FISHMANPET posted:

But I mean, there's got to be hundreds or thousands of mansions like that in this country that are just being lived in by "normal" families, I wanna see how they're using them!

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I enlisted my buddy's brother (who was working as a framer) to make sure I didn't destroy the integrity of the floor.

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As a side note, the project was done for less than a month before my ex girlfriend decided to get back together...so much of the potential of this setup was never realized by me. It's now a rental house and the hot tub in the floor is a big hit for the renters.
EDIT: Will try to answer some of the questions/concerns I have seen so far.

1. Structural Integrity: Look at picture 4 and notice there is a main beam running the length of the floor (perpendicular to the cut joists, being held by the cement columns). This is what the joists attach to on that side, they attach to the foundation on the other side. The remaining pieces of joist support a total of 3' on one side and 2' on the other. The boards used to butt up against the cut joists attached to them and also attached securely to the uncut joists on either side. Under the fireplace and hearth is a large cement structure which is also helping support the 'cross joist' pieces we added. All in all it is able to handle the load on those sections. The area where the hot tub is, is actually sitting on a concrete slab poured into the dirt of the crawlspace. The earth is well settled down there and there's been no sagging, cracking or other signs of weakness. Even accessing the hot tub from inside the crawlspace is not a huge issue since the crawlspace is ~48" high.

2. Mold/Humidity: The area of Colorado it is in, is extremely dry. I realize that Colorado is a big state and there are parts which aren't as dry...suffice it to say, where I live it is dry enough to keep from having undue humidity/condensation/standing water/etc. Over the last 9+ years the tub hasn't gotten daily use and probably no use in the summer when it's already warm out. (There is no central air in that house). It's a tri-level so the main floor is what you see. The kitchen is the other part of that floor and there is no wall separating them, just a kitchen island. There are windows and doors on both sides so if needed, you can easily get a cross breeze blowing. The cover does a great job holding the steam/heat in and the tub is a quality CalSpa and been properly maintained so it's not leaking steam/water out the bottom. ADDITIONAL THOUGHT I originally planned to have a high capacity exhaust fan installed in the ceiling above the hot tub (and actually cut the hole for it). I was going to wire it to a humidistat with a relay to basically have it automatically turn on when the humidity of the area reached a threshold. I never followed through with that idea simply because I never experienced enough ambient humidity to be of concern. There is more ambient humidity in my current house (on the east coast) WITH central Air than I ever had in Colorado with the hot tub.

3. Electrical: I used either #6 or #8 (I got one size bigger than required for that model) three wire to a spa box located about 20 feet away. This has the appropriate GFI breaker in it. For the 120V outlets, I have a gfi on the same circuit which will cut all the outlets if it is tripped.

4. Hot Tub Cover: I purchased a custom made walk on cover online. It's commercial grade and uses a flat, middle split design. The two halves of the cover have foam sandwiched by aluminum sheets. It's made for walking on and has lasted longer than I thought it would. The vinyl will wear out before the integrity does by the looks of it.

5. Project Cost: I spent about $12-15K including the Tub itself. This was so long ago that I would have to do a lot of digging to give an accurate number beyond that.

6. Chemical Smell: Also not as big of a problem in practice as I thought. When you properly maintain your water in a spa, you really don't need to have a super high amount of bromine/chlorine. You shock it once a week when it's being used a lot and twice a week when not in use. After that 20-30 minute period the smell dissipates. There is a slight odor but nothing that permeates. Definitely not like apartment complex hot tubs or hotel pools etc.

7. Tub Maintenance: To drain the tub, I enter the crawlspace through the access door in the lower level (not shown), and attach a garden hose to the drain fitting. I can then allow the water to drain into the lower level floor drain (in the laundry room) or into the sink. This takes a looooong time due to the small size of the drain valve so I ended up experimenting and using a garden hose in the main hot tub and creating a siphon by having the other end of the hose out the front door and down by the street. This drains the tub much faster and is easier than using the crawlspace. Since the tub is 'hidden' I keep the panels off for easy access to the pumps/plumbing in case something needs to be looked at or adjusted (hasn't needed it yet). This also allows the pumps to run a bit cooler but I doubt that makes a huge difference in the long run. On the plus side, any heat generated by the mechanics or tub heater that escapes into the crawlspace will help offset my heating needs.

8. Splashing: Water does inevitably get tracked around, although people are generally not douchie enough to splash, cannonball or whatever would cause excessive splashing to ruin the electronics (if they were why would I have them over to sit in a hot tub with me?). Towels were kept on hand and I chose the slate tile knowing that any other flooring besides tile would not handle water well. The adjacent kitchen also is tile. In reality, I didn't have more than a couple of people at a time enjoy it with me. The renters have had bigger gatherings from what I have heard...but it's their stuff that would get damaged for the most part, so that's on them. Some water will splash down the sides and onto the dirt/concrete. But from the humidity questions, it's never remained long enough to notice puddles or dampness.

9. Liability: My lease with the renters has a built in liability clause. Is that enough to protect me? Not sure...I should probably get a better answer for my own good. Did I pull a permit? No. Although it's no excuse, ten years has passed and I have simply not thought about it. I will have to do a bit of work to get it up to code or remove the hot tub when I sell, I am sure.

10. WHY ISN'T IT CENTEReD ON THE FIREPLACE: First of all, not everyone has OCD. Secondly, I had to position it where it is to allow for unmovable objects in the basement as well as leaving a bit of walking space on the kitchen island side. In a picture this may bother you (I get that) but in real life it wasn't too bad. I actually do have something like OCD...why else would I still be here answering questions long after this post has hit it's peak?

11. Why buy that TV and then put it in Fireplace?: Flat Panel televisions were about the same cost of the hot tub back then, the TV I ended up buying was still about 900 bucks on Amazon. The priorities for the project were Hot Tub in Living room, everything else. At the end of the day I simply didn't have another $6K to spend nor did I think that the cost of a flat panel was worth it at that time. I put the TV in the fireplace to see how it looked since I didn't use the fireplace very much. Had I remained in the home for more than a few months after that, I would have gotten a nice entertainment center and gotten a fireplace insert. The pictures (sadly the only ones I have) are from the completion of the project and other pics have been lost from that time period.

12. How about some current pictures: I have access to my current renter's FaceBook pictures, but I don't want to post them due to privacy concerns. From the looks of the pictures, he and his friends are thoroughly enjoying the hot tub. No evidence of problems are visible in the pictures. My renter and friend is also very handy and takes good care of the place...if he had any concerns he would definitely let me know.

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

Is it possible to do what he wanted to do without using steel I-beams or something? I see he connected the cut-off joists to headers, presumably with the idea that the headers would transfer load across to (hopefully reinforced) joists to the sides of the hot tub. If done correctly, that seems like it maybe ought to work? I mean, it's a hell of a lot of load to put on things, but if they're using strong enough boards and the right brackets (which I assume they didn't; looks like they just used 4 framing nails per joist) then it might work? Maybe?

Assuming of course that the weight of the tub itself is supported independently of the joists. Also I can't imagine that they have a good strategy in place for dealing with spilled water.

Ashcans posted:

I really don't get people who build a bigass building, and then use all the space they have for a cavernous entry hall no one will spend more than 5 minutes in at a time.

Ashcans posted:

I really don't get people who build a bigass building, and then use all the space they have for a cavernous entry hall no one will spend more than 5 minutes in at a time. Why do you need a lobby the size of most hotels and office buildings? You know they have those for a reason because they have desks and people working there full time and a realistic expectation people are going to be milling around, right?

The Twinkie Czar posted:

That reminds me of the (possibly apocryphal, who knows) story that Monticello doesn't have a grand staircase because Thomas Jefferson could see it was an ostentatious waste of space, even 200 years ago. But his alternative was steep, narrow stairs that are a modern fire hazard. I guess you can't win.

Synthbuttrange posted:

Thats funny, I've never had stairs give me claustrophobia before

Synthbuttrange posted:

Thats funny, I've never had stairs give me claustrophobia before

tetrapyloctomy posted:

Go to St. Peter's Basilica.

Liquid Communism posted:

No.

The Twinkie Czar posted:

Searching for images of Monticello's staircases led me to this Monticello knockoff in Connecticut. Looks like it hit the market at $6.5 million and sold for $2.1 million two years later. I think it's pretty awesome overall but the three-story, domed lawyer foyer with double staircases is amusing. Also the way it's built into the hill hides the garage behind the house, similar to how the real Monticello's slave areas are hidden behind the hill. Clever but not a fun connection to make.

Baronjutter posted:

This thread always makes me desperately upset I'll never be able to build my own house and "do it right" while thousands of idiots are building massive ugly mansions they end up abandoning.

Baronjutter posted:

This thread always makes me desperately upset I'll never be able to build my own house and "do it right" while thousands of idiots are building massive ugly mansions they end up abandoning.

Youth Decay posted:

Youth Decay posted:

Carpeted kitchen and bathroom? It looks like they put the carpet over vinyl or linoleum.

Jaded Burnout posted:

Hey now, I've seen some bad life choices re: carpeted bathrooms but never in my life have I see a carpeted kitchen.