Building a sauna requires many skills. Basically, it is a small house. There are windows and doors, a roof and a foundation, framing, sheathing, subflooring, and the like. It also requires a design, and in many cases a permit, which will include drawings such as a site plan that shows required set backs and orientation. All of this I can do—from plans and permit applications to foundation to chimney. I pride myself on being able to do it all and on being as comfortable holding a drafting pencil (yes, I do drawings old-school) as I am a pick axe or nail gun. But the truth is, sometimes it is better to let others do the work they do best, so I can focus on what I do best, which is design and build saunas.
Recently, I had a job where distance made it much more efficient for the owners to use a local contractor to build the shell while I did only the sauna interior and the overall design. It turned out that Tim and his crew were much more adept than me at not only building the shell but carefully replicating the trim details of the one hundred fifty year-old adjacent main house. By the time I got to the job site, the interior was ready for my sauna work.
Just like many other types of projects during the pandemic, planning sessions on this job happened on the web or via text; we only actually all met once. Despite that, or maybe because of it, we weren’t in each other’s hair (a sauna is, after all, a very small space). Things flowed very smoothly once we got over the scheduling speed bump caused by the pandemic-induced supply chain upheaval.
The sauna sits perfectly between the historical architecture of the house and the modern look of a contemporary sauna. It was a team effort that paid off.
When building a sauna the first and possibly most important consideration is the location.
A wood-burning sauna, free from the tether of an electrical connection, can be built a ways from the house—not just for safety but also to create a separation from the digital buzz of modern life. Simple and inexpensive solar options make it easy to provide needed lighting. The sauna should have some of the comforts of home but be integrated into nature; near a body of water is always a good choice.
My latest sauna build does all of that and more. The site is fairly close to the house but lies outside the garden gates. It all but hangs on the edge of a small gorge that contains a lively creek in its serpentine confines. Like the basswood and cherry trees that cling to the sides of the gorge, firmly rooted in the ground, the sauna is anchored to the 300 million year old shale bedrock with concrete and steel. The owners built a steep stair down to a small waterfall that flows into a perfect, bathtub sized hole.
Descending the steps may be slightly perilous, but that only adds to the adrenaline rush after leaving the steaming sauna and plunging into the ever-cold water.
As I build, I tweak my design to allow nature into the sauna. With the structure framed but without sheathing, it allowed a perfect view up the ravine from the upper bench, suggesting the optimum location for a small candle window. The larger window allows a view of the wooded hill and brings in ample afternoon light. The view down into the creek through the framing had me imagining a small square creek view porthole, below knee level, that would let in the ambient sound of the rushing creek. Exiting the sauna, bathers face the woods, not the house. The eye follows a crude stair-path up into the forest then down the other stairway to the creek.
The sauna is visible from the road and the house, but neither is evident from the sanctuary within. All that is heard is the babble of the creek, and all that is felt is the relaxing heat of the sauna.
Finishing a few rounds in the sauna with a dunk in the massaging water is pure bliss.
The site is not only perfect for the sauna, but it was a joy to work there, listening to and watching the water flow. Daily, I took dips in the creek to beat the steamy summer heat. Having a site that enables me to enjoy the process of building means I can build a better sauna—one that is infused with the spirit of the place and connected to nature.
Increasingly, I hear from clients who want a sauna as a way to enhance their hot yoga (Bikram) practice. It’s a perfect pairing: What better way to follow up (or warm up for) a hot yoga session than with an even hotter sauna!
Recently, a couple asked me to convert an old, dingy, freestanding cinder block garage into a sauna/hot yoga studio. First, I made sure the cinderblock wall was stable and did some minimal repairs. Then I isolated the block wall from the warm, humid space by adhering expanded polystyrene (XPS) foam board to the walls. This was critical as to prevent moist air from hitting the cold cinder blocks and condensing. Next, I framed in the space, insulated the walls with mineral wool batts, and finished the yoga space with drywall and the sauna with cedar (with the requisite radiant sauna foil layer and air gap). New windows replaced the old; dramatic deep window recesses were a result of the thick walls. Bamboo flooring over floating sleepers over foam board created just the right bounce for the yoga space, while the sauna was fitted with traditional duck boards. LED lighting added just the right ambiance. The heart of this sauna is the Harvia Cilindro heater with it’s two hundred pound rock capacity.
Amazingly, the old building was plumb and square—the original masons did a good job. Fighting an out-of-square space is the bane of all renovators.
A sanctuary just a step away from home.
This project was a complete transformation for this building (see below), turning it from a creaky, old, under-utilized garage into a revitalized space for self-transformation. Make an inventory of the neglected spaces on your property awaiting transformation and give me a call!
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