Wood Burning Self Build Hot Tub

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by Pure Living for Life
A DIY hot tub satisfies the authors' desires to unwind at the end of a long day of work on their off-grid property.

Think you can’t enjoy a hot tub because you’re living off-grid? Check out this beautiful self build hot tub warmed by burning wood.

When we first moved onto our land in September 2015, we had grand plans for immediately building our home. At first, we thought we’d have a basic structure up in just a couple of months, but we quickly realized we weren’t ready to start construction. We decided we might as well find a way to provide long-term comfort for ourselves while tackling a building project that could take years, so we came up with the not-so-crazy idea to set up a wood burning hot tub on our property.

Because we were living off-grid in a 19-foot travel trailer on land without utilities, we wanted to expand our living space into the outdoors and create something to enjoy immediately and remind us why we moved to a remote location. A hot tub satisfies those desires and is a great way to unwind at the end of a long day of work on our property, especially on cold evenings when cabin fever sets in.

We also understood that keeping our bodies in top shape would be a priority because of the hard physical labor of building a house ourselves. We couldn’t take long, hot showers in the travel trailer, and we didn’t even have a clean surface where we could stretch, so we figured the ability to soak in a hot tub would do wonders for our bodies.

First things first: We built a deck for the hot tub. We went straight for a permanent structure and built it on the hillside. Was this challenging to take on as our first large project? Yes. Was it impossible? No. Because we wanted to timber-frame our home using trees from our property, and because we owned an Alaskan Chainsaw Mill, we decided this project would help us get some practice under our belts. We felled a couple of trees and turned them into lumber. Many months later — because winter and other projects quickly halted our progress — we had a beautiful deck on our hillside with a view more epic than we could’ve ever imagined. Plus, 90 percent of the deck consists of materials from our very own property.

  • Updated on Sep 14, 2023
  • Originally Published on Dec 20, 2017
Tagged with: DIY projects, woodworking, woodworking joints, woodworking project
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