He Built A Natural Stone Hot Spring In His Parents' Backyard: 'Parents Must Be So Stoked!'

If you've ever looked at a bare corner of your backyard and imagined a hot tub under the stars, a koi pond with lights, or a waterfall surrounded by boulders, that picture in your head is doing more work than you think. Daydreams are the first step in building something, and dreams like these are exactly what motivated YouTuber Drew of Drew Builds Stuff to create a natural stone hot spring in his parents' backyard. With over 12 million views on YouTube so far, this beautiful custom spa build is the kind of video that funds his next project.

To build a natural spa alternative to an ordinary hot tub — one that's surrounded by boulders, trees, and plants — it took Drew about three months and $20,000 CAD (around $14,500 USD). Even though there's no reaction from his parents in the video, like many viewers in the comment section said, they must be thrilled, since anyone would love to have a bespoke mountain-inspired hot spring in the backyard. 

With a 45-mil pond liner, a few thousand dollars' worth of boulders situated in and around it, a waterfall with an ultrasonic mist generator, and a 70,000 BTU heater, the final result is breathtaking. According to Drew, his wood-fired hot tub takes about three to four hours to go from cold to hot. He says he prefers the temperature at 95 degrees with the waterfall running, which gives it just the right amount of steam and haze.

Drew has said that as long as he's making money on YouTube, he's just going to keep investing in his channel. So really, this natural stone hot spring was built just as much for his nearly two million subscribers as it was for his family. His video, at about 40 minutes long, describes every step in detail, starting with the utility trenching, excavation, and the stone delivery and placement. After shaping his hole to include a deep area and a bench seat, he cleared the sharp roots and stones and laid underlayment. Then, he installed a felt cushioning liner and a 20-by-30 foot EPDM Pond Liner 45-Mil (available from Amazon for about $620 at the time of writing).

The boulder placement took a week, partly because planning and moving boulders that weigh up to a ton is painstaking, to say the least. Once the rocks were in place with smaller boulders and pea gravel, he put the rough plumbing in, using 1.5-inch flex tubing for the pump intakes and jets. Then, he built a concrete slab for the floor of the tub and used leftover patio pavers to build the walls. Constructing it similar to a natural pond, he backfilled the walls and the bench seat with pea gravel before pouring the concrete bench seat and bricking up another wall. After days of tiling and working around the boulders with pebbles, tile, and grout, the finished tub is a work of art.

If you dream big, the planning stage for your natural backyard hot spring may have already begun. Drew's video is more than just a how-to, since he admits some of it was improvised. Drew has pumps, a filter, and chlorine, but it's also built like a pond, so it will be harder to keep clean.

But don't let that stop you, because there are alternatives that are actually proven and affordable. If you're thinking about replicating this design, there are a few good choices. The budget option is to sink a hot tub in a deck or wrap it with stone veneer, then build water features and landscaping around it. You could also use pre-fabricated faux-rock spas, which are lightweight molded tubs already equipped with a spa package. They even have modular waterfall pieces that lift out for servicing the plumbing. Then, the real boulders can stay on the ground outside the tub where they add to the beautiful mountain aesthetic.

Whatever your dream, start with a plan that keeps one eye on long-term maintenance and another on common hot tub problems, like algae, water chemistry, and winter damage. Algae and bacterial growth can be a problem, especially in gravel zones where you don't have access.