Time to Tear Down the Spa at Land Park Home

Published May 16, 2016 | By Elizabeth Weintraub

Cactus garden in Land Park (Sacramento) and covered Spa

When I mentioned to my husband that it was time to tear down the spa because a) I haven’t used it in 2 years and b) it’s disintegrating before our very eyes, his response was: why don’t we buy a new spa? I guess because we don’t use the one we have now, and it still works. It seems pointless to heat, recirculate the water and treat it with chemicals when nobody sits in it. Waste of resources, energy.

It’s been here since we bought our home in Land Park, for the last 14 years. Hmmm . . . it was probably at least 10 years old then. I’m guessing it’s about 25 years. I’ve replaced mostly everything inside the spa, the heater, the blowers, some other weird motor thing, and bought a new cover, religiously replaced the filters every year, scrubbed and drained it annually, too, why-oh-why?

See, it pays to stop and take stock of your surroundings every now and then. Time to tear down the spa. The lattice work around the spa was losing its integrity, pieces have been flying off. When the workers began dismantling it, it was clear the bottom portion below the deck had badly deteriorated. Still, I didn’t want to throw it into the city dump. So, I asked a trusty source, my housekeeper, if she knew anybody who could use it.

Enter into the picture, Howard. Howard just had knee surgery and his doctor suggested that a spa would help him to recover faster. Perfect match. We would give the spa to Howard. Following are photos of that process. Plus, Howard was so happy he gave my husband and me a gift, which was very much unexpected yet super cool.

Yes, time to tear down the spa. Goodbye spa. Hello future garden beds.