Will be building a sauna in the near future and was wondering if I could get some advice or information from anyone. Just in the idea stage right now and want to hear any pro’s and con’s. What size, inside/outside, shape, location, what materials worked/failed, fuel (wood or electric), etc, etc, etc……you guys get the picture….oh yeah and any photos to. Thanks to everyone in advance.
Also, any rituals or habits when taking the sauna, sounds weird but my grandfather was 100% Finn and he had a routine when taking a sauna, pretty common thing.
Replies
I like the idea of a sauna in the house, built so that a short trip across a tile floor gets you either to the shower, or to a door to the outside, where a small under-roof porch lets you sample the weather with your all-hot skin steaming.
Here's about our sauna at our lake cabin in NW Wisconsin. Converted 12x2 garden shed with concrete floor, partitioned into 8x12 sauna room, 4x12 entry/dressing room. Cedar t&g paneling, unfinished. Two-tier bench seats facing a wood stove made years ago in a mine welding shop--basically a piece of 16-inch iron pipe closed at one end, door at the other, iron-web rack at top for stones, plumbing pipe legs. Wooden water bucket and dipper. Modern double wall chimney. Entry door with bullet-catch latches. Thermometer at top of wall reads 200 degrees when we enter. Start on lower bench, go up if you get adjusted. Start with one dipper of water for invisible water vapor that will tingle your skin--more water, more tingle Optional--twig switches to stimulate your skin--birch is traditional, but we prefer white cedar. Get out when you are uncomfortable, plunge off the dock into lake. Three or four cycles will leave you cleaner than you have ever been and ready for the best beer(s) you have ever had. Cold cuts buffet optional.
Not for everyone. My daughter will not go near it. Not a competition, although my daughters' husbands tend to time themselve and brag about endurance.
Yeah, I'm a Finn by one-half. I built this 40 years after my last childhood sauna at my Grandfather's place on Lake Superior.
Long tradition of saunas burning down. My uncle set his house on fire with a basement sauna. Good chimneys make good neighborhoods.
Never tried an electric stove. Wood smoke is part of the experience.
I never have gotten the point to saunas. They have one at the gym I go to. Guys will get into it and sweat off about 2 pounds of water and they think they're losing a lot of weight. But what do you really accmoplish, other than maybe getting heat stroke?
My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind. [Einstein]
Cleans the pores and is relaxing. It's not for everyone, we all relaxe differently.
There is all kinds of information that says sauna usage is really good for your health, olympic atheletes use it as part of there training.
Heat stroke is not good, I think it means your using it incorrectly or your not the sauna type.
In Finnland, It's a big part of the society. More sauna's than cars!!
What happened to your uncle is another reason I hesitate to put one in the basement.
How does the concrete floor feel on the feet? Or is it even noticable.
If the concrete floor isn't comfortable, it's easy to make a wood grate to cover the floor in front of the benches. I'd use about 1x4 inch boards spaced a 1/4" or so apart attached to a 2x4 framing. Don't attach the grates to anything, so that they can be easily lifted out to clean the floor.<!----><!----><!---->
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I'm 100% Finn and grew up in upstate <!----><!----><!---->New York<!----><!---->.<!----><!---->
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Enjoy your sauna. We'll be building one if we ever get this house finished.<!----><!---->
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kestrel
Good idea with the boards. I've used sauna'a with both concrete and the wood grates. Don't remember which I prefered. Until I thought about building one, never put this much thught into it.
In an hour or so the cement does get pretty hot right near the stove. We put down a small piece of indoor-outdoor carpeting in front of the benches, easy to pull out and clean off.
Forgot to say, ceiling height at seven feet, entry door 2'wide, 6' high. Good design calls for a low closable intake and a ceiling outlet (closable) for makeup air. Easy to make sliders with T&G. If you can find a sauna shop, they will have lights with heat-resistant glass.Sunset Publications has a good design book. Any more questions, just ask.
200 degrees is at ceiling height above stove. Actual temp will vary with where you sit. Lots of luck.
The sauna I grew up using at my grandparents house is in the basement, next to the door that went out to the pool and the back yard. At his house it was a nice layout. Your right, it is nice to have it inside the house.
The way the chimney, basement door and usable space is layed out would make it difficult to have in my basement. If I went with wood fired (which is what I'd like) I'd have to build a chimney.
Being 100% Finn myself, here are general criteria
1. Wood fired if it is feasible.
2. Make as small as you can based on usage-easier to heat up
3. Plant or find birch trees to make switches for use in sauna
4. Build by a lake or stream where you can jump in during your sauna
5. Have lots of vodka available
6. Have a comfortable size changing room adjacent to sauna.
7. Use frequently-both vodka and sauna.
Bruce
Haven't met too many fellow Finns outside of Minnesota. How did you end up in Texas?“The richest genius, like the most fertile soil, when uncultivated, shoots up into the rankest weeds..” – Hume
Got tired of the cold of New York and Indiana. Came to graduate school in Austin and was water skiing on December 4th 1991. I decided then I like the warm better than the cold.
Bruce
What? No Partner?
I thought that the partner was the most imortant aspect!
Unless you're the lead dog, the view just never changes.
Maam,
The way I was raised up in the sauna, it was a social time and a bathing time-that's it. Guys shared the sauna with the other guys and women with other women and children whenever it was more than just two people.
Bruce
Bruce,
I think you summed that up rather nicely!!
1. agreed
2. I was thinking room for 4 sitting, 2 reclining.
3. Have the birch trees covered, 2 years ago I went to my companies wholesale plant supplier t pickup some plants for a job, My co-workers brother helps me load the plants and then asks me if I need any trees for my house. Said sure, I'm always picking up free plants. Shows me an area with about 100 trees and said to take as many as I want. Birch, Redwood, Maples, Dogwoods. All 10 gallon in size and alive! Stuff with a branch missing or a split container. Filled up the rest of the truck with about 25 trees. Gave a bunch to friends and family, most lived.
4. Still working on the water situation
5. Got it
6. sounds good
7. No problem
Just make sure to use either concealed metal fasteners or set them below the surface very well.
You don't have to know how I and where gained this valuable piece of hot information
OOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll keep that one in mind.
I vote for wood fire and stand alone in the back yard. A small to med size woodstove mostly air tight, then weld a steel rack or barrel to fill with stones and mount it over the stove- you want the stones as hot as possible so that when you douse them with water you get tons of steam and any water that ends up dribbling on the stove is so warm it does no damage. The one I use has the stove pipe run right thru the stone barrel it all gets doused repeatedly. The only caveat is that you have to replace the stove pipe every few years as it will rust out after a couple of years of use. I reccommend away from the house because late night nakedness is not so objectionable if you are in the dark. What the neighbors don't know wont hurt them.
Also build in a small dampered vent that you can open easily for fresh air if it gets too hot or if you get a backdraft down the chimney. Barmo
What kind of stones did you use? I've read everything from stones with certain minerals to what ever you have. Just curious.
The outside sauna sounds like the way to go.
Here's the spec's on mine, about 8' x 8', 6.6' high (height lowered to make it easier to heat up). It is accessed via a bath that's also 8' x 8'.
Heater - mine is electric, 30A, double pole. It's not designed to have water poured on the stones, so I put up a sign beside it for the dummies and have saved them from themselves with a GFCI breaker. Spring for a timer control for the heat. Mine is a simple temperature dial, so I put a timer on the light so when it goes out you know it's time to leave.
Walls/ceiling - unfinished cedar t & g on both, vapour barrier behind it with insulation. Recessed shower light in the ceiling in an ic box.
Door - mine is insulated, the cedar t & g on the inside with a small plexiglass window. Opens outward.
Floor - non-slip ceramic with a drain.
Benches - cedar 2 x 4 on the top, 2 x 6 frame tied to the sides of the sauna. There are two benches, stacked one behind the other. As mentioned, fasteners for the seats should be below the depth of the wood or fasten the tops of the bench from below.
One thing I would reccommend against is a drain...the heat will evaporate the water in the trap.
I have some pics if you want some more ideas.
Good call, never would have thought of that.
Pics would be great.
I have to disagree with DanteO on that one.
I bring water in the sauna when its heated up to put on the walls, which gets the steam going. That drain has saved the day when the bucket gets knocked over. And it never gets so hot for so long that there would ever be a concern over the heat drying out the trap.
A drain also makes cleaning the floor easy. Whenever the bath gets cleaned, some water is poured into the drain to make sure the trap doesn't dry out from evaporation.
Inside or outside?
Mine is in the basement of a ranch walkout, with one wall of the sauna being on the exterior wall of the house. Access is via the bath to which it is attached.
I'm currently reno'ing the bath, and have removed the old ceramic floor (tile on slab) in both rooms to run electric floor heating in the standing areas of both the bath and sauna. I'll then be retiling with slate. Since it's on slab, the floors were very cold, even in summer.
Since the sauna is on the exterior wall with no heat duct, it does get cool enough in the winter to double as a cold room when not in use (and yes, I do realize the irony of that!). The insulation helps keep it nice and cool.
This post could not of come at a better time. I'm in the middle of researching my own sauna installation. How much did it cost to build your sauna?I will be building it myself, but have been perusing pre-cut kits for the interior. Although they don't seem worth the money.I've looked at wood burning and the Saunatonttu heat-storing stoves(very expensive) but electric seems like a lot less hassleI will be placing it on a deck, any flooring suggestions?Thanks,Paul
Boss...thats how the Indians cleansed themselves. Gets ya about as clean as you could possibly get. They used "sweat lodges" next to the river.
I've built me a few out of branches N leaves while camping. Its kinda fun.
Heat up some rocks in your fire..put them in a pit in your sweat lodge...pour a cup of water on the rocks and watch everyone in the SL lower their head to the ground gasping for air...lol.
Then run out and jump in the river...yeeeeeeeee ha
Do it nekked with a few chicks <w>
PO "I dunno guys. Methinks some people have way too much extra time on their hands". Jer
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
I don't see how it could possibly get you "as clean as you could possibly get". Your sweat has stuff in it that SMELLS. So you sweat a whole bunch in there you don't exactly come out smelling like a rose.Sounds like snake oil to me. Or maybe something that the "Mythbusters" should look into...
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. [Gandhi]
Yer supposed to do it several times. Sweat out the dirt and poison...jump in the cold water to wash the body muck off and to close the pores then do it again and repeat.
I donno...when I go to the Russian Shvitz down the lower east side here in NYC I walk outta there feelin' cleaner than I could ever feel. Thats the truth! You really need to do it several times in a row to getthe best effect IMSO : )
PO "I dunno guys. Methinks some people have way too much extra time on their hands". Jer
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
"Sweat out the dirt and poison..."
What poison ???
What comes out of your pores is water, salt, and some other stuff. (I don't know what all it is)
But I don't know any reason to think there's poison in your sweat....
When you have a baby, love is automatic, when you get married, love is earned. [Marie Osmond]
Hi all,, my first post,
so I'll do a little intro,,
I'm a renovation guy who is doing work for people
who suffer from a condition called
Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. There are several
other names, but,, if you can understand
how peanut odors can kill little kids at school,, factor that
into people who catch a whiff of perfume or ???
and have their nervous system create havoc, kidneys get infected
and so on and so on.
Turns out, the best way for your body to get rid of toxins is in fact
threw your sweat. Toxins get stored in body fat, (which most of us have),
and excersize relases into the blood stream,, not good,,, but a good
sweat does infact contain toxins,, and yes can be really stinky.
For those of you who think I'm totally out to lunch,, let me try an analogy.,,
think of the big fish in the lake,, it is the one with the most mercury, toxins.
We are at the Apex of the food chain,, and when we die and
are cremated, the scrubbers on those smoke stacks are cutting
edge technology (or should be),, because,, well,, we are full of toxins.
Sheds new light on the whole organic movement huh?
I almost forgot,, do a search for Far Infrared Saunas.
These little puppies are cheapish,, snap together, snap apart when
you move,, but are very much a dry sauna. Not the romantic
steam off the rocks, wood fired shack sauna on the side of a lake,,
but worth looking into.
Cheers!
dave
Thank you...saved me from writing another explanation...whewwwwww.
PO "I dunno guys. Methinks some people have way too much extra time on their hands". Jer
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
My buddies and I get our wood fired system up to 120 at most and with lots of steam on the rocks thats enuf to sweat real good
. We bring in buckets of water and keep dousing our heds cuz its hot up there, Or at the end you dump the whole bucket to rinse off, We have a perforated steel barrel sitting on a stubby wood stove, very airtight, fire it up an hour or two ahead, spec if its near 0 out. Yeah the water that you douse the stones with does trickle onto the woodstove but by then it is pretty hot. We havent exploded the woodstove in 6 yrs of trying, The stovepipe goes right thru the rock pile, so after a couple of years it is rusted out and needs fixin, The best thing aside from feeling the cleanest in monthes is that the winter doesnt seem so cold any more. Barmo
Try mixing the water with a hint of something like a natural mint extract or leaves...that really goes right through ya and clears yer head!!
PO "I dunno guys. Methinks some people have way too much extra time on their hands". Jer
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
That's wild about ya'll talking about sweating and toxins. I had just read something tonight before I saw this that explained it. I was looking up about deodorants and anti-perspirants. They say there is not 100% proof but can equate some problems with breast cancer and the anti-perspirants. The toxins can't be removed thus are being stored in the lymph nodes in the arm pits. The study did show a vast amount of wimmens that utilized the anti-perspirants were contracting breast cancer on the average about 22 years earlier than they should have. Not sure how they came about this knowledge. One thing they ( the medical society ) watch in preventing diseases and cancers is what has changed in our society as a whole and this was one big change compared to other societies. This is one reason I have changed over to the salts as deodorant. These are natural way to prevent the stinkies. With no aluminum as a chemical doing the work.Semper Fi
"To be young and a conservative, you have no heart"
"To be old and a liberal, you have no mind"
Winston Churchill
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN, 1985
Mine came with the house. It just needed some safety upgrades (GFCI breaker for the heater, timer for the light, ic box for the recessed light).
I've looked into a new digital heater control with a timer, IIRC it was a couple of hundred dollars. I just added a timer to the light and have kept the old dial thermostat, since it works just fine.
I'd be surprised if building it new would cost more than $1000 in materials, maybe $1500. Biggest ticket item would have to be the heater and control, if you want to get an actual sauna heater.
Thank you for the help. This is trhe best site on the web
my (step)dad built a sauna at his house. it was home made and he used the element from a water heater embedded in lava rock for heat, pretty cool setup but expensive to run.
i don't know the details of building it but have great memories of getting all heated up in there with my sons, we would talk each other into staying in few minutes more, over and over again until finally we couldn't stand it anymore, and then all run out and jump into an ice cold unheated pool. if you have never tried this you have not lived. it is awesome, plus its reputed to make you live forever if you survive the initial shock!
There is NO clean like a SAUNA clean!!!!!!!
Nothing like sweating the dirt from the inside out, and then jumping in the cold lake and slamming those pores shut thighter than a bulls but at the height of fly season.
Our sauna is at the camp by the lake. It's 6 x 14, split roughly 60/40 sauna/change room. Our stove is all inside the sauna to get all the heat from the stove, but does require regular stove pipe repalcement. Have a water well as part of the stove for those who really like to sweat. One good nights sauna and there's warm water for breakfast dishes next morn.
Interior is all cedar. As mentioned before avoid exposed fasteners, ie. t&g. Also avoid jewellery.
If you understand the finnish accent you might enjoy our sauna sign
If you slip on ta pench and get a sliver
Don't be yelling too loud.
Neighbours tink you be butchering a pig
And right avay be askin vers da head cheese.
Let's not confuse the issue with facts!
"There is NO clean like a SAUNA clean!!!!!!!"
I think that's a great sauna sign on it's own.
The others are good to.
Used to have a sauna in my garage. It was 8'x8'x8'. It was a cheap affair lined with 3/8" cdx ply which I sanded a bit to cut the splinters. Walls and ceiling were insulated with 3 1/2" batts. I used cedar for backrests and seats so that no one had to sit against the ply itself. Heat was two oil filled electric heaters sitting side by side (each with it's own circuit!). I found a large bakers type flat cake pan that sat on both heater tops. I filled the pan with the fake brickette things that you put on a gas grill (new of course!). It took about 90 minutes to warm up in cold weather. We poured water over the stones when everything was hot. It was hardly like a sweatlodge with heated stones or anything, but it put off quite abit of steam. We also sometimes put eucaliptus oil on the stones.
I like having the sweat outside the house. No house noises to distract and I've been known to roll in snow when I got hot enough.
Have fun!
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd."
~ Voltaire
Did I read right someone here takes a sauna at 200 degrees?
Are you insane? My brother has one in his backyard next to a pool and if I remember correctly I got it up to about 140 degrees and it was getting difficult to breath and a little uncomfortable.
My grandparents were also 100% Finn and everyone in their town had a little shack of a sauna in their backyard. I remember taking a sauna there when we were kids and even on a 90 degree day, when you got done it felt like you had the A/C on. Very refreshing.
The idea is to plunge into cold water or take a shower immediatley afterwords, you dont just get all sweaty and go on with your day as some here have questioned.
As a kid, I remember the lowest bench being the one I used, the adults went to the middle bench and the top bench was for the late night sauna sessions when the women and kids were in bed. I don't recall the exact temperature but it was hot. Saturday was the sauna day at my grandparents houose. Peple would come and go all day, with dishes of food and drinks. It was a great party atmosphere. There was always someone "sleeping it off" in the changing room or even on the lawn when we went over for breakfast on sunday morning. A community atmosphere that doesn't seem common today. People just want to stay home, watch the tube or sit in front of the computer.............urgh......like I'm doing right now. Need the sauna sooner than I think.
Sauna at the fringe of 200 are not uncommon back in Finland. My psycho relatives have contests as to who can stand the heat. As with most male contests-much alcohol is involved. They get it so hot they put on hats and gloves to keep their fingers and ears from burning-dumba$$es. I usually leave long before that point.
Latvian here,
so I guess I have a bit of experience with Sauna'a??; having built one in the basement with my father when I was growing up in Toronto.
I've got to say tho, that the best Sauna experience was on a canoe trip in Algonquin park, in northern Ontario, with as many as a dozen close friends, many years ago.
We made a tent from drop sheets we'd brought with us right next to the lake. and heated stones in a near by fire pit, once they were hot enough we moved them into the tent, one by one; careful not to burn ourselves. Doused with water, the steam from the stones was magnificent, and the lake was right there to jump into. A great way to finish off a hard day of paddling, after a great meal with friends.
As another poster mentioned, Alcohol; usually vodka is imperative
r2
Hey, have any of you sauna guys, Finns or otherwise, ever put in one of these?http://www.finlandiasauna.com/sauna-roomlayouts.htmlI just got a call to price an installation on a 4'x6' FPC 46. Never done one, and wondered how long it might take an old Finish carpenter<G> "But to be honest some folks here have been pushing the envelope quite a bit with their unnecessary use if swear words. They just put a character in to replace a letter. But everyone knows what they're saying." Sancho
I've some experience, even tho I cannot claim any scandinavian heritage -
we have a sauna in an pre-existing outbuilding - partitioned and built it ~1978 -
at ~ 6' X 10', it's big enough for four adults easily, and we've had 6 in there at times - narrow door entry, I 'barge cement'ed leather to standard door hardware to avoid the hot metal syndrome - 1930's wood 'laundry stove' stove in the opposite corner into a double walled SS chimney - makeup air channel low and next to stove - nice window to the right of the stove -
inside the door to the right is a medium height bench (maybe 28") running down the wall to the window - to the left an 'L' shaped lower bench, with a plank high bench above the low bench opposite the stove/window - all benches are cottonwood, clean and non-splintery - walls are shiplapped pine (beware sap pockets, tho after several hard firings and cleaning of such areas, the sap goes away) - ceiling is 'cape cod' shaped, low toward the stove -
'dressing room' in the rest of the buiding - bench and pegs - and a place to stash fuel - and sleds, and volleyball nets, and, and, and...
thru serendipity, it turned out magnificently - never fails to elicit positive comment - and works well also - I worked from a 1970's book on saunas - that I loaned out and lost -
we do not use water - I have read claims that 'true' saunas are dry heat, but I won't argue with anyone who prefers a steam bath - I have an outside shower a few feet away -
I also have experience with traditional native 'sweats' and have been privileged to share the experience with a group of Lakota men -
this is a ritualized experience - the lodge is low and round with a pit in the center, rocks are heated red hot in a fire outside - a number of rocks are shoveled into the pit, door/flap closed, prayers, water, steam, chants/songs, - open the flap and repeat - as intense as the leader chooses it to be - they punished this white man the first time -
where we do it here, we have a lake to jump in afterwards - hitting that water is feeling difficult to describe - all I can say is that I feel/felt honored and privileged and great -
oh, and for the native experience, 'no alcohol, no food' before -
and I'll testify about the clean that you end up with after the experience - sweat those nasties out - if you don't have water to jump in, just wipe down with a towel and then shower afterwards - we always do a number of short sessions - it shouldn't be an unpleasant experience - which works out well with the heating of the room, cooler to start working toward a climax - I've seen 180* on the thermometer(mounted ~ 5'), but that is the exception, and on the low bench it is significantly cooler - usually 140* will give the experience -
Been here quite a few times. Very cool...I mean hot place.
Check it out if yer in NY
Watch the movie in their site.
http://www.russianturkishbaths.com
PO "I dunno guys. Methinks some people have way too much extra time on their hands". Jer
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Edited 2/2/2007 7:27 am ET by andybuildz