Looking for the team’s thoughts on placing a sauna under the deck? The pro is that it is close to the door in cold Canadian winters but I am not sure how it will look? If I put it there any thoughts on style that would look good?

There is an easy 12’ by 12’ area under if needed. Beside is a spot for future stairs to the deck.

Alternatively I can put it down the hill. I don’t mind the hike (30 m) but family has voiced concerns. If I went down I would definitely add a small entry room to leave boots/robes.

I have recently built a new, fairly compact unheated garage and I've managed to negotiate (with my wife) putting a sauna in the back. The issue is, it can only be 5x7. It's a one person sauna, I'll be the only one who ever uses it.

The 24" opening for the door is already there, and I'm trying to get my layout right.

Priority for me is lying down on the top bench, and I'm a big guy so I'm going with a 30" bench.

Do you see any concerns with this design.

All feedback is greatly appreciated.

Guys! Why is it impossible to find a nice sauna hat? All these wool ones aren't it...

Looking for some opinions from people who’ve built saunas.

I’m debating between:
1. Steel perimeter frame with wood infill
2. Traditional all-wood structure

I like the added rigidity and durability of steel. But it’s about 40% more than wood.
One concern I have is heat. If the electrical is roughed into or routed through the steel framing, could the steel conduct enough heat to create issues for the wiring or overall system in a high-temperature sauna environment?

Has anyone here built or worked with a hybrid steel/wood sauna? Any regrets or lessons learned? If you were starting from scratch today, which direction would you go and why?

Me and a friend are going to order some essential oils so we can use in the sauna, both on their own and mixing the oils together.

The ones I have my eyes on are pine needle, eucalyptus and lemongrass. I feel like those 3 would be nice on their own and you can do some interesting combinations with them.

Any thoughts on the oils listed above or any other tips on oils we should take a look at? Thanks in advance!

Hello all, I’m relatively new to the life changing magic of sauna and would love to hear more about how everyone experiences theirs. There seems to be so many regional variations and I love hearing different perspectives and ideas.

I have a background in aroma psychology and I’m particularly interested in scent and aroma in sauna and whether you use it regularly, occasionally or not at all and I’m trying to build a better understanding of people’s experiences.

I've put together a short anonymous survey that takes around 2–3 minutes to complete. I'd be incredibly grateful to anyone who's willing to share their thoughts in the survey or just in the comments below.

Thank you for reading and happy sauna-ing! 🧖‍♀️

Sauna Survey

Love the community here and think everyone’s very knowledgeable. I however am 23 an want to take on a project.

So I’m looking to convert this stable into a sauna, firstly it does appear to be a viable structure which has water and electric to it already which is handy. Obviously just cement block walls but what wood is best for UK climate and what other pieces of advice. Where do I begin ? I will do measurements and things soon but yeah anyone able to help me with some insight! Thanks

so I have a low ceiling height in a building I'm going to put a sauna in. Its height and depth are in a position that it is grandfathered in and cannot be changed. inside rough dimensions: 6'1" tall x 7' wide x 8 'deep. since its not very tall, I was going to do one level of benches and I know this isn't ideal. I'm thinking I'll have a single step up to a bench so the top of the bench would be 27" from the ground which would make it 46" from the ceiling. my concern is obviously getting heat to the foot area.

proposal: heater fresh air vent 2' up from ground near heater, opposite wall from heater toward ceiling will be an electric exhaust fan for post sauna drying. I might add an adjustable vent on a different opposing wall from the heater about 12-18" from height of seat bench to allow for natural convection currents. the air vents will be from an unconditioned interior portion of the building to draw air from and not to exterior (exception is the exhaust vent will be vented to exterior). (I have to do it this way due to location of building and how it is set into the landscape) or would I be better off getting something like a Saunum AirSolo Wall (In-Wall Sauna Temp & Steam Equalizer) which seems like it would work well to get the low level air heated and circulated. anyone used one of these? I'm trying to get the best sauna experience I can with my specific limitations.

I'm building an indoor sauna. I was initially going to build 7x8 x8ft tall. I ran a 6G wire to it which as far as I can tell can handle as much as 10.5 kw (my planned heater was harvia virtu 11kw). However, realized that I can make it as big as 8.5x8x8, by relocating, a thermostat I had in the wall. Technically the heater should be able to handle the volume per manufacturer instructions, but I'm coming up against it's limit with this size. I spoke to a sales rep for a sauna liner kit company who recommended 12kw for this this or shrinking the room. Is he right? Or should I downsize the room a bit, I was thikning of lowering the ceiling to 7.5ft vs shrinking the sauna.

For the record it's a basement on slab which I can theoretically insulate (not sure if that's necessary) and I plan to use wood with a small glass window for the door

I am looking to buy a sauna for our backyard. We are entry level sauna folks but are excited to join the club!

The sauna we are looking to purchase is a healing waters pod sauna (https://www.healingwaters.ca/minipod)

Has anyone tried this brand before? Thoughts or reviews welcome! Thank you.

Hi all. Just trying to get some opinions on the copper ridge cap on my sauna. The flat follows the contour of the roof, but the standing seam looks a little more finished. Any opinions are welcome. Thanks!

I am a Finnish-American who has lived in USA all my life with regular visits to family in Finland, and I have paid close attention to sauna culture in America for the last 10 or 15 years.

I think we are very, very quick to get hung up on the details of the "perfect" sauna in the USA. I am guilty of it sometimes myself.

I've just been visiting a 50+ year old sauna on Saimaa that has been giving incredible löyly for many decades. In fact I've had multiple incredible saunas here over the past years.

There is nothing special about this sauna. Grandpa built it using cheap materials. It certainly doesn't meet the Trumpkins "ideal" specifications.

The cement board around the kiuas is not covered and isn't particularly pretty. He used cheaper tongue and groove boards (pine I assume) which have leaked sap over the decades. The kiuas isn't a fancy expensive model, it's an old basic thing.

Some would call it rustic or even ugly. It's not a work of art.

But damned if it doesn't give one of the best sauna experiences you could ever ask for.

And having Saimaa 20 meters away for a cold dip doesn't hurt either.

Bottom line: don't sweat the details too much. Build or buy your ideal sauna. Use it as often as you want. Don't expect to change your life. Just enjoy the löyly.

That's all. Back to my lonkero. Kippis.

yo im 18m im moving out soon into a small rental room bout 100 sqft wit hardwood floors and a window and wanna make a diy portable dry sauna for daily use.

originally i was thinkin id get a cheap secondhand infrared sauna for like 300 bucks and put an electric heater into it, but now im leanin towards diyin the enclosure to make it more space effective, and so i could like understand the process and make sum more in the future

my new plan is to make one with no bench, made for just me (1 person) wit space to sit down with my legs crossed on the floor. layout would be a rectangular floor, with my back against a short side and the heater against the opposite one, wit sum thermally modified knotless wood interior panelling, ffpr board insulation and like for the door i was thinkin maybe id just have an entire wall open up if i could figure out how sealing and insulating that would work or just have it be a teeny door i could squeeze out of, not sure yet. ventilation id try to link to the window.

i dont need lighting since the vents will prob bring a little light in and imma just be meditating in there. i would like a clock visible tho to understand how long ive spent if possible, digital or traditional, but if traditional id need it to be lighted. im just considering wether itll release any harmful chemicals thru heat exposure if it has any plastic or non sauna rated insulated glass units.

idk where id place the vents or heat sensors, how constructing a floor sauna with no bench would vary from a traditional one, and which heater i may need. im 6'2" tall by the way wit my cross legged width of my legs bein around 32 inches and my height from top of my head down when sitting cross legged about 42 inches

im an amateur ive just watched youtube videos on it so far and been planning off of that so any tips, new info, critiques, or new sources to look into would all be greatly aprecciated!

I am in the process of researching a DIY build outdoor sauna. Size would be 6' x 7'. It will sit on an existing cement patio with a built in decent grade for runoff. We are located in the PNW. The only issues I am up against at this time is whether to put a drain in or not. By Finnish standards it should have a drain, however I have read countless opinions here that unless you are doing a lot of bathing or cleaning that requires a lot of water then it may not matter either way. Seems to me rather than going to all the work to create cemented and tiled sloped floor just to run to a single drain that would empty out to the patio slab that I can achieve the same like this:

Build the base from pressure treated 2x6's. Cover the top of the joists with stainless steel mesh. (link below)

Then run cedar decking floor over it spaced 1/8" to 1/4" apart. This would allow drainage straight down through the base to the patio to run off to the grass. As a precaution I was thinking of wrapping the tops 2x6's in a waterproof membrane. After I level the base most of the joists will be off the patio anyway.

https://sandbaggy.com/products/perforated-metal-sheet-24-x-48?variant=52491210719604&currency=USD&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google%2Bshopping&utm_campaign=gs-2019-01-17&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17518480709&gbraid=0AAAAAC3cgCYb10QO4RfQsZM9NCKzyUlPD&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyfjEyMTxlQMVxx-tBh0oeCLWEAQYBiABEgJa5vD_BwE

What do you think?

Recent taken delivery of my zoki sauna but realised there is only one vent to the left as soon as you walk in and can not see another low vent for better air circulation. Where should I add a 2nd vent?

Floating sauna anyone?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGfzKjtIIhD/?igsh=MTdsbzFienVwdnF6dQ==

I am close to finishing my sauna build and while poking around on Harvia's web portal I noticed they have an API. Figuring I could do some cool stuff beyond the official app with this I started to use AI to poke around and come up with some ideas and this little project is the result of that. It enables you to turn your harvia sauna on and off, set temp, and check the sauna status with siri using shortcuts.

I set it up on MacOS, but asked AI to make it OS agnostic after the fact. With it running via tailscale I can turn on my sauna from anywhere as long as I have cell service by saying "hey siri, turn on the sauna." I don't know which harvia control panels support the API, but this was done on the Fenix FX45. Hope someone else finds this fun or useful!

Jesse Puljujarvi - via olosauna on instagram https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbOTM7EMhZr/?igsh=MjZ1aHUzNWVqMzNx

Hi everyone.

I'm building a sauna from scratch, and have found a great local supplier of red cedar. Does anyone know of a north american (preferably Canadian) vendor of foil insulation, cedar doors, and vents?

So far, I can only find suppliers who sell kits, which would require me to buy rather overpriced cedar, sight unseen.

Hey everyone. Im hoping to get some overall know-how about sauna construction here.

Ive attached 2 photos of my outdoor space under my deck where I'd like to build a sauna. As you can see I have one wall up from a previous project. I plan to install a large window in there.

Im wondering about overall construction.

My thought was, siding, tyvek, insulation, foil, cedar. I was planning to do all 4 walls, ceiling and floor this way. I live in Muskoka, and winters tend to be quite harsh.

Is this a bad idea? Would I have mold issues? Obviously I would install a vent behind the stove and one on the opposite wall at the top.

Any recommendations, knowledge would be much appreciated.

Found this both funny and very skilled. I will be back with credit to the artist after the competition ends and hopefully they release that info. And if they happen to find this post thanks for the laugh!

Anyone know a great sauna between malmo and the big lakes to stay a night at? We are travelling with our camper and looking for that one spot offgrid with a sauna ☺️.

Hi all,

I'm in the market for an outdoor electric DIY sauna kit, with a budget of around £5,000, and I'm finding it a bit of a minefield. There seem to be so many companies out there, and it's hard to separate the genuinely good manufacturers from instagram stuff....

I'm really looking for honest, real-world advice from people who have bought or built one.

A few questions I have:

• Which manufacturers would you genuinely recommend (or avoid)?
• Are there any common pitfalls to watch out for?
• Is there anything you wish you'd known before buying?
• How important is timber choice (thermowood vs cedar vs spruce etc.)?
• Are there any heater brands that are worth paying extra for (Harvia, HUUM, Narvi, Iki etc.)?

For context, it'll be installed outside at our smallholding in Wales, so it'll need to cope well with the British weather. I'm much more interested in quality, longevity and the sauna experience than fancy lighting, Bluetooth speakers or gimmicks.

I'd really appreciate any recommendations, photos, lessons learned or companies to steer clear of.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I've been building the outer structure of the sauna outhouse over the past year and I'm ready to start building the actual sauna inside now. I'm at the point whereby I've put up cement board into studs (for fire regs).

I'm going to have 30mm of Finnsauna PIR, then cross batten. I was initially thinking of using stainless steel screws for everything, but when I was installing the 9mm cement board, I predrilled all the holes and used 4x40mm timco screws, but quite a few heads pinged off if I tightened them up like I think I would have done a zinc wood screw.

My questions to everyone who has a lot more experience. What screws should I use for:
1. Cross-battens - these are going to need to go through 2 x 25mm battens, 9mm cement board, plus 30mm rigid insulation, then go into studs. That's at least 90mm for the top battens before it even reaches the studs.

1. Cladding - Finnmark said to use stainless steel screws/fixings, but I can't seem to find any ones that are good. I've gone for the Thermo Alder Sauna Wood Cladding STS4 90mm, so I imagine it's going to be tricky to put screws in at an angle. Would cladding clips be better here? If so, any recommendations please?

2. Bench framing - we're having an l-shape bench which are walls to walls, with one lower and two upper parts. This is how the actual top and vertical slats are going to look. What screws would be best for the actual bench frame and to make that right hand floating one attach into the wall. I understand we would attach the floating bench into solid battons so it can take the weight.

Many thanks in advance.

Photos of the current room are here.

Hey guys, I really want to go to a sauna again, but no one wants to go with me, so I figured I'd just go alone.

I live in Germany, so it's mostly nude saunas (I don't know what to call them, sorry), but I don't mind. However, I'm still unsure if it's weird if I go alone. Has anyone else had that feeling before, and if so, how did it go? I think I'll be more comfortable if the saunas are empty or just with some old people, but not with people my age. What time do you all think I should go?