Thinking about a cover lifter arm, worth it or just deal with it

Started by Rick Dominguez · · 4 replies
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#1
Feet in the tub right now, beer on the rail, and my back's reminding me I'm 63 every time I wrestle this cover off solo. Been eyeballing one of those lifter arms that bolts to the side and holds the cover up while you're soaking. Anybody actually run one for a few seasons? Mine's a 6-person so it's not a monster cover but it's heavy enough and awkward enough that I end up leaning it against the rail and hoping the wind doesn't get it.

Mostly wondering if the hinge setups hold up outside in real weather or if they get creaky and sag after a year. Not trying to spend big on something that ends up in the shed by summer. Figured you folks who've got one would know better than a sales page.

4 Replies

#2
Rick, before anybody can steer you right on this, is your tub built into a deck or does it sit up on a patio pad like ours does. Gene always says the lifter arms that bolt to a solid deck edge hold up fine for years, but the ones clamping onto a flimsy rail on a freestanding tub are what end up creaking and sagging after a season out in the weather.
#3
Sits right on the patio pad Marlene, no deck, so that's a fair point about the rail flex. Mine's just the cabinet skirt, not exactly a beefy anchor point, so now I'm wondering if I'd be better off bolting a little post into the concrete instead of trusting the tub's own rail to hold up over time.
#4
Bolting into the concrete pad is the right instinct, but before you go that route, what's under that pad, is it a real poured slab or one of those thin decorative pours over gravel. Seen it a hundred times where a guy anchors a post into what he thinks is concrete and it's really just a few inches of mix over base, and the post wobbles loose in a year anyway.

If it's a legit slab, a standalone post with a proper anchor will outlast any bracket clamped to that cabinet skirt, those skirts flex more than people think even with a solid base underneath them. I don't run one on my own tub, just prop the cover on a chair like an animal, but customers who did it right went the post route specifically because they didn't trust the cabinet.
#5
no hot tub here so cant speak to the lifter arms directly, but that thing tampapoolguy said about thin decorative pours over gravel rang a bell, my pool equipment pad did the exact same thing to me. looked like solid concrete til i tried anchoring my hose reel bracket into it and the anchor just spun loose after a few months, turned out it was barely 2 inches of mix over dirt.

if you're not 100% sure what's under that patio pad i'd tap around it or even chip a tiny test spot somewhere hidden before committing to a post, way cheaper than finding out after you've drilled and it's already wobbling. rick's right to be skeptical of the cabinet skirt too, mine flexes if i lean on it just moving pool furniture around.