Ask 'Dr. Spa' Q & A Message Board

How old is the deck?

Since you're not too concerned about a structural item being lifted by frost, let me put that concern in you! I'm not a Structural Engineer but you have a bigger problem that your deck was lifted by the frost. It sounds like it wasn't built to local codes for footing depth.

Will your tub be hurt having a 1.5" out of level water, it depends on where the filter is. Will the deck start becoming structurally weak, probably. Having a 2 ton + item on a weakened deck is not a good thing IMO.

Before you answer me as it's no big deal ... think about this, if you bend metal enough it fatigues and breaks apart. As the deck rises that 1.5", it is pulling on structural items not made for that, eventually it can fail.

This is my $0.02. Please get your deck looked at.

: Over the past two or three days, frost heave has caused the 16X12 deck
: (housing my Beachcomber 720) to elevate on one side. I now have about
: 1.5 inches difference in water level from one side of my tub to the
: other. Water is still freely entering the filter chamber so the tub
: should be fine (?) and I have no real concerns about the overall
: structural integrity of the deck - it's built with tripled up 2X10s
: and single 2X8s. This is our first winter with our new tub so I was
: wondering if this is common for others and if you are still able to
: enjoy your tub on a temporarily uneven deck... as I assume the spring
: thaw will revert everything to even again?