Wow, was that heavy!
As many of you know, we are in the process of renovations in our new area downstairs for our new spa school. As a part of the new spa school, we are having a dedicated hydrotherapy area being built, so our students can perform treatments using water in a room where it doesn’t really matter if it gets wet (i.e. easy to clean).
Noel and I journeyed out to Otahuna Lodge to inspect a second-hand hydrotherapy tub, and, ended up purchasing it for the school. In total, it had been used maybe a maximum of 15 times.
Now, for those of you who don’t know the difference between a normal spa tub and a hydrotherapy tub, you are about to be enlightened. A hydrotherapy tub is a professional piece of equipment with various attachments to perform treatments with. In addition, it has many many more jets and other spraying areas than a normal spa bath has. A hydrotherapy tub is outfitted with various computerised controls to assist in treatments, and its fittings are marine-grade, meaning it has a lot more wear and tear in it than your normal spa bath.
All this equipment built in makes the tub approximately 350 kilograms in weight. Putting this in perspective for our Imperial friends (i.e. those who use pounds still), this is about 770 pounds.
In short, freaking heavy!
Two men from Otahuna Lodge came to deliver it. In addition to them, Noel, Don, Jacqui, Soni and I were helping, and we recruited our two builders working on the school. It took 10 men to carry the bath out of Otahuna and 9 adults to carry it into the school.
As we started moving it, one of the movers (whom Noel believes was the gardener at Otahuna) smacked his back on the metal frame that holds the garbage can to a lightpost outside our school. It looked like he got the wind knocked out of him (and it would have hurt like hell) but, as he said, once you get the tub moving… keep going.
Leading into the school, we have double doors, and then another set of double doors leading into the new reception. The builders have kept the new walls down but some of the framing is there, but they left a gap so we could get through.
Unfortunately, the doorways, even as double-doorways, weren’t wide enough for us all to fit through. Soni and Jacqui — lifting on the side with me and the uninjured mover — had to let go, leaving the two of us carrying the corners.
And let me tell you, that wasn’t a fun thing! I smacked my wrist on the first door frame. It has come up in a nice red patch and is slightly swollen and bruised.
Soni (bless him) kept running to help, then would have to let go because of a wall frame (but this didn’t stop him; he’d launch one arm around the frame to try and grab the tub and then do the same with the other). I think Jacqui wasn’t entirely sure exactly how she’d get back in to help.
We all seem to have got away relatively unscathed though, despite all that. No hernias, no heart attacks, no sprained or strained muscles!
I am not looking forward to moving the tub into the hydrotherapy room once they finish the floor and plumbing!
Beam Me Up, Scotty 