What the call usually is
Most Seattle tubs should run through winter: our cold snaps are short and a heated tub protects itself. The risk is the week the wind storm takes the power out while it is 25°F. We set tubs up to survive that, and we repair the ones that did not.
A tub that will sit empty needs a real winterization — every line blown out, pumps and heater drained, unions cracked, antifreeze where it belongs. A half-done job freezes a pump in the first hard frost.
What owners describe on the phone
Pump wet end cracked after a freeze
The commonest freeze casualty. Water left in the volute expands and splits it. A new wet end fixes it if the motor survived.
Heater manifold split
Second commonest. The heater tube freezes first when the pump stops. Replaced as an assembly.
Jets and unions weeping after the thaw
Ice pushes gaskets out of their seats. Usually a reseat or a gasket, not a new part.
ICE code on the display
The pack running freeze protection. If it shows during a cold snap with the pump off, the pump is the problem, not the code.
How the visit runs
- A call half an hour before we arrive
- Diagnosis with a meter, then one written price you approve
- Water hardness and alkalinity checked and noted
- Special-order parts arrive the next business day in most cases
- If the tub is not worth fixing, we say so
Scope, plainly: the spa and what lives inside its skirt. New circuits, supply plumbing and setting new tubs go to an electrician or a dealer.