There are a couple schools of thought regarding sauna construction and sauna walls: Insulate, foil vapor barrier and tape the seams well. Don't do anything, let the walls breathe. Those that prescribe to #1 (insulating and sealing our sauna walls with vapor barrier) believe that we need to keep heat and moisture away from our wall cavities (and nowhere near the inside). Those that prescribe to #2 (letting their sauna walls breathe) believe that heat and moisture want to escape and permeate through the building (and out the other side). This casual sauna builder is very much a proponent of #1. Why? 3 reasons: Log sauna goodness: Most agree that traditional log saunas feel the best. Sitting on the sauna bench, solid wood logs give the sauna bather a more solid, dense, soft heat kind of feel. This is the best way I can describe the affinity towards solid wall saunas. But the point is that a well insulated stick frame sauna plus a well sealed vapor barrier … [Read more...]
Could “phase build” be the most liberating, empowering, motivating way to build your own authentic kicks ass sauna?
98.6% of us are not professional builders. And most professional builders are overly intimidated (and don't return phone calls) from homeowners looking to have a sauna built. And for good reason. When it comes to building a sauna, there are big issues such as venting, moisture, insulation, off gassing, and Aufgussing. If building an electric sauna, we have high voltage and water splashing. (220/221 volts, whatever it takes). If building a wood burning sauna, we have clearances to non combustibles (even though fire good). So, because most contractors want no part of sauna building, 98.6% of us undertake our own sauna builds. Obstacle is The Way. We are not professional builders. We have motivation and resources, like the Googlator and the book DIY Sauna Build Start to Finnish, but our time is scarce and choppy! We have our day job. We have kids' baseball practice. We have our inbox, and our social media feed. How do we build our own sauna given all the demands … [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 finally built-based on our experience with theirs and what we wanted to do to make it ours! How did you find saunatimes and give us a few examples where the DIY ebook helped you out? My wife and I were a military couple, so for the most part 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 them cover to cover, but none of them told me HOW to build a sauna, just what some of them looked like. What I needed were details such as how much insulation, how to slope the floor, how to make a vapor barrier, etc. I started looking for … [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, löyly and wine. Or so I thought. Unfortunately, the kids loved building it. The ten year old nailed shingles. The eight year old built benches. The six year old screwed in decking. The four year old helped find missing screws. (The story … [Read more...]
Big homes, big cars, big cheeseburgers, but we don’t have to build big saunas
Not sure. Maybe it's an American thing. All over the country, what was once consider reasonable sized homes (1,500 square feet or so) are being knocked down in favor of sheetrock palaces. A few years ago, we had a run of smaller more fuel efficient cars, but today, if you're not in a tall rider SUV it feels like you're overshadowed on the road, as if you're driving along the pavement. Gourmet burger joints aren't serving premium burgers unless they are huge, and oozing with bacon and toppings. Tiny houses, Toyota Priuses, and smaller plate portions are with us. They get the press they deserve, but because of their paradigm changing popularity or more because of their novelty? For example, for every person touting their Tiny House lifestyle in a New York Times article, there are thousands of 3-4,000 square foot homes being built out in the exburbs. But sheetrock palaces aren't news. They are everywhere. Saunas aren't everywhere. So, let's not fall into the big is better … [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 have made the commitment and we are enjoying a better life. We have our backyard sauna. "Other than diet and exercise, I can’t think of anything else that will benefit your life in a more positive way. And, that’s not just sales talk. It’s the … [Read more...]
The definitive word on cedar for our saunas
As we plow forward expanding with building more kick ass authentic saunas in our world, the topic of what particular wood species for our hot rooms has become a "hot" topic. And it is VERY important to use the right kind of wood in our hot rooms. For example. What is Eastern White Cedar? I'm pleased to bring into the fold my friend Scott. Scott comes to us with MANY years experience in the sauna industry. here is Scott's explanation of cedar. Enter Scott: I have never heard of Eastern White Cedar. I wonder if it could be what is more commonly identified as Northern White Cedar? Or Eastern Red Cedar (aka Aromatic Cedar) is another one it could be and the only Cedar I've known to have the "eastern" name in it. If it is Eastern Red Cedar I would avoid it as this is the one that has the pungent smell (often associated w/ "Cedar Closets" and "Cedar Chests"), it reminds me of a hamster cage smell. The other downsides to ERC is that the boards tend to be very streaky … [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 room, which is aligned with a window on the world. Also consider cross ventilation in the changing room, including retractable screen doors that work well in confined spaces. Carefully consider whether you want to build an outdoor structure out of … [Read more...]
A New Zealander transplant to Westchester, New York builds a sauna in his garage
Guest post series continues. Please welcome Ken from Westchester, NY who builds his own sauna: Hi Glenn, I bought your Ebook earlier in the year and used that as the main source of info to construct my own home sauna. I was thinking about posting about the experience i had with photos but wasn't sure how to do that and more to the point if it would be wanted as I'm sure you have many builders of saunas in the same situation. I'd appreciate your reply but i would like to say that the project worked out very well even though it took longer and cost more than I anticipated but was totally worth the effort.Regards,Ken What got you compelled to build your own sauna? I had only been in a sauna a few times and that dated back to New Zealand around 40 years ago (I came to live here permanently in 1986 and became a citizen a week before 9/11). I enjoyed the sauna experience and because I like carpentry projects. I started looking into building my own … [Read more...]