Hi leep....CastleRock, my builder, custom measured my DH and I for the King and Queen seats in our 16-jet spa. I like mine at (sitting position) a *little* below waist-high - to get lower back, and then about mid-back high. Ahhhhh. It's a GREAT spa. Great PB. The rest around the spa are about average waist height when you're sitting. Measure yourself sitting down and you'll know if these are too low. From what I could tell leaning over the spa and measuring, my personal one has two for my back, centered at 7" and about 11". I' 5'4" tall. My husband has different measurements. 4" sounds really low. Our other general ones are centered between 7 and 8". We also have jets in the foot-well. HTH.

Pisces - Thank you very very much!! The ones that are 7.5 look right on, but the rest seem way too short. This is something I'm going to discuss with my PB and see what type of solution we can come up with.

I like to avoid putting in what I call "bidet" jets Typically a jet should be no less than 4" from the finished bench to the center of the jet.

I just spoke with one of the VPs of the company who stopped by to pick up a payment and he told me that it should be no problem to move them up even with the concrete in place. I think I am going to put 3 at 7.5" and 3 at 11". We just need to confirm this with the construction manager :).

spa jets seem to be a big discussion around our house as well ... we will have an 8 ft circle spa with 16 jets - my hubby is putting in 2 pumps to ensure we will be encased in bubbles (funny thing is, he has only been in a spa once in his life) ... so, a few questions:

piscespool - what is the location of your jets? do you have a back and foot for each person? how many people fit in your spa? we will be creating a new post soon as our hole was dug today, (yeah) but forecast shows rain for the next 4 days ... ugh.

Leep,
Well if jackhammering out most of your spa is "no problem", then let them have at it.
I guarantee the construction manager will come back with a different opinion then the VP.

Having the jets at different heights will have an effect on the air loop for the jets.

Dear leepoffaith, pick up check and no problem? Anything in writing?

Scott

"Having the jets at different heights will have an effect on the air loop for the jets. "

One of the biggest problems with calf jets is that the jets are located so far back into the wall. The orifices should be extended to 1-3" from the back of the eyeball. Doing this usually helps calf jets run properly. If you look at portable spas, they introduce air at multiple elevations equally, to elevation isn't as critical as the placement of the venturi tees and the nozzles.

I never understand why people say that installing jets at different depths will cause problems with air supply. We install all our jets at different heights because we believe that different people like jets to hit them at different places. We stack jets and install calf jets too. No problems. And no, we don't install air blowers. Just good quality jets, properly plumbed, with large enough pumps and pipes.

Pisces,

Thank you very much for that picture! I'm meeting with my construction manager today, so I hope that we will have a resolution today on this. I don't think he is going to want to move the jets, but a 2-3 inch variance on all of them coupled with the fact that 3 - 4 of them are at 5" or below is not acceptable to me.

Construction Manager will be here either later today or tomorrow morning so I thought I better go and measure the jets and write everything down. Below are the actual measurements from bench to middle of pipe as close to the spa wall as I could get.

One thing that I also need to think about is Pebblesheen is still yet to be done and that will raise the bench another 3/8 to 1/2 of an inch.

Jet 1: 5.5"
Jet 2: 4.5"
Jet 3: 5.0"
Jet 4: 5.75"
Jet 5: 7.0"
Jet 6: 5.5"

So, taking into account pebblesheen I will have no jet above 7" in my spa. 1 will be 6.5, 3 will be 5ish and 2 will be 4ish. I feel these are all very low considering industry standard is 7-8. My construction manager probably won't want to hear this, but I want them all raised (with the possible exception of the 7" jet).

What are your opinions on this?

Leep....it may be next to impossible to move them now, just looking at our construction pictures. You're talking removing gunite and re-plumbing. A nightmare potentially.What if it wasn't functional afterwards? All questions you need to ask the construction manager. DH and I were trying to discuss this, and it probably will not be a bad arrangement...it'll most likely be fine. Those things are fooshing out water nicely, so you get a good spread on the nozzle. BUT if the construction manager says no problem moving them, and guarantees it'll work right...go for it. If it involves a big fat hassle with you paying more money....eh...hey, let us know what he says tomorrow, OK? I'd love to see minimum height from other people's spa jets. Anyone? Come on...get out those measuring tapes.....

Pisces,

You bring up good points. I'm supposed to be meeting with him this morning, so we will see. I honestly don't think 5" will be high enough. I do not want an enema everytime I sit against the jet.

Another member commented that when he installs these he never has anything below 4". Well, I'm going to have 1 at 4" and then 3 at 5". That's only 1 inch above "bidet jets." To me, that's unacceptable. I understand it may be a lot more work, but they should have done it correctly the first time. I'll update late today :)

leapoffaith,
You might entertain the possibility that the benches can be lowered instead of moving the jets. Chipping away a few inches of gunite is much easier. Check the overall depth of the benches to see if this might be a better solution. Bench water depth will be between 18" and 24". It is common to have benches of varying height. Good luck.

Golf - Thank you for the suggestion. I did think about that, but I'm pretty happy with my bench height of 18-19" and really don't want much lower then that.

I spoke with my construction manager today and he openly admitted that 2 of the jets are well below were they should be and he will jackhammer them out. The other 3 I want moved are within .5 inch of those so I told him that i wanted all the jets moved. He said that he will have to jackhammer a good amount of the spa to move them, but I'm OK with that. This will probably pospone the pool another week or 2, but this is something that I will have to live with the next 10+ years so I want it perfect.

He still has to speak with the concrete company about it, but he said he should have an update tomorrow or Wednesday. My PB has been extrodinary when it comes to correcting or coming up with solutions to fix issues that I've had. I chose this PB because of the reputation the company has and thus far they have exceeded my expectations. I can not empasize enough that it's soooo important to chose a reputable, seasoned pool company to do your pool.

leep, that's awesome they're willing to do that to make you a happy customer. They'll get referrals from you for this...it's the name of the game in this economy. Make the customer happy enough to pass your name along with no reservations. A little jackhammering, concrete and plumbing will go a long way. Since they're going to do that...go for it!! You did some research and found out in time to fix it, and I'm thrilled you're gonna get better jet height... I was so afraid they'd balk...good for you both. Really great company you hired! Can't wait to see pics of the new jet placement. Thumbs all the way up!! Another 2 weeks or so will make no difference at all in the long run, AND they're getting some nice free positive advertising here on the Forum. Never hurts. ;-)

I also think that is great too. Maybe I will get my light moved HA HA. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Hi Leep, I just got back in town and measured my jets and my seating for you. My jets are at 10", 9", 7", 7", 6", and 6" give or take a 1/2". My sunshelf is 10" below the midline of the tile and my bench and love seat are about 18 or 19" from the midline of tile. Hope this helps. I'm so glad you are getting your jets fixed. 2 or 3 weeks is nothing in the long run when you will live with this for years!

Here is a fun one with multiple level jets, and no air problems.

If the jets are of the fancy type, such as the Waterway Poly Storm, the output is adjustable so the lower jet's output could be dialed way back. If they are the standard eye-ball jets, then it's good that the builder is going to move them. Then again, if the spa is going to get jackhammered, maybe it's not too late to get better jets installed.

just-a-pb..what a cool spa!!

I have the adjustable output jets and really like them.

Update: I've been out of town for a few days which is why I haven't updated! :) While I was out they came out and jackhammered a good portion of the spa out. It's a little difficult to keep updating two threads, so if you are interested in seeing pictures of the jackhammered area or new pictures of my pool please see my "Leepoffaith's Pool Build" thread. I will update pictures there.

Thank you to everyone who helped me with information. I really appreciate it! :)

Ours are at 6” And they are completely useless. The only area it hits is my butt crack and my husbands very lower back. I feel like it was a huge waste of money in our spa-pool, since it is essentially just a pool now.

This is an old thread but it's been so helpful in determining jet placement. Thanks! Hope you all are enjoying your spas

installed new jets in my spa and Water flow is not up to maximum when turned up is there a particular direction the tab should point on a jet insert. Water flow is not up to maximum when turned up