DIY sauna?

[hawkgt]

my grandparents had a sauna in northern MN cabin on the lake. my father and grandfather built it early 60's. 55 gal drum on side, flat plate welded on top with rock rack. 2 halfs of 55 gal drums sitting on top. my job every morning was to clean out ash, fill the water drums and stack the wood for day. grandpa would fire it up about 1 and by evening had hot water.

[Core Shot]

Yes, public baths in the US bring up images of shady gay sex in dark corners in my mind.
.

That was my thought the first time I went to a Turkish bath house in buck town.
But it was sweet. Miss it. Huge and fucking hot steam room. And cold pool. Open pores close pores.

One third gay or artists.
One third businessman and judges
One third quasi normal.

No one minded the gays. It wasnt uptown halsted street. No hookups and no public sex.

But back to sauna. Infrared sucks.
Wood fired is complicated. And too much work to fire it up.

Go electric with rocks.
Bulld a tongue and groove cedar room.
It’s easy and nice. If you like sauna.

[Dantheman]

A friend of a friend in Utah uses one for biking, I guess so he stays adjusted for summer runs and stuff. It sounded weird when my friends were telling me about it. However a few of those same friends might have a spare tent if you wanted.

My motivation is just general health. There's a huge body of evidence that shows regular sauna use is really good for you. The studies are mostly from traditional saunas, but anything that makes you sweat your ass off is like exercising while sitting still.

Possibly interested if it's a full size tent, but not one of those whacky ones where your head and arms stick out.

I guess my point was that I’d just get bored sitting there staring at shiny walls and light bulbs. Having a wood burner and nice cedar walls is more interesting to me. I’d get bored without a fire to tend to. But I’m a freak.

I'm not very ADD. Between some meditation or listening to a book or podcast I'll be able to keep myself occupied for 20-30 minutes pretty easily.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

You can buy a unit that goes into a shower. I messed around with one at a friend's house in Bozeman once. It worked really well. The shower was a large slate tiled walk in type. You just fired up the unit, and popped in some sort of Eucalyptis thingy, and it sauna'd and vapor therapied your troubles away. Seemed like a good way to do it, since you will still use the shower.

Place I used to work (in Bozeman) sold lots of these. Mostly in the club.

https://www.mrsteam.com/

[mud]

Just get an infrared, use mine everyday.
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...ghlight=saunas

Protip, take out the bench and replace with comfy chair.

[CountryFunk]

Just get an infrared, use mine everyday.
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...ghlight=saunas

Protip, take out the bench and replace with comfy chair.

Couldn't help myself ...

[Kailua_Boys]

Go electric with rocks.
Bulld a tongue and groove cedar room.
It’s easy and nice. If you like sauna.

x2.

Really not that hard to build. Frame up a room with 2x4s. Side with Cedar planks. Use a pre hung door. Electrical heater with rocks that runs off 240V. Boom. Done.

[mud]

My motivation is just general health. There's a huge body of evidence that shows regular sauna use is really good for you. The studies are mostly from traditional saunas, but anything that makes you sweat your ass off is like exercising while sitting still.

Possibly interested if it's a full size tent, but not one of those whacky ones where your head and arms stick out.


I'm not very ADD. Between some meditation or listening to a book or podcast I'll be able to keep myself occupied for 20-30 minutes pretty easily.

I play video games on my ipad the first 15 or 20 mins then the sweat gets to be too much and I switch over to podcasts.

Couldn't help myself ...

I pulled the bath towels off the chair before taking the pic, that's a real downside to home saunas, so many sweaty towels.

[Dantheman]

Just get an infrared, use mine everyday.
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...ghlight=saunas

Missed that thread. Some of the ~$1,500 IR saunas are tempting for sure, but not happening. Between a big car repair bill last month and the wife's fancy new bike the savings account has been dented significantly lately. Space is an issue too, so the ability to quickly break down and store a grow tent-based sauna if needed is a big part of the appeal. The wood saunas have exterior dimensions that are the same the grow tents, so if anything a grow tent is probably roomier. Finally, the wood units are far-IR, while the lamps I linked to are near-IR. NIR penetrates deeper into your skin and some people claim that NIR is superior to FIR (https://keepmeprime.com/near-vs-far-infrared-saunas/). Most of those claims are probably scientifically dubious at best, but I can't find anything to suggest that FIR is better than NIR either.

[mud]

I can break mine down in about ten minutes. Unplug the cords on the top then take the top off and the walls are held together by grooves in the floorboard and buckles in the back, there are no nails or screws that hold it together. It's not as light as a tent but it breaks down and is easy to move.

[Dhelihiker]

Hard no for multiple reasons.

I stayed in a bad ass hotel that had one and I loved it. What is your hard no reasoning?

[Dantheman]

I stayed in a bad ass hotel that had one and I loved it. What is your hard no reasoning?

Mostly cost. Converting my existing shower to a steam shower could be a five-figure undertaking based on some recent posts here about that subject. Then there's the fact that all the studies showing the health benefits of saunas are from dry saunas. Any hot environment probably has benefits, but you can go hotter with dry heat.

[RootSkier]

We had a massive cedar sauna with electric heater at our last place, like 6' x 8'. We only used it like three times in 8 years. Eventually I took out the benches and converted it to a quasi-office. In retrospect, it probably never got hot enough because it was too big. Plus mrs rootskier didn't want to smash in it so I lost interest quickly.

[Core Shot]

Smashing at 190 degree temp is an advanced manoeuvre

[mmmm...pow!]

I wanna add a small 2-4 person wood fired unit off the back porch of my cabin. Anyone got experience with these type of structures or the Harvia wood burning heaters?

https://almostheaven.com/product/allegheny-sauna/

Got one from this company, though bought it on Amazon. Delivered right to the driveway, put it together solo, took maybe a week or so just knocking out a bit each day. Got the Harvia wood stove. What do you want to know? Our model seats 4, takes maybe a half hour to heat during the winter, a single piece of oak at a time once it's going gets it roasting in there.
I was never much of a sauna guy, but the lady wanted it, now I'm in there 2-3 times a week all winter. Pretty sweet to get in there with some tunes while it's dumping outside.
https://allwoodoutlet.com/SAUNA-KITS...-BARREL-SAUNAS

[splat]

OP-
Got a yard? Build a sweatlodge. Cost? Zero to whatever.

Got one from this company, though bought it on Amazon. Delivered right to the driveway, put it together solo, took maybe a week or so just knocking out a bit each day. Got the Harvia wood stove. What do you want to know? Our model seats 4, takes maybe a half hour to heat during the winter, a single piece of oak at a time once it's going gets it roasting in there.
I was never much of a sauna guy, but the lady wanted it, now I'm in there 2-3 times a week all winter. Pretty sweet to get in there with some tunes while it's dumping outside.
[URL="https://allwoodoutlet.com/SAUNA-KITS-AND-SAUNA-ACCESSORIES./ALLWOOD-BARREL-SAUNAS"]]

The barrel saunas really look nice. When I finish my landscaping/deck building in the backyard, I'm dropping in an octagonal wood-fired hot tub with a copper bottom I built with 22 inch by 2-3/4 inch clear heart redwood that was harvested around 1890. The wood was rough cut joists but I ran the inside of each panel through a giant planer. Fire is built under the copper bottom Ofuro style. Can't wait to put it in place.

[Garbowski]

How long do the outdoor ones last? In Seattle? I like those the best but don't want to have to rebuild it every 2 years.

[Meathelmet]

Anyone build their own sauna? What type of work is involved? rough cost?

3x6m, pre-profiled timber frame, wood stove+ chimney, windows, roof, basework, self built= 6000$
Straight forward, 3-4 days from ground up if you have drawings and you are not constructing it into some challenging terrain.

My new place is going to have a garage and I was brainstorming my dream uses for the space and sauna came to mind. Would putting it inside a larger garage be stupid for any reason?

Electric stove (Harvia, Narvi) would be the choice in that case. And yes, with saunas prover ventilation (replacement air) is the absolute key. You need fresh air in and moisture out. Building inside a structure is more challenging as you have to vapour proof the construction and maybe have a electric ventilation that you flip on for 15-30mins after a session. Otherwise, it is quite straightforward.

You can buy an infrared sauna from Costco for $1500 delivered to your door.

You can get a tug-job from a hobo and it classifies as sex.
I rather have an all-night schmutz session with gymnastically talented brazilian au-pair.

Real sauna's are wood fired, no electric or infrared bull shit.
Also should be beside a lake or pond or suitable body of water for dunking.

Shirk gets it.

That's what I was gonna say. Nice tile shower with bench that is a steam room. It's the shit and will get lots of use.

MTT does not get it and goes the hobo way.

I wanna add a small 2-4 person wood fired unit off the back porch of my cabin. Anyone got experience with these type of structures or the Harvia wood burning heaters?

https://almostheaven.com/product/allegheny-sauna/

Absolutely ridiculous price for that contraption. If you can get hands on that kind of pre-profiled stuff (32mm/58mm/90mm) you just buy it in lenght, build up to a size and then make the door/window openings, benches and install the stove etc.
A no brainer. If you need some plans/ideas let me know.

I guess my point was that I’d just get bored sitting there staring at shiny walls and light bulbs. Having a wood burner and nice cedar walls is more interesting to me. I’d get bored without a fire to tend to. But I’m a freak.

No you are not, you are a man of good taste.

How long do the outdoor ones last? In Seattle? I like those the best but don't want to have to rebuild it every 2 years.

Seatle seems a bit rainier than most parts of scandihoovia, but if the sauna is properly taken care of, decades.

The key is proper construction (ventilation, built off the ground, not insulating the floor etc..) and to dry it properly after use, ia, throw in couple of logs in the stove after a session.

In my old house I had an original sauna from 1938 that hadn't been renovated since its construction. Best sauna, ever.
At grandfathers place there is a timber frame sauna that has been built in the start of 20th still running strong.

[mud]

Some of your guys are worst than a dreaded tele skier, “hurr durr real wood only real sauna, hurr durr bendy knee wood straight ski only way down hill...”

Infrared is a better option for day to day home use.

[stapes]

I can break mine down in about ten minutes. Unplug the cords on the top then take the top off and the walls are held together by grooves in the floorboard and buckles in the back, there are no nails or screws that hold it together. It's not as light as a tent but it breaks down and is easy to move.

Make/model? Is that a Golden Designs?

I’ve looked into an IR and with winter coming and covid raging feel like I’d really enjoy one. Used to go to rec center and use the sauna and steam room a bunch.

[mud]

Dynamic saunas 2 person Venice model, they are based in Ontario, CA but I got it off Amazon. I think they changed the name but it looks like all their models have clasp together walls. I wouldnt put it on carpet since it can leak a little, title or concrete only.

[The Tortoise]

Smashing at 190 degree temp is an advanced manoeuvre

The only time it's acceptable to leave the door open.

[stapes]

Thanks mud!

[Dantheman]

Some of your guys are worst than a dreaded tele skier, “hurr durr real wood only real sauna, hurr durr bendy knee wood straight ski only way down hill...”

Infrared is a better option for day to day home use.

Seriously.

[Core Shot]

Some of your guys are worst than a dreaded tele skier, “hurr durr real wood only real sauna, hurr durr bendy knee wood straight ski only way down hill...”

Infrared is a better option for day to day home use.

Infrared is not sauna.

Rax is not a ski

Ymmv