Built for the long haul, and backed like it

Over 10,000 AlumiTubs are out in the world, at off grid cabins, lake cottages, family homes and coastal properties across the globe. The earliest ones are still being soaked in today.

Coastal salt air. Minus forty in the north. Hard well water. Rentals running seven days a week. Cabins left alone through the winter. The design has been refined over twenty five years of tubs coming back to us with real world wear from real world places.

That track record is why we can put a 25 year structural warranty on a hot tub, and why every component is replaceable rather than disposable.

Why aluminum, and how it has always been protected

Marine grade aluminum was chosen because it holds up where other materials don't. It doesn't rely on swelling to stay watertight the way a traditional cedar tub does, and it doesn't crack or delaminate the way molded acrylic does. Cedar stays on the outside where it belongs, doing what it's best at.

Aluminum is also a metal, and every serious marine application manages that the same way: the right alloy, sacrificial anodes where they're needed, and water kept within a defined range. Boat hulls have been built this way for a century. We've built this way since 2001, and it's why so many of those early tubs are still in service.

Now the protection is in the surface too

The aluminum in every AlumiTub is now built with a marine grade protective barrier as part of manufacturing. Earlier tubs depended on the owner following the water care and anode guidance closely. The protected surface means the tub is no longer relying on that alone.

We still publish water care ranges, and we still ship anodes, because balanced water protects the equipment, the cedar and the quality of your soak, not only the structure. The difference is that the tub is now built to handle a mistake.

Sacrificial anodes

A sacrificial anode is a block of a more reactive metal placed in the water so it corrodes preferentially. Standard practice on boats and in water heaters for as long as either has existed.

Magnesium is used because the anode has to be more reactive than aluminum to do anything at all. Electric, Hybrid and Wood Fired with Filtration tubs run three magnesium anodes, replaced every 3 to 4 months, or once 30% or less remains. That falls naturally alongside a seasonal deep clean.

Water care ranges

Parameter Target
Calcium hardness 150 to 250 ppm
pH 7.4 to 7.8
Total alkalinity 80 to 120 ppm
Bromine 2 to 3 ppm

The one most people miss is calcium hardness. Very soft water is chemically aggressive, because it's under saturated and pulls minerals from whatever it touches. Some municipal supplies run as low as 10 ppm. If you fill through a water softener, you're below spec by design, because removing calcium is what a softener does.

Not compatible with an aluminum interior: chlorine in any form, pucks and floaters, salt chlorine generators, copper based algaecides, silver based mineral cartridges. Several of these are standard in the acrylic spa world, which is why pool stores recommend them.

Good Clean Living Water Care

Rather than leave owners to assemble a compatible routine from a pool store shelf, we put together Good Clean Living Water Care, a curated collection built specifically around aluminum and around the ranges above.

Fill purification, balancers, a monthly plant derived stabilizer, filter care, and a deep clean every 3 to 4 months. Everything in it is compatible with an aluminum interior, so there's no cross checking labels and no guessing about whether something belongs in your tub. It works by reducing what your water needs rather than adding more to it.

What it looks like after a decade or two

The most useful evidence isn't ours. These are owners describing tubs they have lived with for years, in their own words.

"We have happily been using our AlumiTub for nearly 20 years. Thank you for building such a remarkable product. I can't tell you about the countless happy hours we have spent in its warm confines."

Heidi & Bruce Reugg

"We got our tub in 2015 and installed it ourselves at our island cottage."

Lorne & Tanya Atkinson, island cottage, Ontario

"We have been enjoying our hot tub for the last year. Purchased in April 2016. Even kept it burning through the minus 30 C nights of Alberta winters."

Mitch & Sherry Metrunec, Alberta

"Brought our family together. My kids come up to the cabin just to use the hot tub. It's our family staple and we've loved it for 8 years now."

Metallier

"After barging our AlumiTub over to our wildfire-burned lot on Loon Lake 7 years ago, two of us rolled it up the hill and installed it. Maintenance and upkeep have been easy. The AlumiTub is built to last and we expect several generations to enjoy it over the years."

Gail Hunt, Loon Lake

"We've had our tub 4 or 5 years and absolutely love it. On a remote site in Northern Manitoba."

Rob & Kate Buchanon, Northern Manitoba

"We have had our Alumitub for 3 years and think it is the greatest thing ever!"

Rick Wirthlin

"I was always a little hesitant of going with one that was only cedar because of how it would last over time with the winter/summer cycle and the wood constantly expanding and contracting. That's when I found AlumiTubs, and it was the perfect solution. It has already survived a harsh winter with no issue."

Scott Hauser, upper Midwest

"It feels much more durable than the wooden hot tub we had before. Sturdier construction, better insulation, and no concerns about leaks or warping."

b cramer

Read more owner stories.

What we put behind it

A 25 year structural warranty. The marine grade aluminum structure and foundation, together with the stainless chimney, cap and bands, are warranted to remain free of leaks for twenty five years from delivery. Registered automatically when your tub ships, with no form to fill out.

A tub that can be worked on. Nothing is buried. On most hot tubs the working parts sit behind sealed panels and packed foam, awkward to reach and sometimes impossible, which is what eventually decides whether a spa is repaired or thrown away. On an AlumiTub the cedar, the firebox, the heater, pump, board and filtration are bolted, banded or slotted onto the aluminum structure, so any of them can be reached and replaced by hand.

A tub that changes with you. Because the heating system is modular rather than integral, it can be swapped entirely. A wood fired tub can take electric heating and filtration years later. A hybrid can run either source, or both. The tub adapts to a new property, a new climate or a different way of living, instead of being the wrong tub for it.

And parts for the life of it. Every component is replaceable and available to buy, including on tubs well past their coverage period and on tubs bought secondhand. We still supply parts for tubs built two decades ago.

Read the 25 year warranty

If you already own one

Surface changes on an older tub are usually straightforward to sort out, and almost always come down to water rather than the aluminum. Deposits are generally removable. Dulling is the oxide layer doing its job. Neither affects the structure or the life of the tub.

If you own an AlumiTub and you've seen a surface change you're unsure about, email hi@alumitubs.com with photos and your water numbers. In most cases we can tell you what it is and how to put it right, and where something needs more than that, we'll work out the right approach with you. We support owners regardless of how old the tub is or whether they bought it from us.

Everything we've published on this

If you're researching aluminum before buying, these go into more detail than we can here. We'd rather you read all of it.

Still weighing it up? Email hi@alumitubs.com with your location and water source and we'll tell you honestly whether an aluminum tub suits your property. We'd rather talk someone out of the wrong build than sell the wrong one.