Our exposed skin was too cold in the water since the spa was fixed this fall. We have used it in the winter before but noticed the little ones got cold fast and could not stay in long. I was reading a Facebook group and got the idea to erect a shelter over it.
I wanted a simple pop up and ordered a 10×15 but it came with a very thin canopy and walls. I didn’t think it would hold up in the wind. Then I also realized I needed more height inside to open the cover. I found a reasonably priced carport that had leg extensions to make it 11 ft. tall outside. So I returned the pop up and bought the carport. The walls are plastic tarps that are 180 gsm which translates into 8 mil. That’s a decent mid weight.
The shelter was easy to put together. The instructions were good and after I assembled the roof, Dave helped lift it on top of the spa.
The day was windless so had no trouble attaching the sides and roof with the bungee balls that come with it. The shelter was delivered about noon and by 4:30 pm I had it together with the walls attached.
Actually the rear door wall was not on but I was done for the day. Overnight it got a little windy but it was staked down good enough. I had stakes in all the leg posts and the wind was mild. The next day I worked to put in more stakes. At the poles I ran the included cording down the poles to the stakes that twisted into the ground. I put up the rear door and staked the middle of the door walls with extra polyester cord that I bought. The polyester is the highest rated for outdoor use and stability. It does not stretch like nylon.
The wind had knocked the cross brace above the spa off kilter but it self corrected after I installed more stakes.
It took me another day to order more outside stakes. I bought some very heavy duty stakes that were drilled into the ground and some lighter weight stakes. The drilled stakes hold the outside corners and the polyester cord should stay tighter and be more weatherproof than the included cord. I also trimmed the side panel against the wall to fit. I had to cut one pole to sit on the wall because there was no room between the wall and the spa.
I pulled as much of the excess wall material down between the wall and the spa as I could and tried to straighten it.
Yesterday and last night the wind was recorded at 19mph but it did not seem to affect the shelter. We get higher winds but that was a good one to be the initial test.
I’m not finished with buttoning down the shelter. I’m adding grommets and stakes to the walls around the perimeter.