Seattle Home Show and Stone Hot Tubs

Jeff pops down to the Seattle Home Show to take a look at a slew of products all at once, and, of course, crack a few jokes about some of the odder offerings.

I decided to pop on down to the Seattle Home Show last week and take a tour of the place. Architects tend to look down on Home Shows as a little "pedestrian" but they're honestly a good place to take a look at a slew of products all at once. And it is a great place to take some snarky photos of products I find ridiculous. See, I get to keep that cake and eat it too. The power of blogging is amazing, isn't it?

Speaking of ridiculous, let's just get this out of way.

Do not be fooled, you are not buying a slice of hot springs in the wilderness of British Columbia. I know it was probably touch-and_go for a while and you weren't quite sure. I'm here to tell you that after a detailed review I have determined that this is merely a plastic tub covered in adhesive and covered with fake chunks of stone. It does not look good but it will cost you more. Promise. And the "stone" at the corner is KILLING ME!

Phew. That's out of the way.

So, in all seriousness, if you're going to get a hot tub, the Home Show is a great place to go. My first real memory of the Home Show almost a decade ago was the sea of hot tubs. It seems that the economy has weeded out a bunch of players in the market but there's still plenty to see.

And even with all there is to see there, I'd still recommend you check out Olympic Hot Tub. They cost a little more and tend to have a few less bells and whistles but are better made, more energy efficient (typically), and are the gold standard out there.

Beyond the dazzle of rippling warm water, the things I love to look at the home show are the following:

Railing Systems They're getting better and better and in many cases they're getting custom railing down to production line costs.
Decking Material Azek still seems to be my favorite for man-made ones and they have a beefy looking newel post that looks great.
Windows There's plenty of junk out there but plenty of good stuff, too – I love having the small and big players out there together and getting to compare them and ask the hard questions.
Residential Elevators Not something you get to talk to someone about very often.
Closet Systems A rather miserable process, I'll be honest, but there's at least plenty of vendors here.

And while there are great things to look at I think there are some things that merit a little more attention and you may want to take it all in with a grain of salt either because there aren't enough vendors for comparison or there are better places to get information (like an architect!).

Gutter Protectors They're probably all fine, but I just get visual overload.
Home Automation Consider what they have on the floor and keep looking on the web to compare.
Siding There ARE some good ideas on the floor, but there's so much out there. Don't limit your thinking by just what is there.
Contractors and Design Professionals If you're looking for one of these kinds of people (like architects, interior designers, contractors) you should certainly talk to the people on the floor who have booths. They're bored and love to talk: it is part of our profession. And you may end up using one of these people, too. But do yourself a service and go talk to your friends, look at Angie's List for contractors and do your research. Finding a good partner is all about skill and personality. You want the right match.