I’m planning to build my own sauna and wondering what type of wood to use.
From what I’ve read, the traditional Finnish woods are Northern Pine, Spruce, or Hemlock, but there doesnt seem to be anything special about them other than they’re softwoods (so they won’t shrink and swell as much or absorb as much heat as hardwoods), readily available, and cheap. In this country, Western Red Cedar seems to be the most common material, but I’ve experienced a cedar sauna and didn’t like it. When cedar gets both moist and hot, that cedar smell becomes overpowering.
So I started looking through Bruce Hoadley’s book, Understanding Wood, and I came across Northern Catalpa. Although it’s an angiosperm, its density is about the same as Spruce and Hemlock. The heartwood is also exceptionally stable, resistant to splintering, and resistant to decay, so it’s seems like the ideal choice for an “American” sauna. But I haven’t been able to find a single example of anyone else trying Catalpa in a sauna, so I’m wondering if I’m missing something. Is there any quality that would make Catalpa a bad choice or is it just hard to find Catalpa lumber?
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The first Finnish bath I experienced was built next to a lake in western Ontario. It was all clear pine, the only species available in that remote area. It seemed to hold up well, dealing with changes in humidity and temperature OK.
One commercial sauna that I used many times was lined with clear heart redwood. The benchs too were 2X clear heart redwood. That sauna saw large changes in humidity without any problems. It was rinsed out daily with a hose and a brush. The aroma wasn't bad, a little hint of redwood helped.
I'd use redwood.
availibility of lumber would be the major drawback - I've cut a small amount and it is light, relatively strong, and pleasant appearing, without any disagreable oder - grain appears somewhat like ash, but tan in color -
it's considered a weed tree, and was never common, at least toward the northern end of its range - pioneers used it for fence posts because of its decay resistance - a hundred+ years ago plantations were established in southern indiana to grow the species commercially, but they failed miserably because of the sphinx moth defoliation of the tree made for very slow growth - (catalpa worms are good fishing bait tho...) -
We have a large speciman next to our house, and it's poorly behaved shade tree - it is always dropping something - flower parts, then right now it's worm sh!t, later the worms themselves, then after the first freeze the big leaves to make a wet mat over everything - the seed pods (look like big green beans) make an interesting rustling sound in the wind during the winter - and then they shed....
I have a sauna, sides/walls are pine and I made the benches out of cottonwood - splinter free and comfortable - but this is a traditional 'dry' sauna - no slopping water on hot rocks to make steam - we do that in the sweat lodge -
if you have a source for wood, I wouldn't be afraid to use it - I would check carefully how 'resistant to splintering' it is in regards to bare skin before I'd make my benches out of it -
good luck -
I understand a lot of people consider Catalpas to be an annoying ornamental tree, so David, is there any chance you're ready to cut yours down and have it sawn up for me? ;^)I've considered redwood, because it's also rot resistant and not as aromatic as cedar. But my experience has been that it splinters easily and it's very dark -- and only gets darker when it's stained. Besides, by the time you specify clear, all heart, vertical grain redwood, the price is more than $5 a board foot, which makes it prohibitively expensive even for the small sauna I'm planning.So I'll keep looking. My area (central Illinois) has a lot of old corn cribs that are falling down or being pulled down, and most of them were originally sided with old-growth cypress. Maybe that's the way to go . . .
...is there any chance you're ready to cut yours down and have it sawn up for me? ;^)
well, probably not - altho for enough $....
but, down the road a piece is one of those 'pioneer plantations' (kinda, it was common around this area for small farms to plant a grove of catalpa to use for fence posts) where I am confident a tree could be purchased for a modest price - and I am the proud owner/operator of a Woodmizer sawmill - so, indeed, it is within the realm of possibility to get your catalpa lumber -
other than that, I'd suggest you look at Basswood (Lynn) or Cottonwood as readily available, cheap alternatives - both are very light colored and absolutely non-splintering - for that matter, Tulip Poplar should work well also -
do you have a design in mind for your sauna? - I'm wondering why the great concern about rot-resistance -
"there's enough for everyone"
I've got two monster Catalpa's in my yard. Come and get them. You could probably mill enough lumber to build a small mansion.
Pick up one of Schlicht's catalpa creations, and both the eyes and the fingers are treated to a shimmering beauty unrivaled by any other wood. Lightweight, with the luster of finely polished agate, its grain pattern flutters around as light strikes it from different angles, and after a coat of finish, it has the texture of pure silk."Few woods have such an interesting grain pattern or beautiful sheen," says Schlicht. "Catalpa carvings are snapped up in gift shops as quickly as those of cherry or walnut. And they bring just as high a price. "He reports that though catalpa works easily and sands with no particular difficulty, the wood poses two problems to the carver. Catalpa sawdust irritates the sinuses and inside of the mouth, but wearing a dust mask prevents this problem. Harder to deal with is the general unavailability of catalpa in the marketplace. Few wood dealers stock catalpa lumber, forcing carvers to scour city streets and woodlots on farms for broken branches and windfalls.Above from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1016/is_n1-2_v97/ai_9348322SamT