(Last modified on March 30th, 2020)
A hot tub is an amazing amenity to have in a home, regardless of whether it’s outside or nestled somewhere under a roof. Making a man cave with a hot tub makes sense for that reason. It helps you relax and socialize—what’s not to like? Today, I want to discuss how to set up your own man cave with a hot tub, fix up the room so that the humidity doesn’t mess with your cave, balance it with the other decor in your man cave, and find a hot tub in the first place.
As you already know from reading this page, finding something that suits your man cave perfectly is not an easy task. If you think a hot tub will work, then you should pursue it. It’s not a quest for a beginner or someone low on cash, but it’s an amazing feature to have around and especially useful for men with long and laborious work days. Let’s begin!
In order to set up a man cave with a hot tub, you’ll need to make sure it has enough accommodations to make it happen. Most hot tub models don’t need a source of running water, but having one nearby that you can use to fill it is sort of crucial. This is the main part where people mess up in setting up their interior hot tubs. Before you move in the man cave, check the size that will fit in it. Leave a lot of space empty or move some furniture out so that the hot tub can be safely installed. By putting the hot tub in before you do anything major to the cave, you have a much better time decorating the rest of the man cave.
Once your hot tub is in, make a setup that helps drain spilled water and prevents slipping. Carpet will rot if you use it, while wood is asking for trouble. Matte tile works well, though it’s not fool proof. I find that putting in some cloth liner meant specifically for preventing slips makes the whole area much safer. The other big thing to making the man cave (and the rest of the house) prepared for a hot tub is to fix air circulation. You absolutely need a dehumidifier and an air filter so that a humid, warm, chlorine-filled wave of air doesn’t hit the rest of the house when you use your hot tub.
On top of that, excessive steam could damage the other things in your man cave. Install a fan that quickly moves that humidity outside of the home. Using dry wall built for humid areas, cement, brick, glass, or cedar as wall material makes the walls durable all by themselves.
Now that you have your hot tub all set up, it’s time to start thinking about the rest of the room. You can read all about man cave decor here, but accounting for a hot tub in the room requires a bit more thought. First of all, you want to make it as discrete as possible. A hot tub is never the main feature of a man cave. Your cover should be simple—perhaps even elegant—and match the color scheme of the rest of the room. If you have tile steps leading up to the hot tub, leave lots of room open in the cave so that this pathway meshes nicely with the other floor space.
To further tone down the hot tub, you’ll want to get some even bigger attractions. For example, a huge TV setup complete with video games and the most comfortable couch in existence will be a big distraction to the hot tub. A bar works even better, since it’s an even bigger feature than a hot tub. It’s the first thing you’ll want to mess with after a long day, even if you were looking forward to a dip in the hot tub.
Why go through all the trouble of toning down the hot tub’s presence? Frankly, the room is still a man cave at heart. A true man cave is more than a sauna. It provides more than one method of relaxation. A hot tub fits right in as a soothing activity, but it should be one of many. If you want a room that focuses on a hot tub, just build a bathroom with a Jacuzzi or something. A sauna or exterior hot tub will do the trick as well. Your hot tub is an accessory of the man cave, not its focus, and you’ll need to make sure it looks the part. This is both so that guests know you don’t spend hours in there getting pruny in the hot tub and to tell them that there are still many other things to do.
While you do need to make a ton of accommodations for a hot tub to fit in the man cave—and while those accommodations might take up most of your building efforts—it’s kind of important that it plays a minor role in the room as a whole. You can brag about all the work it took to build as a bit of trivia when you entertain others in your man cave.
Hot tubs are a bit expensive, to put it mildly. However, if you’re constructing a man cave in the first place, then you should have money to spare. Budgeting is a crucial part of constructing a stress-free man cave. If you need some advice to do that, read my article on the matter here. If you’re ready to make the purchase, then only seek out the best company to install it. Check the reviews on websites everywhere you can find. The three and four star reviews are the most accurate, I tend to find. If they don’t have a website, I wouldn’t really trust them.
By hiring the best-of-the-best, you’re spending a bit more than you need to. However, you save money in the long run by preventing hot tub leaks and having a few people you can call on—at least in the first few months—if you have any trouble with the tub. Professionals also have no trouble constructing hot tubs in strange places, including man caves.
As with anything involving water, proper maintenance is essential to keeping it around. If you don’t take care of your hot tub, treat the water, or drain it when not in use, it will become a moldy mess that makes the entire house reek of soggy garbage. Cleaning a hot tub that was left to mold also takes a huge amount of work. It’s not just the mold on the outside that you need to clean—the mold on the inside stays there forever and occasionally spits out of the jets when you turn it on after a while. That’s no bueno when you have guests over.
Ultimately, you only want to add in the hot tub if it has a good purpose. It should be more than an aesthetic feature of your man cave. It needs to be a place to relax, to soothe your aching body, or a place to socialize. Of course, I’m sure you can figure out other ways to use the hot tub. What matters is that you do find a reason to have a man cave with a hot tub. A true man cave finds purpose from everything inside of it, and a hot tub is no exception. Abide by that rule, and your man cave is sure to shine!
