My friend Clint sure has a loud voice, and he contributes some interesting info:

Saunas actually smell wonderful!

Cedar, the smell of hoppy beverages (recommended), and even some essential oils on the sauna rocks make for a splendid odoriferous experience.  But, isn’t sweat stinky?  The answer is yes, some sweat is stinky.

Two types of sweat glands.

Andy:

I’ll email you separately regarding drip edge.  Great idea on the 2x space!  Glad you are open to reducing your hot room space.  keep in mind that every cubic foot in your hot room comes at a price: more cubic feet = more BTU’s required.  It’s been an ongoing study for me to maximize sauna hot room size, yet maintain consciousness to it’s BTU cost.  I believe that a 6′ x 7′5″ sauna hot room is ideal.  My Minneapolis sauna can handle 12 people.  http://www.saunatimes.com/2009/04/06/sauna-party-april-2nd-2009-minneapolis-mn-usa/.

Glad you’re moving forward,
Glenn.

for more hot air, click here:
www.saunatimes.com

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From: Andy
To: glenn
Sent: Thu, August 19, 2010 10:28:47 PM
Subject: Re: Wood and drainage

All good ideas! I hear your concern with a 10x sauna room. Might use the 2x space for an outside/ inside loading depot for wood. As for the drainage that too sounds like a good idea. I’m not familiar with vinyl cement, though I assure you I’ll do the research. Love the locker idea. And yea I’ll bite, what is a drip edge?

Shane

Shane…

Good move on venting with a crack along the bottom of the door. it’s easy and functional.

As far as exhaust vent, the first thing to note is that an exhaust vent is really only to allow stale air to escape sauna, say, after a sauna session.  Some purists like to vent during a sauna, but if you are using wood heat, there is enough fresh air pull, just by wood combustion.

But an exhaust vent is a good idea.  You build a sauna once, so may as well put one in.  Your instincts are correct.  Put your vent opposite wall to your door, and I like about a foot from the ceiling.  They’re easy to install.  Drill or jig saw a 3 1/2″ hole in your wall sheeting.  You can buy a vent with the exterior grill already in.  Screw it to a stud and insulate around it.  When you do your t&g cedar, just cut around the round metal pipe.   I like to make a little vent control slot thingy using some t&g cedar, with a little wooden handle. I’ll try to take a picture for you sometime.  it deserves a post.

PS.. If you have already built a sauna without an exhaust vent, no worries, just open the door when you’re done.

This is my blog.  These are my opinions.  I am not some yahoo.  I lived in Scandinavia.  I have been taking saunas for over 25 years.  I know saunas.  I am not Finnish, I am half Italian and a 1/4 German, so I talk half the time and analyze 1/4 of the time.

If you own an infrared, perhaps you could recycle the cedar for a real sauna.  If you are thinking of buying an infrared, don’t.  Do your research.  You are smarter than that.

• You avoid tanning salons, they give you cancer and turn your skin a weird color.
• You don’t smoke tobacco cigarettes, same thing.
• You don’t sweat by stuffing yourself in a microwave oven.

Imagine for a moment you are a sauna enthusiast from Finland, a country with more saunas than cars.  You have grown up with sauna,  a centuries old cultural tradition.  Now, you read and hear about $499 microwave boxes you can assemble in your living room called “infrared saunas.”  Imagine how pissed you would be.  I am waving this flag for all the polite Scandinavians who may only speak up on this topic after 3 sauna rounds and a few beers.  Infrared is not a sauna.

Wood sauna is preferred.  Electric sauna is ok, but Infrared is NOT a sauna.  Infrared is a marketing scam.  Infrared makes unrealistic claims to lure consumers.  Infrared is fueled by light bulbs and sold by guys that used to sell mops and knives at state fairs.  Infrared hucksters hitch their wagons to weight loss, pain relief, homeo whatever therapy, detoxify, and it’s all horse shit.  They have taken real benefits of a Finnish sauna and packaged them up to try to sell their high margin light bulb closets.  But you know this already, you are smarter than this.

Infrared is not a sauna.

Saunas are great for all ages.  In sauna, age doesn’t matter.

I opened the sauna door at my cabin sauna last evening to a full house.  Calling out our ages, we began to take inventory.  On the sauna bench ages included: 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, and me, standing,… 47.  Outside sat a 68 year old, and trudging up the path was 78.

At that moment, on an island in Northern MN we were all the same age.  Simple things for all:  loyly (water tossed on sauna rocks), jumping in the lake, idle chat on a sauna bench.  Sauna parties have no age restriction.

Besides sauna or a Harry Potter movie, where else is everybody happy and all ages melt into one?

I’ve been taking saunas for 20 years and finally have made my own Vihta (a bundle of birch branches to soak in warm water and gently slap against the skin to help stimulate blood flow and opening of the pours on the skin while in sauna).

It took 10 mins, with help from my Finnish friend Ove:

1. locate a birch tree and some new growth

2. cut a few branches 12″ or so in length

3. tie branches together with some twine

4. cut the ends.

5. soak in warm water – in the hot sauna of course.

It was great.  Finns have been doing this for centuries.  After sauna, my skin felt even more fresh and invigorated.  Nokia phones, Finlandia Vodka, and now Vihtas for sauna.  3 great contributions from Finland.