Written by Yaro Thompson. Find the latest information on Spa enclosures
Spas can be a great addition to any home and unless you have your spa out on an open deck it will often times require some type of enclosure for privacy and also for safety if there are children in the home. For the most part, although there are exceptions, a spa enclosure will consist of some type of decorative wooden framework and often resemble the decor of a common gazebo.
While at first glance they can look easy to build they do require some basic know-how and basic carpentry skills. Making sure that you use the correct type of wood for its construction can make all of the difference in the world if you plan on the end results to be attractive and long lasting. 4X8 foot redwood lattice panels work great for creating a screening effect in a spa enclosure but they must be framed in properly or they will begin to fall apart in a relatively short time.
Regular construction grade Douglas Fir does not work well as a material for exterior exposed construction as it will warp and crack when it is exposed to the weather. Himalayan Fir works great for building outdoor decorative structures and this is the type of wood that you will see on the barges and fascias of homes for just this very reason.
People will often gravitate to solid brass screws when building an outdoor decorative structure only to find out the hard way that while they are completely resistant to rust they are inherently weak and don't work well at all for heavy construction. If you are determined to screw your enclosure together than nice galvanized wood screws or heavy brass plated steel screws work best. Also, try to pre-paint as much of the wood as you can while you are building your spa enclosure, because it is so much easier to paint wood laid out on saw horses then after it has been added to a structure.
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