Guest post series continues. Please welcome Michael from Muskoka,Ontario, Canada; about 150KM north of Toronto, and about 120 km south of the well known Algonquin Park. Enter Michael: What compelled you to build your own sauna First I went to the YMCA for workouts. Out of curiosity, I checked the “Finish” sauna, one day. It was so hot, I did not last 5 min. In general, I was able to deal with the cold a lot better, than with the heat. A member told me to ease into it and just to be patient with myself. No one would laugh or make fun of me, since this was normal, when first experiencing the sauna. Eventually I got used to it and started learning more about saunas and how to use them correctly. I also learned about the health … [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...]
Contest – Show us your custom sauna door handle!
There are so many interesting sauna door handles out there. As we build our own saunas, by the time we get around to making our own sauna doors, we are usually well on a roll. All our tools are laid out and being used to cut in paneling around windows, ripping trim, boxing in windows. It is quite rewarding to be building our own saunas! After mounting our sauna doors, we may be caught a bit off guard. "Geeze, what should I do for a door handle?" Some cut out a handle from 2x8 stock. Some use the wooden handle from a $10.00 leveling trough at Home Depot, and others go to lengths to craft their own custom sauna door handles. Here are a few photos of the several dozens sent to us at … [Read more...]
If our sauna walls could talk: insulate with vapor barrier or let them breathe?
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 … [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 … [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...]
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 … [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...]