How To Make Homemade Sauna – After a long, cold day, the comfort and relaxation that a sauna can provide is hard to beat. And with this guide to the basics of building a sauna, you don’t need a spa membership to enjoy the experience.
The stress relief provided by a sauna can do wonders. This is a tradition historically associated with Finland, where wells dug into the foothills were heated by fireplaces, hot stones, and steam. Fortunately, one of these cozy lounges can be built at home without digging a hole in the hillside.
How To Make Homemade Sauna
Read on to learn the basics of building a sauna at home, as well as factors to consider before getting started.
Sauna Building Workshop
Before building this luxury usually reserved for spas and health clubs, there are a few things to think about.
The most important decision to make when planning to build a sauna at home is whether it should be located indoors or outdoors. An indoor sauna can be installed in a closet, basement or bathroom if proper precautions are taken. Since the structure, electricity and easy access are already in place, building an indoor sauna can be an attractive option.
An outdoor sauna requires a special structure, either newly built or reused. An old shed can be a good place for a sauna, but it will probably need to be connected to electricity (depending on the type of sauna). Alternatively, the sauna can be built on a patio, deck, concrete slab, or other flat surface.
There are sauna kits that come with almost everything needed to convert a shed or closed room into a sauna and are considered. But an experienced DIYer can save some money by building a custom sauna without a kit. The main thing to consider will be the level of experience of the builder. If you’re a seasoned DIYer looking to customize your home sauna (and save a few bucks), a custom sauna is worth the effort. If you have less experience and/or time constraints, choose a kit for speed and simplicity.
Ideas And Solutions For Sauna Construction
There are three types of heating to choose from: electric, gas and wood. Electric and gas are efficient and heat up quickly and usually require the experience of an electrician or plumber. Wood may be a better option for building an off-grid sauna, although wood-fired saunas take longer to heat up and are more difficult to control.
Plans for building a sauna at home vary widely, but they will share basic features that are important to remember whether you are doing it yourself or enlisting the help of a contractor. The following steps explain the basics of how to build a custom electric or gas sauna of any size, with tips for indoor or outdoor construction.
Decide whether the sauna will be indoors or outdoors and prepare the location. For indoor saunas, remove everything from the room, exposing the walls to the rafters. For outdoor saunas, find a space that is large enough for the sauna.
Regardless of the location of the sauna, the floor must be waterproof. For outdoor saunas, this usually means starting with a concrete base. For indoor saunas, a concrete slab, a waterproof floor membrane and a layer of concrete or tiles usually do the trick.
Easy Homemade Sauna Plans
When opening the beds, run the wires for the electric heater if you are using one, the thermostat, lights and other sauna equipment. Drill the holes, run the pipe and run the appropriate wires for the devices. If you are using an electric heater, make sure there is enough room in the switch for the power consumption.
Install insulation between joists and ceiling joists. Be sure to use the correct size insulation for the size of the post and beam (typically 2×4, 2×6, 2×8 and 2×10) as well as the width of the beam (12, 16 or 24 inches, on center).
Place a vapor barrier covered with foil on top of the insulation and secure it with studs and studs. Before installing the upper layer, install the lower layer around the room, then move to the ceiling. Make sure the top layer covers the bottom layer by at least four inches and create as many seams as possible. Where seams are unavoidable, cover them with foil.
Starting from the ceiling, place the panels over the sauna area. For the first board, drive the nail through the board and into the studs, making sure the board is away from the wall. For each subsequent run, align the groove with the previous board and drive the nail through the tongue into the studs. Repeat the process for each wall.
Outdoor 110v Sauna
Note: Maintain about ¼ to ⅜ inch clearance around the perimeter of the ceiling and each wall. This space allows for the expansion and contraction that naturally occurs in a sauna. You can cover the gaps with small strips of panels cut on a table saw.
Measure the distance between two parallel walls. Make a simple frame with 2×4 stock and screws that are 19 inches deep. Cut four 2x4s to 16 inches for the legs. In each corner, place a one-legged stool upright and flat against the wall. Attach the legs to the walls and then the frame to the wall. Split the lumber with 2×4 ¼ inch stock.
Install the heater in the sauna by connecting the electric cable or connecting the gas line (be sure to check the gas lines). Also install light fixtures, switches, and thermostats.
Set the thermostat to the desired temperature and close the door. Wait the suggested time before checking the room temperature. Pour some water with a spoon over the heater and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of the sauna.
Wood Burning Sauna Diy
The tools needed to build a home sauna vary in size and design. A general set of hand and power tools is required, including:
With your new home sauna, you can enjoy steaming anytime, even without a premium spa membership. You can get as creative as you want with this basic design, so feel free to build the sauna of your dreams.
Get the latest home improvement news, trusted tips and DIY Smarts projects from our experts straight to your inbox. Each editorial product is independently selected, although we may be compensated or receive an affiliate commission if you purchase something through our links. Ratings and prices are accurate and items are available at time of posting.
Going to a sauna has many proven health benefits. Not only will it help you detoxify and release tension and stress, but it can also help you burn calories and keep your skin clear and healthy.
I Built A Sauna
You can build this year-round outdoor four-person sauna in your garage and bring it to your cabin. All you need is solid carpentry skills, a few power tools, and a place to build it. Read and follow this construction plan step by step.
I built this sauna out of readily available and affordable materials that you can find at your local hardware store. The simple design allows you to easily build four walls, a floor, a roof and a seat on the site or in the garage, and then transport them to a remote location.
The sauna is five feet wide x four feet deep x 7 feet. 8 inches high Customize your sauna to fit your needs. Take a look at Figure 1 to see how everything comes together.
Before you start cutting boards and driving nails, assemble a flat work surface, such as a 4×8 sheet of plywood in the saw’s keys. This makes the assembly and maneuvering of project components much easier. Call for help to help you raise the walls and roof sections.
Home Sauna Cost
When buying materials, always buy a few extra 2x2s and 2x4s for your project. You can often return things you don’t use.
We no longer support IE (Internet Explorer) as we strive to provide the best web page experience for browsers that support new web standards and security practices. We’re excited to share our visit with Klim and Alex, founders of Kelo Spa & Steam, bringing some serious heat to Boston, Massachusetts. Kelo Spa will open in March
Continuing the series of guest posts, please say hello to Tom who brings us to Cedar Grove Sauna in Maine. January public sauna months are actually two, with a third
It’s a universal dichotomy: the sauna is best when the weather is bad. Whether you’re a sheep farmer in Sheffield, a bricklayer in Lahti or a road worker in
How To Build Your Own Sauna Door
Today on Sauna Chat we welcome Bruce Orecco, who joins us from his offline home in Baja Mexico. In this section we will talk about sauna, Finnish sauna. to learn
The series of guest posts continues. Please say hello to Louise, who is asking you to help her complete a survey about the Finnish Mökkis. Welcome Louise! My name is Louise Werner, I am
Do you have an experience, maybe Jimi Hendrix’s best album, but if there was a portable sauna backstage at Woodstock, it would be better if the water, nature,
The series of guest posts continues: We are excited to visit Loyal Northeast, Portland
How To Build Saunas: 13 Steps (with Pictures)
How to build homemade sauna, how to build a homemade sauna, how to make a sauna, how to make a homemade infrared sauna, how to make a sauna at home, how to make homemade margaritas, how to make a homemade steam sauna, how to create a homemade sauna, how to make a homemade sauna, how to make sauna, how to make homemade yogurt, how to make homemade dogfood
