A lot of hot tubs in the Treasure Valley aren't sitting on a slab. They're dropped into a cutout in the deck, with the decking running right up to the cabinet so the whole thing looks built in.

Looks great. Makes removal a completely different job.

You can't get a strap or a dolly under a tub that's boxed in on four sides by 2x6 decking. Something has to come off first.

Cutting access without wrecking the deck

The usual move is pulling back a run of deck boards on one side, enough to give us a working lane and a place to stand. Sometimes that's a foot or two. Sometimes it's a full section out to the stairs.

We take screws out and lift boards whenever we can, because a board that comes up clean can go back down. Cutting is a last resort, though on older decks with rusted or stripped deck screws there's no choice.

Then we decide whether the tub can be slid and lifted out through that opening, or whether it gets cut into sections right where it sits. On a raised deck, sectioning it in place is usually safer than trying to muscle 600 pounds across joists.

What's under there is usually beefed up

A filled tub with people in it can easily hit 5,000 pounds. Whoever built the deck knew that, so under the tub you'll typically find doubled or tripled joists, extra posts, tighter joist spacing, and sometimes a concrete pad poured underneath so the tub bears on the ground instead of the framing.

That extra structure is worth knowing about. If you're keeping the deck, it stays and you've got a very solid spot for a table or a grill. If the deck is coming out, it means more posts and more concrete than a normal tear-off.

We check for that pad before quoting. On a lot of Eagle and Meridian builds it's there and it's thick.

The hole in the deck, and the color problem

Once the tub is gone you've got a rectangle of missing decking. Three realistic ways to handle it.

Patch it. Frame in the opening, run new boards across, done in a few hours. The catch is color. Cedar or treated pine that's been baking in Idaho sun for six or eight years is silver-gray, and new boards come out orange or green. Composite fades too, just more subtly.

You can stain the patch to blend it, or stain the whole deck at once, which is what we'd suggest if the surface is otherwise sound. It won't be invisible the first season either way.

Re-deck the surface. Keep the frame and posts, replace all the boards. Costs more, looks right immediately, and gets you a deck that matches.

Take the whole thing out. Honestly, if the deck was mostly built to hold the hot tub and you're not going to use it otherwise, tearing it out and putting in patio or lawn is often the better answer. Older decks tend to be tired anyway.

Full deck removal

When the deck goes, we work top down. Boards, then railings, then joists, then the beams and posts.

The part that needs care is the ledger board, the piece bolted to the house that carries one edge of the deck. Pulling it exposes whatever the builder did or didn't do for flashing, and on some houses that's where you find rot in the rim joist or the siding.

We pull the ledger, remove the bolts, and get the wall closed back up so it isn't sitting open to weather. If there's rot behind it, you'll hear about it from us before we cover anything.

Posts are usually set in concrete piers. We pull the footings out where we can and cut them below grade where the concrete is too big to lift. Either way nothing is left sticking up to trip over or catch a mower blade.

Cleanup and what's left

Old pressure-treated lumber can't be burned and doesn't get recycled, so it goes to the landfill. Deck screws, joist hangers, and post bases get separated for metal recycling.

The ground under a deck that's been shaded for a decade is bare, compacted, and usually full of leaves and the occasional lost tool. We rake it out, run a magnet across it, and rough grade so you can seed, sod, or start whatever's next.

Start with photos

Send a shot of the deck with the tub in it, one from underneath if you can get there, and one of the yard access. That tells us how the tub comes out and gives you a straight answer on patch versus re-deck versus tear-out.

Deck Services