March 14, 2010.  Who would believe it?

Ah, outdoor shower: welcome back, and about a few weeks early to boot!  I laid out my garden hose in the spring sun, softening it up, then hooked it up to my backyard shower.  Happy to report that even in a cold climate like Minnesota, one can enjoy an outdoor shower 8 months of the year.  Here’s my post on the last outdoor shower of the year.

Everyone should have their own outdoor shower, and here’s a way to rig one up for $15.00.

My 8×12 sauna plan assumes a wood, not concrete floor.

• 2×6 green rim joists.
• 2×6 green studs at 16″ or 24″ on center.
• 3/4″ subfloor,  et voila.

Stephen, I know your sauna has a cement slab, and i’ve built a couple saunas with a cement slab base (which could be argued is the “A” job) yet I find with a wood base to your backyard sauna it can be:

1. built quicker.
2. leveled easily, even down the road.
3. moved if you move, of if your partner gets wiggy.
4. called a ‘temporary structure’ for frowning building code inspectors.
5. extended easily as a header for a deck (yet I prefer a slate patio with an outdoor sauna, so as to reintroduce the stone medium from sauna rocks to your feet whilst between sauna rounds).

My good (virtual so far) friend Stephen built his own sauna in North Carolina.  Watch through his video. It’s a great sauna, wonderful aesthetics and touches: slate patio walkway, nestled amongst foliage, and a great outdoor shower. Note Stephen’s OSHA approved sandals:

Chris, good question.  If speakers fail prematurely in the sauna, it’s still worth it.  Yet I’ve had a great pair of outdoor speakers in my backyard sauna for 8 years now, and they show no signs of breaking down.

• Use outdoor speakers – made for rougher conditions.
• Keep your speakers on the floor – out of the way under your benches.
• It’s actually not that hot or humid along the floor of a sauna – heat rises.
• Build a box around your sauna speakers  – use the same tongue and groove cedar for a nice look.
• Venting your sauna with a crack along the bottom of the sauna door is like a cool blow dryer – fresh air is good for the speakers.
• BONUS: consider playlists of 4-5 minute songs, allowing you to keep track, roughly, of how long you’ve been in the sauna.  I’ve been known to get wrapped up in a 20 minute Fela Kuti or John Coltrane song, and end up needing to be shoveled into bed at night.

for more hot air, click here:

www.saunatimes.com

Here’s part of an email with Josh, who is happily building his own sauna:

Josh..

Good question on the sauna door.  I make my own. Here’s what you can do:

1. Frame and your interior wall, frame for about a 26″x6′5″ sauna door.
2. Cut a piece of plywood sheathing 3/4″ less than your height and width.  This is the basis for your sauna door.
3. tongue and groove panel the outside face of your plywood.
4. Staple foil bubble wrap insulation to the inside face of your plywood.
5. Tongue and groove cedar the inside of your door, on top of the foil wrap.  Tip: run your siding the opposite direction as your walls, it looks better.  If you really want to be resourceful, you may be able to use your cedar t&g cuts from your walls to make a really cool pattern.
6. nail in a door stop to your door frame.
7. Screw in some hinges and a funky wood door handle.
8. Hang your door.
9. Leave a slat towards the bottom for air flow. This is the best way to vent your sauna.
10. Door window:  It’s easy to use a skill saw to cut out for a window.

The end result is that you have a nice solid 2″ door.  (5/8″ plywood, 2@ 5/8″ paneling).

Josh, you going with a Kuuma Stove from Tower?

g.

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

Josh

Here is a sketch of my ideal sauna, drawn in ideal conditions

on scratch paper in a dimly lit changing room, with a couple beers, taking a sauna with an architect and contractor friend, while at our island lake cabin:

1. Compact: 8′x12′ overall dimensions.  Most building codes don’t require a building permit for structures less than 100 sq. ft.
2. Efficient: a 6′x8′ hot room is a nice size.  Big enough to accommodate as a one person sauna to a six person sauna, yet small enough to heat quickly and efficiently.
3. Divine proportion: the golden ratio of architecture, harmony within nature, plus all your building materials come in dimensions that offer minimal cutting and waste (to burn in your sauna stove).
4. Two rooms: Critical in cold climates.  Just as grocery stores have double doors as an energy saver, your sauna should have a changing room.  It’s impossible to have an efficient sauna if the door from the hot room opens to the outside.  Close the door!
5. Dual benches: Consider pushing your internal wall a few inches, 6′4″ bench length is a magic dimension.  One person can stretch out, laying on the sauna bench or three people can sit comfortably.  Duel benches allow for good flow.  One can alter the two bench plan, and there is a good argument that having an “L” bench instead, modesty, privacy wise.
6. Versatile: A great sauna party by night can also be a nice home office escape or kids play area by day.  Storage above your hot room, and allow yourself to make a cabin style patio, that flows out from your changing room.  Turn your 8×12 sauna into a backyard escape.
7. Odds & Ends: A few tips to consider:

• Put a dimmer light in your hot room.
• 7′ internal ceiling in hot room, never higher.  Less unneeded cube mass to heat.
• Before cedar paneling your sauna/changing room, wire for sound and Ovi/Nokia mobile device technology.  Plus, I’m a fan of music in the sauna.