't have to do anything to get ready for us. We show up with the tools and handle it.

That said, about an hour of prep on your end usually knocks real time off the job, and time is what you're paying for. Here's what actually helps, roughly in the order it should happen.

A week out: stop treating the water

Quit adding chlorine, bromine, or shock. You want the sanitizer level to fall off before that water goes anywhere near your lawn.

Three to five days with the cover off and no chemicals is usually plenty. If the tub has been dead for a year, this step is already done.

A day or two out: drain it

This is the big one. A six-person tub holds roughly 350 to 500 gallons, and gravity draining takes hours, not minutes.

Most spas have a drain valve low on the cabinet, often behind a small access panel near the equipment side. Thread a garden hose on, open it, and walk away.

A cheap submersible pump moves it much faster if you have one or can borrow one. Either way, keep an eye on where the water is going:

Spread it across the lawn, moving the hose every so often
Keep it away from the foundation and away from your neighbor's yard
Don't run it into a storm drain
Skip flower beds and vegetable gardens entirely

You won't get every gallon out through the drain. An inch or two left in the footwell is fine, we'll deal with it.

Winter note: if it's December and the tub has been off for a while, it may be frozen solid. Don't fight it, just tell us when you call.

Shut off the power

Go to your panel and turn off the breaker for the spa. It's usually a double-pole 40 or 50 amp breaker, and on a lot of Treasure Valley homes it's labeled something like SPA or HOT TUB.

If there's a disconnect box on a post near the tub, flip that off too. Leave both off.

Don't start disconnecting wires yourself. We verify the circuit is dead with a meter before we touch anything, and we'd rather do that on a system nobody has already opened up.

Measure the narrowest gate

Take a tape measure to every gate and gap on the path from the tub to the street, and write down the smallest number. Measure the actual opening, post to post, not the gate itself.

This single number tells us whether your tub comes out whole or gets cut apart, which is the difference between a quick job and a longer one.

While you're out there, look for the other pinch points: an AC condenser, a gas meter, a downspout, a low soffit on a side yard.

The morning of

Quick pass around the work area:

Move patio furniture, grills, and planters clear of the tub and the path
Unlock gates, or leave us the code
Pull cars out of the driveway so the truck can back in
Put pets inside, since gates will be propped open for a while
Coil up hoses and move anything fragile off the walkway
Set leftover pool and spa chemicals in one spot and point them out

Flag anything buried we should avoid. Sprinkler heads and drip lines, low-voltage landscape lighting wire, invisible dog fence, a septic lid. We'll work around it if we know it's there.

If your street parking is tight, a heads-up to the neighbors goes a long way.

Decide what happens to the pad

Have an answer ready for what you want under the tub. Keeping the concrete pad is free and it makes a fine base for a shed, a fire pit, or a table.

Removing it costs more because concrete is heavy and dump fees go by weight. Same question applies to a paver base or a gravel bed.

That's really it

Drain it, kill the breaker, measure the gate, clear the path. Do those four things and we'll be in and out fast.

Not sure about something on your setup? Call or text (208) 943-5231 with a photo and we'll tell you straight.

Preparation Guide