Guest post series continues. Please welcome John from Minneapolis by weekdays and Northwestern Wisconsin, near Hayward, by weekends. Welcome John: What compelled you to build your own sauna? I have been in love the authentic sauna experience since spending time living in Sweden and Germany In the 1980s. I have wanted to build a sauna at my cabin since I bought it 20 years ago. I have a building that is 5’ x 8’ right on the lake shore. It started life as a pump house and later served as a fish cleaning house. Today, we use it for storage. I had always planned to use it as a sauna and everyone I discussed it with felt that it needed to be on the shore of the lake. I could never pull the trigger because I could not figure out how to … [Read more...]
How I went on a wellness retreat without leaving my property
It rained all day Thursday, then turned bitter cold overnight. We awoke Friday morning to a hard covering of ice everywhere. Driveway, sidewalks, treacherous conditions, but some battled it by going to work or shopping. Never left the house, all day Not me. I stayed put. Turns out, I spent most of the day seated at my home office, working away. As the day wore on, looking outside, I realized that time had gotten away from me as it was now late afternoon, and starting to get dark. I had hardly moved more than 100 steps the entire day, as it is merely 10 steps or so to the kitchen and bathroom, an embarrassing showing for my Fitbit, for sure. Fired up the sauna Should I fire up the sauna? I was in one of those rare "take it or leave it" … [Read more...]
He tackles his sauna build with a full time job and two young children and the result is a lifetime of pride and enjoyment
Guest post series continues. We welcome Mike, from Northwest Minnesota, who has created his own authentic sauna backyard retreat. For those of us busy with full time jobs and demands like a spouse who also works full time and young children at home, let us take a deep breath and share the appreciation for Mike's commitment to his sauna building project. Time is a construct. "Not enough time" may just be another way of saying "I'm not sure I want to do this." And that's ok. Sauna building is not for everyone. Yet for those of us who understand and accept the challenge, we are invariably rewarded with arguably the most beneficial improvement we can make to our homes or cabins. Want evidence? Enter Mike: What compelled you … [Read more...]
Sauna is more than a hot room
As sauna becomes more and more popular, more and more sauna enthusiasts are recognizing that sauna is more than a hot room. In addition to 10-15 minutes sitting on a bench in a 160 -200 degree f. sauna hot room, a sauna session is more "robust" when we: Toss water on the sauna stove rocks. Embrace Loyly (steam created by tossing water on sauna rocks). Become more familiar with our bodies and minds by recognizing that "the time to leave the hot room, is when the idea of jumping into an ice cold lake or rolling in the snow is about the best idea we've ever heard." (Clintmeister) Leave the sauna hot room, and cold plunge, or cold shower, or roll in the fresh snow. Become even more familiar with our bodies and minds by … [Read more...]
A wood burning sauna gets nestled into the hillside on a boat access property in Northern Ontario
Guest post series continues. We welcome Andrew and Laurie who purchased a boat access lot on Tomiko Lake in Northern Ontario. Rugged, beautiful wilderness offers an ideal backdrop for a spacious wood burning sauna. All materials require boat transport. Extra work, but well worth it! Welcome Andrew and Laurie. What compelled you to build your own sauna? My wife and I purchased a water-access lot in the Canadian Shield in 2008. It turned out that we were fortunate to have neighbours that most can only dream of having! The first few years as we worked on our property we spent many wonderful evenings with them in their sauna. Eric being of Finnish descent, built his based on his parents and friends’ saunas. This led us to what we … [Read more...]
Ben builds an awesome backyard sauna and his only regret may surprise you
Guest post series continues. We first heard from Ben here, who shared the now famous "Ben Square sleeper method" concept for sloping a sauna hot room floor. Well, good news: Ben has completed his sauna, and we are excited to share his story with you. Enter Ben: What compelled you to build your own sauna? We have had a sauna at our deer camp north of Orr, MN since 1983. It is a rare night that we don't sauna when we are there. I have always wanted one at home, and this summer we didn't have any large projects to do on our house, so I decided that this was the year to build it. How did you find saunatimes? Give us a few examples where the DIY ebook helped you out. I started planning the sauna last fall. I bought several books and … [Read more...]
The Keen sauna was Dad’s idea, but the kids can’t get enough
Sauna Times Guest Post Series continues. Welcome to the Keen Sauna in Dryden Ontario Canada. The frozen north. Enter Peter: Peace and quiet? Calm relaxation in the Sauna? Hardly. We six moved this summer into a larger house, which had good bones, a heated workshop, two three-car garages, and a private boat launch. It needed a few tweaks. Tweaks like new roofs, new windows, new siding, new garage furnace, new air exchanger, new flooring, new paint, new dock, new decks and new doors. Oh, and a complete interior renovation too. So naturally, the Sauna came first. I figured it would be a break from the for increasingly loud kids, using it regularly after a day’s hard home renovation. Peace and quiet. Time to mediate. Relaxation, … [Read more...]
Your own backyard sauna: are you ready yet?
The outdoor backyard authentic sauna experience is being enjoyed RIGHT now by many hundreds of people. How do I know this to be true? I have helped hundreds of people build their own authentic backyard saunas. But that's not important. What IS important is that our own backyard outdoor free standing sauna buildings are significant structures. They don't have steeples, but they are our churches. And our health clubs. And our Doctors (both mental and/or physical). Our own backyard saunas are health and wellness sanctuaries. It doesn't matter who we are or what is going on. For some of us it is a bad day at work, or we can't set down our cell phones, or we are back from a shitty war and are trying to get our life back together. We … [Read more...]
Straight scoop from a sauna builder who has built hundreds of saunas
Guest post series continues. Pleased to welcome Matt Bergstrom from Finnleo. Matt has most certainly built more saunas than anyone in North America. What comes forward is not just Matt's knowledge of authentic sauna building, but a true joy and appreciation of his craft. Within this post, we will follow along with a recent sauna build of Matt's. This sauna build was for renowned ex NHL player and current NHL Assistant Coach Darby Hendrickson. Darby is an authentic sauna fan who understands the value of a backyard retreat, the virtues of wood burning, and the health and wellness of sauna - both physical and mental (mental in that after a tough Minnesota Wild loss, Darby can often be found with his eyes closed, sweating it out on the … [Read more...]
What I Learned from Building an Outdoor Sauna with a Wood Burning Stove
Guest Post Series continues. Part II with Russ, who first shared his corbel system to support sauna benches here. And given his building skill and meticulous attention to detail, we thought it a good idea to bring Russ back to share: What I Learned from Building an Outdoor Sauna with a Wood Burning Stove Plan the whole space, not just the sauna footprint. You’ll need a deck, patio or other lounging area to rest between rounds in the hot room. You may also want to install an outdoor shower of some sort – and that should be easily winterized if you live in a cold climate. Plan the interior of your sauna carefully, so that windows from the hot room see the outdoors directly, or indirectly through a window in the door to the hot … [Read more...]