Can I Put An Inflatable Hot Tub On My Decking?

  • Explore the wonderful world of outdoor hot tubs.
  • Find out whether or not your deck needs more support.
inflatable hot tub on decking

Is your wooden deck enough to support a filled inflatable hot tub and the people in it without any assistance? It might be!

As the weather gets warmer again, we’ll all be on the look out for ways to spruce up our homes and make life just a bit more relaxing.

An inflatable hot tub is a great alternative to regular hot tubs. They’re less expensive, and they won’t run up huge bills if you want to move houses and need to dismantle your tub before doing so. The beauty of an inflatable object is that it takes minutes to deflate it after you’ve emptied it out.

Can my deck hold a hot tub?

If you’re thinking of putting up an inflatable hot tub on your decking, have no fear! Wooden decking shouldn’t have any issues holding a tub full of water and people, as long as it’s close to the ground.

In the event that you have raised wooden decking that is more than two foot from ground level, your decking would benefit from some extra support.

Decking can hold around 100 pounds of weight per square foot. It’s highly unlikely that your inflatable hot tub, even full of water and people, will go over your decking’s weight limit. However, raised decking poses a different problem.

Reinforcing your decking is the best option if you’re worried about the added weight of a full inflatable hot tub. If you’re planning on staying where you are for a while, you may eventually upgrade to a permanent hot tub – which will require more support than an inflatable one.

Inflatable hot tub on decking
A group of friends enjoying an outdoor hot tub together.

What is the weight of an inflatable hot tub?

Most inflatable hot tubs will weigh anywhere from 2200 to 3700 pounds. That’s the weight for a tub full of water and at its maximum capacity of average-sized people. The upper limit there is based on a tub for four to six people.

It is difficult, however, to give an exact figure when looking at the weight of a full tub. This is because inflatable hot tubs come in a huge range of shapes and sizes.

To give yourself a good idea of what kind of weight you’re looking at, you can calculate your tub’s weight like this:

  • Start with zero because deflated, empty hot tubs weigh next to nothing.
  • Times the number of gallons of water by the weight of a gallon (8.35 pounds).
  • Add the average weight of the people using the tub in pounds.
  • Divide that number by the size of your decking (that being the number of square feet of your deck).

The total will tell you how many pounds of pressure each square foot of your decking will experience. As long as it’s less than 100lbs per square foot, your decking will hold the weight without any issues.

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