How to build a wood burning hot tub: I put together the tongue and groove walls, build a 2x4 frame, plumb it all up, build a fireplace, and waterproof it with flex seal. #DIYhottub #woodjacuzzi #Flexseal
Better would be to not have bare feet 2 inches from a grinder lol I'd have been tempted to pour a few ml of resin into the base, the tip on each side and repeat. Decorative top plate added after. I'm redesigning my sunken tub at the moment and drawing up a new design for the rocket burner heater.
Don't utilize siding when it needs to be water tight, measure twice cut once, learn how to join materials, learn how to cut rabbits and dados plane and joint your boards for proper thickness and width, SAFETY GEAR!!!! Unless you want to be called stumpy for the rest of your life. Learn the functions and directions of your pump then apply them accordingly, its not that hard has 1 in 1 out if one side sucks the other side blows. Don't try to assemble pump lines while trying to crawl between the fence and a tub. Squares have been around for mellinia, a good square is worth its weight in gold. Dry fit before running fasteners, make certain those fasteners are proper length and won't potentially cause further injuries. Sand more not just a couple of swipes actually sand, stepping your grits up taking it to somewhere close to 200, and sand everything all sides then stain and seal finally assemble keeping in mind if you have glued joints dont stain and seal until the glue has cured, and more clamps you needed much more and culls to keep it from bowing or cupping. Use a straight edge on all circular saw cuts Unless it's rough but even then having a true square edge to reference off of is good.
Woodworking RU-vid, while making a cutting board: dozens of Bessey and Rockler clamps everywhere. This dude, making something that has to be water tight: these two clamps aught to do it. No reason I can't clamp all the panels at once. Hero.
I was very skeptical at first when I first came across this video. I was almost one of the haters like in some of the comments. I think the tub came out awesome. Looked like you guys had a good time building it, that is what really counts. Anyone can simply go buy one. I wish I did stuff like this when I was your ages. Good luck to all of you, you'll go far.
I don’t think anyone is “hating” just because the comment may not be favorable. This kid had great intentions and ambitions that should be praised but the quality is plainly lacking! We see the tub lose 12 inches of water upon his test.
I would grab more copper tube and make a large coil inside the fire pit area. Maintaining heat also might be easier if you insulate the tub and cover the top while heating. Cool project
Just a few dudes chillin in a homeade hottub eating cookies. haha!!! That's truly awesome though - this is the stuff you will remember and talk about for years to come. Enjoy it
Sickkk build by normal people! 🙌 tub came out badass! Even tho there was hiccups y’all showed it and didn’t edit it like other channels. Way to keep it REAL! Good job fellas! 👏😎
Should have sealed the insidde corners prior to putting in the trim pieces and then seal the trim as well. Now when the trim flexes the seal may break. Plus sealing the inner corners is less likely to fail because its part of the structure and cant move as much as
I aint no hater at all. I love what you have done with the place. Watching your video has given me some ideas of how I may can Jerry Rig my own little hot Tub up.
Siiiiiiiick! I'm totally shocked you where able to get those panels apart and they weren't glued together 😂 and I've never had any issues with titebond2, let alone 3, but, Instead of wood glue, you could have used epoxy for 100% waterproofness, or gorilla glue, which is a foaming polyurethane glue. Edit: also! Bar clamps! They're $15 and they're the way to go for pannel glue ups. They fit any length steel bar, and they're less likely to bow then the DeWalt squeeze clamps
I think locktight construction adhesive would work better than gorilla glue, it’s also a PU adhesive but foams less and has rated gap filling properties
How are you planning on regulating temperature? I've thought about making one of these a few times! I think a hexagonal shape would hold the internal water pressure better than 4 flat sides, but it has more jointing so more complicated build!
this looks dope, i would've coiled the copper pipe around the flames more to maximize the heat transfer (i know copper is expensive so wasn't sure if that was intentional not to do it)
Is there any chemical transfer from the waterproof sealant being heated? Since it’s not made for constant contact with water and skin I’m wondering if it will degrade and contaminate the water
I think once it is fully cured flex seal and other silicone sealants I used are pretty non toxic. Definitely uncharted waters though so I do test the water frequently
Thank you glad you enjoy the videos! Yes, it is a lot of work hahaha but very rewarding. Only tip is build stuff that you like then videoing it on the side just makes it more fun
Yeah a lot of money was spent on flex seal... if I could do it again - 2x cedar all the way with tight joints that could swell to create the waterproofing
Hay Scott, what about using a much bigger copper coil and engulf that coil with fire, I mean bond fire size. That should get you the results you want!!! Or, you can get one of those tankless water heaters and use that. Either way it will be epic!!!
The heat from the fire causes the water to rise in the coil (just like air) and it will flow out of the other end. There's a science term but I forgot it
You have a great start and I love your creativity. I got a lot of ideas from your video for the deck and hot tub I plan to build. You asked for suggestions on how to improve yours, so here are a couple of suggestions. Please take this reply as a constructive reply. In no way am I throwing shade at your efforts. Quite the opposite. You and your assistants did a great job and gave me ideas on creating, designing, and building my own. The money you spent on the Flexseal, glue, stain, and clamps would cover the cost of the cedar. When joining the Ceder, you could use a pocket hole jig on the back and install decking screws every 4" to 6" along the joint to make the wood a water-tight seal. You would no longer need the long clamps included in the savings. With cedar, you might have some small weeping along the seams, but the seams would seal closed as the wood expands. Also, the floor joint would have been less likely to have failed if you had installed deck screws with pocket hole joinery. ** Using the deck screws along the tongue and grove joints and the plywood/T-111 sheeting would have saved you time because you would not have to wait for the glue to dry. Pocket hole joinery allows you to put a screw into the board from the back side, at an angle, pulling the two boards together, tightly. The screws are hidden from the finished side while doing a great job keeping the joint together even when the spa is empty and dry. You can look up Pocket Hole Jigs on the internet. my favorite brand is the Kreg System. I am not a sponsor of Kreg Tools, I just love their system and I have used many and even built some myself, but none worked for me as well as Kreg Tools. I will use these tools to build my 10' by 8' in-deck hot tub. Kreg Tools Website: www.kregtool.com/shop/pocket-hole-joinery/pocket-hole-jigs/ You might want more copper tubing and two or more wraps in the coil to make a more efficient heating element. As the heat rises in the flue of the firebox it heats the cooler water with the coolest gases first and the hottest part of the fire as the water leaves the firebox. The water flow should go toward the cold water entering the coil at the top and leaving the coil at the bottom. The furnace to heat the water should be an enclosed firebox with the heating element, the copper coil on top of the wood, made out of cinderblocks. The firebox should have an opening on the bottom for the wood and air to enter. The firebox should enclose the heating coil except for a 4" to 6" hole at the top to allow the smoke and gasses to escape. The fire would burn more slowly but put out a more even and efficient heat. When you build the furnace with controlled airflow, you will use less fuel but get more heat because of the venture effect. A double brick or cinder block wall around the furnace will also make it safer for you and your guests. You might consider upgrading to a stronger pump and adding more distributed water returns to the pool with a directed flow to circulate the water more evenly throughout the spa. Adding Styrofoam or waterproof insulation around the outside walls and then a cover of T-111 siding will use less energy to keep heated and will also look much more attractive. Another upgrade I can see is adding a solar heating option, having two heating sources. Using Solar during the day to maintain temperature, and wood burning for when the sun is not shining or during extreme cold. Both of the heating options need a way of temperature control for safety reasons too.
Hi. Thank you! Glad the video was of help. This is some great information. I completely agree that the cedar would've been the way to go. Also maximizing efficiency with more copper coils, insulating the tub, and enclosing the furnace is a must. Solar idea is also a great idea. I hope to build another tub one day and take everything I learned with this one and make a much better one. Thanks for the advice again!
Hard to say at this point... the wood was probably around $800, pluming was $200, pump was $120, plus a lot of random Home Depot trips so probably 1.2 to 1.4k?
This must have cost a fortune especially with lumber prices the way they are now. Spend the money on the cedar next time it swells and makes it water tight without all the flex seal and stain.
Get you a nice pair of headphones, and the last step of your editing should be throwing those things on and mixing the audio evenly to finish it off. Made me bout jump 450 feet into the air with those sudden cuts to the full volume music in comparison to the volume of your commentary. Great vid. Would love to cut a huge square hole in my deck and build one of these into it.
hard to say because I improved it a couple times but just to build the first video's worth maybe like $600 but wood was way more expensive then than it is now
I would just avoid the pump altogether, if you're using the copper coil in a fire method, the water will circulate on its own just due to the heated water rising in the coil
id mostly be concerned with the stain and sealant leeching out into the water because of the heat, i feel like that is cancer waiting to happen... i do love the idea though, id suggest a 500 gallon steel stock tank
I'm I the only one that noticed the water level dropped when it was hot,, looks like there's still a leak is there a update video or was that honestly a waste of money? sure building and fun is all good but did it fail ??? looked like it to me
Yeah there’s a couple update videos. It did leak in different spots over time and it was a pain because the tub had to be drained each time to patch them so I just let some of them leak.
Also, you should’ve used pipe clamps not trigger clamps. Reason is because you don’t get a good surface for clamping on trigger clamps with clamping large boards.
I don’t think this is gonna last forever, even though outdoor finish is designed to last year weather constant water pressure will make it fail and you’ll have to deal with moisture problems with the entire life of the hot tub, regardless of what kind of would use. The wood is going to rot because of the constant amount of water.
