Built into the ground, not delivered on a truck.
In-Ground Hot Tubs Across Georgia
We build spas into a backyard: set into the deck, finished in the same materials as the pool, plumbed and wired as part of the structure. That is a different product from the portable hot tub you buy from a dealer, and it suits a different person. Aqualis Pools also takes on projects across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Designed for Relaxation and Built for Performance
Built-In Spas and Portable Hot Tubs Are Different Purchases
A portable hot tub is an appliance. It arrives on a truck, sits on a pad or a deck, plugs in, and can be sold with the house or taken with you. It is cheaper, it is quicker, and for plenty of households it is the right answer. Dealers sell them and we do not.
A built-in spa is construction. It is formed into the ground or into the pool structure, finished in the same material as everything around it, and plumbed and wired as part of the site. It costs more, it takes longer, and it becomes part of the property rather than an object standing on it.
The honest guide: if you want hot water this season for the least money, buy a portable one from a dealer. If you are already building or reworking a backyard and you want the spa to look like it belongs there, that is what we do. We would rather tell you that now than at the quote.
If the spa should share water and equipment with the pool and spill into it, that is a spillover spa, which is a different build again and has its own page.
Decisions Made Before Anything Is Dug
Where it goes. Distance from the door is worth deciding deliberately, because a spa is used in cold weather and the walk is part of the decision. Sight lines and privacy from neighbours are worth settling at the same time.
Standalone or connected. A standalone spa runs on its own equipment and can be used when the pool is closed. A spa sharing the pool’s system is cheaper to build and tied to it.
Size and seating. Bigger is not better here. A spa built for eight and used by two costs more to heat every month for capacity that is never needed.
The finish. A built-in spa is normally finished to match the pool, which is decided alongside pool tile and coping rather than separately.
Heating and running cost. A spa is small but kept hot, which is a different cost pattern from a pool that is large and heated occasionally. Insulation and cover quality drive that bill more than anything else.
Access and the cover. Where the cover goes when it is off is a genuine design question that gets forgotten until the first use. It also matters for the safety point below.
Using It Safely
A hot tub is an open body of hot water in a garden, and it is worth treating with the same seriousness as the pool beside it. Two things follow from that.
A cover that latches is the practical barrier. A spa is small enough that a young child can reach it easily and shallow enough that people assume it is not a hazard, which is exactly the combination worth taking seriously. Where the garden is not otherwise enclosed, pool fencing and safety applies to a spa as much as to a pool.
Hot water immersion also has its own sensible limits around temperature and duration, and there are people who should take advice before using one at al
What a Built-In Spa Costs
Considerably more than a portable unit, and the gap is the construction rather than the spa. Excavation, structure, plumbing, electrical supply and finishing all cost money before any water is heated. Building it at the same time as a pool or a deck is materially cheaper than adding it afterwards, for the usual reason: one mobilisation instead of two.
Financing is available where a spa forms part of a larger project, explained on our pool financing options page.
Adding a Spa to an Existing Backyard
Retrofitting is possible and it is easier where the deck is already being lifted. If pool decking work is planned, that is the moment: the excavation, the plumbing runs and the electrical supply are all far less disruptive when the surface is coming up anyway. Lighting and fire features around a spa are also cheapest to install in the same pass, and a spa is used after dark more often than a pool is.
What Our Clients Say
Aqualis Pools is rated 5.0 on Google, and every review can be read in full on the profile.
Built-In Spas Across Georgia
We build spas for homeowners in Lawrenceville, Buford, Loganville, Athens, Auburn and nearby Georgia communities. The full list is on our service areas page, and finished work is in the gallery .
Frequently Asked Questions
A hot tub runs on its own equipment and can be used independently, including when the pool is closed for the season. A spillover spa is built into or beside the pool, shares its water and equipment, and spills into it. The spillover version is usually cheaper to build alongside a pool; the standalone version is more flexible in where it goes and when it is used.
No. We build spas into the ground and into pool structures. If you want a portable unit delivered and set on a pad, a hot tub dealer is the right call, and it will cost you less. We would rather say so than quote for something we are not the best answer to.
Yes. It is most straightforward when the deck is already being lifted for other work, because the excavation, plumbing and electrical supply are all less disruptive then. We look at the space and tell you what the retrofit actually involves before quoting.
They need regular water balancing and cleaning, and occasional equipment maintenance, in the same way a pool does but on a smaller volume of water. A small volume kept hot changes chemistry faster than a large one kept cool, so the routine is more frequent even though each session is shorter.
A spa is small but held at temperature, so the cost is driven by insulation, cover quality and how often it is used rather than by size.
It is worth being straight about this one. A well-built spa that matches the pool and the deck adds to how a property presents. Whether it adds resale value is genuinely debated, and some buyers view a spa as something they will have to maintain. Buy one because you will use it, not as an investment.
Start Planning Your Spa
Two answers shape this quickly: whether you want it built into the backyard or delivered on a truck, and whether you want to use it when the pool is closed. The first tells you whether we are the right company; the second decides standalone or connected.
Call (770) 373-8405 or send us a message.