Building your own sauna


How to build a home sauna uk
If you don’t have a garden or simply would rather build your sauna inside your house then you still have a lot of options. Saunas are light and the materials that you are going to use are easy to carry around so your sauna could just as easily be in the cellar or the loft extension. However, if you build an indoor sauna near your bathroom, you can use the bathroom shower facilities to cool off in addition to using the bathroom as a convenient changing room.
How to build a home sauna uk
 
Building your own sauna
Building your own sauna

This article will look at building your own sauna. It will give some idea of the skills and materials necessary to complete each stage of the job.
What options are available to build your own sauna?
More saunas are probably built and installed by their owners than are fitted by other professionals.
There is a huge range of modular saunas, which are pre-fitted panels that often simply slot and click together or there are sauna kits where the homeowner does a bit more of the work. With a sauna kit you may well have to build some stud frames but then the kit supplier provides the rest of the woodwork to suit your measurements.
Some people like the idea of building their own sauna completely from scratch and it is indeed a satisfying experience that means the design can be uniquely yours. Once again, the skills needed shouldn’t be beyond the range of a reasonably accomplished DIY enthusiast.
Indoor or outside?
Traditionally, a sauna was a separate cabin outside the house so building your sauna in your garden is perfectly natural. An outside sauna may well end up costing a little more due to weatherproofing and perhaps laying water and electricity supplies to the location.
On the other hand, an outside sauna will more easily let you install a wood-burning stove for a very traditional sauna experience.
If you don’t have a garden or simply would rather build your sauna inside your house then you still have a lot of options. Saunas are light and the materials that you are going to use are easy to carry around so your sauna could just as easily be in the cellar or the loft extension. However, if you build an indoor sauna near your bathroom, you can use the bathroom shower facilities to cool off in addition to using the bathroom as a convenient changing room.
Saunas can range in size from something as small as 3’ x 4’ for a single person up to 10’ x 14’ or more that 8 people can share at a time. Most home saunas are 5’ or 6’ x 7’ with a 6.5’ – 7’ ceiling. A sauna that size will suit 4 people sharing.
Floors and walls.
For an indoor sauna the existing floor will be just fine. You might want to tile it as you would a bathroom. If you are building outdoors then you’ll need to lay a proper concrete foundation.
It isn’t necessary to install a floor drain in your sauna. Commercial and public saunas sometimes have them but just to make cleaning easier. If the floor of your sauna gets wet then you are throwing too much water on the stones.
A duckboard floor over the tiles will be comfortable to stand on.
Stud frame walls can be built out of 2’’ x 24’’ timber. The walls need only be 7’ high as there is no point in having a high ceiling. It will just allow hot air to collect above the sauna bathers and that air and the energy it took to heat it will be wasted.
It’s easier to put the wiring in at this stage although you will have to use a qualified electrician to actually connect up the heater and lights.
Doors and windows.
Sauna doors always open outward for safety reasons. A standard size sauna door measures about 24″x72″ and it’s far better to buy a pre-hung sauna door rather than make your own.
The changes in heat that a door experiences and the differences in humidity will easily warp a normal door and factory made sauna doors come in a range of finishes including many with built in windows. The handle on the door should be made of wood and there should be a friction or magnetic door catch and obviously no way of locking the door.
The windows in a sauna need only be made of single glazed, tempered glass with enough room in the frame to allow for expansion.
Lining the walls, building the benches.
The walls of a sauna are usually lined in a horizontal or vertical design using tongue and groove spruce, aspen, alder, beech or cedar boards. The tongue and grove boards should be attached using nails angled at the base of the tongue of each board so the next board will fit over the nail head to hide it from view.
After the walls have been lined, it’s time to install the sauna benches. Benches are available from many suppliers that are pre-made and then cut on site to your particular requirements. You should make sure that they are kiln dried and free from knots. Most sauna benches are arranged in a two-tier, upper and lower bench layout so that people can choose the temperature that suits them best; the lower bench being a little cooler than the top one.
The benches should be long enough for someone to stretch out on and built with gaps between the planks so that air can circulate.
Vents and lighting.
Most saunas will just require two air vents to keep the heat distributed evenly and the air fresh.
One inlet vent will be either placed low down near the sauna heater or there will be an air gap left under the sauna door. The exhaust vent is going to be near the ceiling and might have some sort of control on it to also help regulate the heat.
It’s important to get the lighting in the sauna right as that is going to have a big effect on relaxation and enjoyment. Sauna lights should be built to be able to withstand the heat and humidity in a sauna. A single light will do just fine or you might want to use more. Don’t over-light the sauna though.
Of course, the lighting must be fitted by a qualified electrician.
Heating your sauna.
If you are building a sauna with a wood burning stove then you will be able to install that yourself carefully following the manufacturers instructions.
If you are building a sauna heated by an electric stove or by infrared then you’ll have to contact a qualified electrician to wire things up for you.
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