How Much Does It Cost to Move a Hot Tub?

Nationally, a few hundred dollars for a typical move: Thumbtack reports $288 to $551 with most people paying $398, and Hot Spring puts an on-site move at $200 to $400. What changes the total is the route, stairs or a crane, and the work at the new house, and the real number comes from the mover who sees the job, not from us.

What the published numbers say

Two published figures are worth knowing, and both are national. Thumbtack reports an average cost to move a hot tub of $288 to $551, with most people paying $398, and an average of about $200 an hour for movers who bill by the hour. Hot Spring Spas puts a typical on-site move, from one spot on the property to another, at $200 to $400. Neither is a Denver quote, and neither includes the work at the other end. They give you a sense of scale, not a price. We do not set one: the vetted local spa mover who takes the job prices it after seeing the route.

What pushes the mover's price up

The route is the price. Hot Spring says moving a spa upstairs, or needing specialized equipment such as a crane or forklift, raises the price, which may then be charged by the hour. A crane brings its own planning: federal OSHA rules require the crane operator's employer to check whether any part of the equipment, load line or load could come within 20 feet of a power line and, if so, to de-energize the line, keep a 20 foot clearance or apply the table of minimum approach distances. In Denver a crane or truck working from the street is using the public right-of-way, and the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure permits that through e-permits, with a street occupancy worksheet and traffic plans.

The costs that are not the mover's

Most of what surprises people is at the new house. The electrician's work is its own job: Catalina Spas specifies a dedicated circuit from the main supply with a class A double-pole GFCI on its 240V models. The pad can be its own job too, and Resort Hot Tubs recommends reinforced concrete at least 4 inches thick. A tub going onto a deck in Westminster needs an engineer's stamped letter first. Each town runs its own permit process on top. We do not price any of this, and nobody should put a number on it before they know what the new spot already has.

What a move can do to the warranty

Check this before you compare prices. Viking Spas' limited warranty states that it is void if the spa is relocated anywhere other than the original point of delivery, and it excludes the cost of removal and reinstallation. Arctic Spas treats any damage caused by moving the spa as abuse, and its warranties end when ownership transfers from the original customer. Resort Hot Tubs puts the cost of moving the tub off the premises for a warranty repair on the purchaser. Read your own maker's terms, because they differ, and a tub that has already been moved once may be out of cover.

Can you save the money and move it yourself?

People do, and for a short move across a flat yard it can be realistic. Weigh it honestly first. Hot Spring's Grandee is 790 pounds empty, Arctic's Summit is 935, and a swim spa like Arctic's Ocean is 1,910. Arctic Spas treats damage caused by moving the spa as abuse under its warranty, so a cracked cabinet or a dropped corner is likely yours to pay for. Against that, the national figure for an on-site move is $200 to $400. If you have the people, the equipment and an open, level route, you may not need anyone. If there are stairs, a narrow gate or a deck in the way, that is where a mover earns the fee.

How to get a real number

A real price needs four things: where the tub is, where it is going, what stands between it and the truck, and what the new spot already has. Send those and we will tell you whether it looks like a dolly job or a crane job and what has to be ready at the other end first, then connect you with a vetted local spa mover, licensed and insured, who quotes the work. Asking carries no obligation. If the move falls between early October and early May, say so: at the Denver airport station that is the freeze season, with 156.3 freezing nights a year, and the date changes the plan.