My new virtual friend Jonathon and his dad applied some resourceful upper Midwest ingenuity, building a basement sauna using cheap doors for walls, ceiling.  They were purchased for $1 each at the bargain bin at Menards, our resourceful upper Midwest version of Home Depot.

The creative thing about using doors for walls (despite the obvious) is that being 6’8″ tall, they are a pretty ideal height for sauna walls.

Nice work Jonathon, and thanks for the kind words.  Check out his project here.

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).

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.

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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