Hello, It has been a long time since I posted here. I am building a sauna in a small area of my basement and have a few questions about the existing space. The area has drywall on the ceiling and one wall. Should this be removed or can something be done to treat it if it needs to be. I really would like to just go over it because I am fearfull of what may be underneath! I know this will be a dry heat so I can rest assured that mold will not be an issue.
Thanks to all
Petey
Replies
Hmmmm, no sauna experts out there?
Where did you get your plans? What do the plans suggest? How much space will be between the sauna walls/ceiling and the drywall? What sort of insulation will be used, and how much? Roughly describe the framing you'll use.
petey
call Finland.
Some more details about what you are doing would help. You don't say anything about insulation; I would definitely recommend it! So if you are insulating and placing a vapor barrier over the drywall, I don't think you have anything to worry about. After all, if you have enough moisture in your walls to damage the drywall, you have bigger problems anyway.
I have built and used several indoor saunas, and have never seen any mold problems. I like to throw water on the rocks, too. I even had to open the walls of my current basement sauna (that gets used 3-4 times a week fall-winter-spring) to reroute a radiator pipe (didn't have the time to deal with it when I built the sauna) and there was no sign of moisture whatsoever.
The point about a sauna that I think a lot of people miss is that even though you are throwing water on the rocks, the RELATIVE humidity is quite low. Provided you use a a good air barrier to keep that warm air in the sauna, you will be fine.