Hi all, we're building our first sauna and need advice on bench layout and depth/ height etc. here's the general idea but the door is actually is over to the left more on that wall. I have a bar is stove with rocks about 33" high. We can also do a straight layout but like the look of the L shape.

I'm quite sure the answer is no. But I just would like to be sure. Is the finishing and varnish of the wood, and I'm assuming glue and other chemicals, bad for you when they are under the high heat of the sauna?

I know it sounds silly, but I can't find any answers.

I am definitely getting an indoor sauna but I have changed my mind at least times on which one to get.
First was vidalux 3 person hybrid then after reading some reviews the hybrids are more maintenance etc then decided on Vidulux traditional 3 person but apparently the bench is too low to enjoy the heat.
My budget is £3000. I did look at Oceanic saunas but the heater is not a Harvia.
TIA

Considering buying a sauna from a local builder but I wasn’t sure if this heat shield looked proper. It’s just aluminum siding. Bad idea?

Also the subfloor is plywood with exterior stain, also seems like a bad idea for VOCs. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance 🙏

I love to build cabins and forts, and so I built this one. It’s kind of just a little studio, but nobody uses it. Everyone in the family wants a sauna, and I’m thinking it’s possible to convert this?

It’s 7x8’. The interior height is about 6 at the walls, up to 8’ at the peak. That’s my biggest concern, but I know barrel saunas function, if not as well as flat ceilings, they do function.

I did use plywood sheathing on the exterior of three sides, but I would install foil and natural wood on the inside.

Also, the floor is currently single-layer 1x6 tongue and groove, so I’d need to beef that up.

I would put in an electric heater, not wood.

What do you think?

Requested a price from sauna.ca The Sauna Specialist, for a part for our Harvia electric sauna heater and I get this reply asking for my personal information before they can give me a price lol!

I’ll buy my parts somewhere else.

Unfortunately not beer

Hi everyone,

I have a small sauna cabin, 120 x 120 x 200 cm (approx. 4 x 4 x 6.5 ft), and I’m trying to fix the ventilation. I’m hoping some of you with more experience can sanity-check my plan before I start drilling.

The problems:
Strong temperature stratification: it gets very hot up near the ceiling, while the floor area and my feet stay noticeably cold. The air feels stuffy and “used up” after a while, even though the temperature is fine.

My plan:
I’ve marked where I’m thinking of adding the vents: an intake right below the heater and an exhaust under the bench on the opposite wall. The idea is to bring in fresh air where the heater can warm it right away and to pull air through the cabin so the cold layer at the floor gets mixed in.

My questions:

1. Does my placement make sense, or would you put the intake and exhaust somewhere else?
2. What size should the openings be for a cabin this small? I was thinking of 5cm in, 10cm out.
3. Should the exhaust have an adjustable slider/damper?
4. Do I need a fan on the exhaust, or will natural draft be enough in a cabin this size? If a fan makes sense, what kind (heat-resistant, low airflow, adjustable speed)?
5. Is there anything else I should change to reduce the hot-top/cold-floor effect (heater position, a gap under the door, etc.)?

Thanks in advance, any input is appreciated!

This is the condition of my elements when I did my annual-ish stone inspection. Everything was functioning fine and the stones were in great condition. Seeing this I'm not sure what to do:

A. Put the stones back in and pretend I saw nothing, or

B. Explore a likely costly repair.

This is a HUUM Steel 10.5kW.

Got my new stove installed two days ago and finally got around to filling it up to working condition!

Old one for comparison, it had seen better days in the very distant past lol! Technically with a new set of coils it would still work but eh.. It was time to let her go, let's just say.

EDIT: If anyone is wondering about the expenses, here in Finland this whole thing cost me:

Stove, Harvia Cilindro PC70 Black Steel: 269€ ($301,44 USD)

Rocks, black vulkanite 4x20kg: 83,60€ ($93,68 USD)

Delivery fee: 30,90€ ($34,64 USD)

Physical install by me so technically free, just bloodied knuckles from setting the stones, but I did have a friend who's an electrician hook it up and paid 60€ ($67,24 USD) to him for the trouble.

I made a base of slabs ( pictures 1 & 2) and the sauna I ordered only comes with a wooden foundation beneath the four walls and a simple duckboard ( example of another customer in picture 3 ).

I read that insulation, airflow and drainage are important for a sauna. Although many people here in Germany don’t consider a drainage to be a must, since we use towels under our bottoms and only splash water onto the rocks sparely.

I bought XPS (Jackodur) plates for insulation and read that they are basically mold resistant, because they can barely soak up any water. AI research and example pictures showed that they could even be put right onto the slaps, with nothing between. Makes me wonder… could I install them with a little slope towards something like a small gravel bed or a few drilled holes in the slabs, so that any water could run down there. Kind of like in picture 4, just without the wood in between.

I’ve seen people create wonderful foundations with wood, XPS, treated wood above. I think due to the duckboard, that is not really necessary. And a real proper drainage system won’t add much to my experience either, as long as I keep the sauna clean and flush the drainage every now and then.

Please share your thoughts on my plans, since I’ve been planning this thing for months now and it will arrive in a few days.
Thank you so much

I'm designing a sauna with the help of a local contractor. Lassi recommends leaving a gap between the benches and walls to improve airflow and drying.

How do you actually accomplish this while keeping the benches structurally supported? Do you use spacer blocks behind the wall-mounted ledgers, special brackets, or something else?

I'm aiming for roughly a 2" gap and would love to see photos or construction details from anyone who's done this. Thanks!

Foundation floor done resting 6x6s on helical piers drilled over 4 ft into the ground. Helical piers is the only part of the project I am not DIYing. Well worth it so far! Minimal natural disruption to area and perfectly level with air flow underneath. French Drain is covered by the 2x8 in the pic. Thanks for all your advice in your book and online Glenn!

Hi All!

I recently moved into a new house and inherited this sauna from the previous owner. It's 6x4x6'3. It works fine, but the temperature discrepancy between the lower bench (where feet go) and the upper bench is pretty drastic and I'd really like to do something about it. It seems clear that the heat is not circulating.

Could you please help me identify some options for normalizing the heat in the lower area?

From my limited experience on this subreddit, it seems like the issue might be related to the fact that there is no exhaust vent, just an intake and drying vent. Also the positioning of the heater isn't ideal, with the stones being several inches above the bottom bench.

Could I simply cut out a circle for a passive vent here (where circled), or is there more to it than that? Any other low-cost/effort solutions that might help, even modestly?

Thanks in advance!