For a Creve Coeur homeowner with a backyard hot tub, the tub is one of the easier things to forget on a roof job and one of the harder things to move in a hurry. The tub, its cover, its lift and the electrical run that feeds the heater all sit in the path of the crew, the ladder and the dumpster. If nobody marks them before the tear-off starts, the crew either works around them at a slower pace or moves them without a plan, and both costs show up later as delay, a cracked shell or a cover that no longer fits back on the tub. Keys Roofing puts this on the pre-start walk because it is cheap to settle in advance and expensive to settle on the morning of the work.
Measure the clearance before anyone orders material
Stand at the eave where the tub sits and ask a plain question: can a person walk from the driveway to the side of the house carrying a tote of old shingles and a ladder without stepping over the tub's skirt or its cover? On many lots in this part of west St. Louis County, a tub sits on a concrete pad close to the foundation, with a fence on one side and a patio on the other. That layout can leave a gap of two or three feet between the tub and the wall. A roof crew needs more room than that to stage a bundle, carry a ladder and swing a magnet across the lawn. Write the measurement down on the day you walk the property, including the distance from the house wall and the distance to the nearest fence or lot line. A measured figure is more useful than a guess from the crew lead, and it gives you something to check when the crew arrives.
The cover, the lift and the heater
A hot tub cover is heavy, and many of them are sized for the tub rather than for a garage or a patio. Before the tear-off, decide who moves the cover, where it goes, and whether it lies flat or stands on edge. A cover leaned against the side of the house can be struck by falling shingles or by a shovel swung off the roof edge. A cover left on wet lawn through a spring rain can soak up water and become much heavier than it looks. If the tub has a lift that lowers the cover, the lift should be disconnected only by the owner or the tub service company, not by the roof crew, because a lift that drops unexpectedly is a hazard to anyone standing beside it.
The heater has its own power run. Most tubs feed the heater through a disconnect near the equipment and a breaker in the main panel. If the tear-off will reach the wall where the equipment sits, shut the breaker off at the panel before the crew arrives, label it, and tell the crew lead in writing that it is off. Leave a note on the disconnect so no one tests the tub during the job. If the panel is far from the tub, agree on who will walk the breaker off and back on, and on what time of day that happens. Losing power to a tub for a day is an inconvenience. Finding a live feed near a crew member on a wet roof is a serious problem.
Freezing weather and the water in the tub
In St. Louis the freeze and thaw cycle makes the tub's water a separate question from the roof itself. A tub filled through a cold snap faces the same risk as any exposed pipe, because the plumbing that runs to the heater and the jets can crack when water inside it freezes. If the job will run into a hard freeze, ask the tub owner to drain or winterize the tub before the crew starts, and confirm the plan on paper. Ask which day the tub will be drained and who makes the call if the forecast changes during the job. A roof left open overnight in a cold week is already a exposure, and an unmanaged tub adds a second thing to check each morning.
What to put in writing
A short written note saves arguments later. The note does not need to be long, but it should answer the questions that come up on roof day. Keep a copy with the proposal so both sides can point to the same page.
- The tub's position, measured from the house wall and from the nearest fence or lot line.
- Who moves the cover, the lift and any loose furniture, and the date each item will be moved.
- Which breaker feeds the heater, and whether it is shut off for the job and by whom.
- Whether the tub is drained for a freeze, and who decides that if the forecast changes.
- Where the crew may stage a dumpster or a trailer without crossing the tub pad or the cover.
A written scope from Keys Roofing should show the pre-start walk and the photos taken of the yard before work begins, so the tub's position is on file before the first day. The homeowner keeps those photos and can compare them with the yard on the day the crew leaves. Photographs taken from three angles, one from the eave, one from the patio and one from the lot line, usually settle questions about where the cover was set and whether anything was moved.
Who should be on the walk
The walk should include the owner, the crew lead, and whoever services the tub. A service technician can say in a few minutes whether the cover, the lift and the heater can stay where they are or need to come off the pad before the work begins. Bring a tape measure, a phone for photographs, and the tub's model number, since the model determines the cover size and the lift type. Ask the crew lead to point to the spot where the dumpster will sit and the spot where the ladder will rest, and to note any place where those two spots would meet the tub pad or the cover.
It also helps to walk the path from the driveway to the eave with the crew lead. Count the steps, check the gate width, and look for low branches or a hose reel that could catch a loaded tote. These details rarely appear on a proposal, but they decide how the crew moves through the yard on each day of the job.
A practical sequence for the homeowner
- Walk the yard with the crew lead and measure the gap between the tub and the house wall.
- Photograph the tub, the cover, the lift and the heater disconnect from three angles, and date the photos.
- Turn off the heater breaker if the tear-off reaches that wall, and label the panel so no one turns it back on by mistake.
- Move or cover loose items within reach of the eave, including the cover, and move the cover away from the house wall.
- Confirm the freeze plan in writing if the forecast turns cold during the job, and set a date to check it.
If the tub sits too close to the eave for the crew to work safely, the crew can ask for a short delay while the owner moves it, and that delay belongs on the schedule with a new start date. Keys Roofing can be reached at (314) 220-2333 to set the walk and talk through the sequence before the start date. A tub that is measured, photographed and marked before the roof comes off is one fewer surprise on the morning of the work, and it leaves the owner with a record of where everything was when the crew arrived.