How to Build a Pool and Hot Tub in your Basement
A How-Did Book
Adrian Martin
Copyright © 2013 Adrian Martin
Please don’t hurt yourself doing anything this book may inspire you to do. Wear safety glasses, pay attention to your fingers, wear work boots, think before you act, and don’t work when you are angry.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher.
The Publisher makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any commercial damages.
2013-03-14
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my wife, who if you believe the many pictures, appeared to do all the work on this project. But don’t forget, photographers have the hardest job of all - taking pictures of people working. Capturing the moment when the light was right and lit up the concrete block as she was mortaring it into place required that I get to the jobsite early, set up my gear, and patiently wait for her to appear and then… magic!
Acknowledgments
I acknowledge that I did some work on this project.
The View from Where I Sit
I show you how you can have this!
As I sit here writing this, I hear the pump kick on for the swim spa, and the latching-click sound of the flow-switch activating the heater. This means that the swim spa is beginning a cycle of heating, filtration, and chlorination. Does this seem complicated? Are you ready to put this book down and go watch something else? Don’t leave before I tell you that I’m still sitting here writing. I haven’t actually had to get up to do anything or even think about the systems. Once they are set up, they run like little robots. You only need to step in when something breaks or needs adjusting. Most of the time, I just walk through the basement turning on lights and looking around. Since there is often nothing to concern me, I just progress into relaxing, swimming, or hanging out with friends. And once your basement pool is set up and stabilized, so will you.
But first, I should explain what I mean when I say “pool”, “resistance pool”, and “swim spa”. They are all the same thing to me. What I am describing is a rectangular pool long enough to allow a person of average height to extend their arms and kick their feet and still feel like they have room front to back and side to side. So, picture something 13-14 feet long, and 6 feet wide. The depth can vary from 36 inches to 6 feet or more. A resistance pool has the characteristic of being able to throw enough water against you that you must swim to stay in place. Else, you will be pushed to the back of the pool and your toes will gently brush the rear wall. You will crouch against the wall like Spider-Man and then shove off upstream. This volume of water propelled at you, and how it is propelled, is something that can be tailored to your abilities and costs. I’ll get into all that later.
And when I say “spa” or “hot tub” I am talking about a much smaller body of water that is kept at a hot temperature, too hot for safe or comfortable exercise, but enjoyable for soaking. A hot tub also offers hydro-therapy. Jets propel water against your body and small bubbles of air caress your skin easing away aches and pains and relaxing everyone.
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s start rationalizing!
Why Put a Pool and/or Hot Tub in your Basement? (Or, Why do Anything At All?)
Can you imagine this basement containing a hot tub and swim-spa? I demonstrate how to do it with pictures galore!
It seems to me that whenever I think about doing anything creative, voices of doubt creep into my mind. The vision, what I want to do, can be strong and vivid, but the doubts chip away at the vision, criticizing the costs, the schedule, the reasoning behind it, even the selfishness of it. ”Why,” I often ask myself, “should I do anything at all?”
Why shouldn’t I just continue to do what I have to do - raise my family, go to work, go to church, cut the grass, paint the house, take out the trash…
What right do I have to enjoy the luxury of a hot tub? Those are for wealthier people, or people who have larger houses with better yards in which to situate the thing. And a resistance pool? Those are for the ultra-wealthy or supreme athletes who keep themselves in peak condition by swimming all summer and winter. And both devices require expertise which I don’t have.
I don’t know how a pool works. I don’t know how chlorine works, or bromine, or ozone. I don’t know what size filter to buy, or what size pump. How do you keep the water in, and the electricity out? Small mistakes could have grave consequences and it might be better if we just chucked the whole idea right now. It’s just way too complicated. Sorry. The book is over.
The End.
But I’ve learned a thing or two about the voices of doubt. And that is to give them a fair appraisal, but let facts and reason rule the final decision. I would never ignore the voices. They challenge you to go out and get stronger - finding facts and information to fill in all the gaps in your knowledge. Like bullies, they taunt you and stare you down, menacing you, and so you must face up to them and create a turning point in your life. The victory is all the sweeter for the trials. Oh, and before I forget, not all the negative energy will come from your own mind. There are other people to consider.
Can you, just for a moment, conjure up the responses that people will give when you tell them you are building a pool in your basement?
“Won’t that cause your basement to get all moldy?”
“What about leaks?”
“Your house will be unsellable after you finish that project!”
“What about building-permits? Are you even allowed to do that in your subdivision???”
“My uncle built a pool in his basement. A pool-table - which he never uses! Ha!”
“A pool in your basement? But you don’t swim now! Will anyone use it?”
It just occurred to me that if your spouse or partner is voicing any of the above concerns you have got to get them to read this book. You and your significant other must be a united team in order for this project to succeed. A hidden benefit of this book is to get you two working together on a project! A marriage is not so much what you bring to it, but what you build together. I’m giving you a three-year project here. That’s gold!
A CHANCE TO CREATE!
Never judge your own art. Just create, create, create. That is one good reason to do this. You and your spouse, family, and maybe even friends, can embark on an exciting creative journey where you write the checks, and they swing hammers and trowels. It’s a chance to be creative and explore your talents in woodworking, painting, tile, and design/architecture. This is a journey. My basement project took three years working mostly weekends, holidays, and occasionally, vacation time.
GET UP AND GET BUSY!
Our sedentary lives afford us little opportunity to labor, but here is a chance to work hard until your muscles ache and you long for your cubicle and Monday morning - just so you can