Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Sauna

I plan to build one this summer.

Looking for ideas on materials methods size etc from those that have one or build their own.

Thanks.

I think mostly they are made out of cedar.

PM me built one last fall and love it.
Bought a 8 X 8 shed used, moved it, then insulated , it 5' x 8 ft sauna area, rest changing area. Used comercial sauna stove. 3 small pieces of wood will hold it over 165 F for 3.5 hrs. Kurt

Got T&G cedar on Craigs list local ER guy has it you can sort through it and it mostly clear. Insulated, then wrapped it in a mylar envelope. Used Nylon rope for trim set in Silicone.

I googled for plans and ideas and built it. Heres a site
http://www.saunaplanning.com/

man that looks great KK

Yeah... but imagine looking at KK nekid while taking a sauna!

The ones out here on the AKPEN are slightly different. Most are built big enough to accommodate a a barrel stove and they are tied into a water source.

I have a 12x12 foundation on my up north property that I'm going to build into a sauna. I'll be heated with a barrel stove and my water source will be a handpump on a hand-driven well. There are even pyramid to the side that I'm building a sheltered deck on as part of the sauna for a wood-fired hot-tub.

KK, that looks great, very nice! I'm currently building my 2nd sauna. The first one was 6X8 and heated with a 30 gal barrel stove. I ran the barrel through the wall so I could load it from the outside. It was lined with T&G Alaskan cottonwood from Poppert's mill, in Wasilla. The cottonwood is actually very nice. Light in color and did not darken after 8 years of steady use. Floor was cork. Bench was 2X6 hem/fir with 1X6 verticle grain cedar on top. I made the door from 2X6 decking. The current sauna project has a 55 gal BBL. It is lined with tight knot cedar with clear on the benches and backrests. Hot room is 8X8 with a 6X8 dressing room. For a smaller sauna I think insulation is optional. You certainly will burn less with it insulated. They are fun and I think very healthy, too.

Lord have mercy


I was more thinking if i could rent the place out and have a celebration for some of my overworked young ladies

Do your saunas have floor drains or is there not enough interior water to be a concern?

No floor drain in mine but do not rinse off inside. All water is gone with residual heat. Floor is not insulated.

My 5 ft by 8 ft area required a very small stove and BTU output is sized to sq ft. A stove that you could load from the outside would be nice mine uses so little wood no issues. Heat shields were necessary as I had no clearance.

The benches are removable. I went with online size, bench height, and ceiling height recommendations. Wired for lights just went with
a RV male plug HD cord for power supply, 2 lights.
Cedar contact https://anchorage.craigslist.org/mat/6007803198.html

Sorry Art prefer to Sauna with the wife!

Amazing health benefits had lung issues with 40 years being around chlorine, had Pneumonia 2 times last year, physicals always showed lungs were congested. After sauna use it went away. I felt so much better after using one, I built mine.

I have a small box stove that looks to be the right size for a small sauna. I want to be able to take it when I move.

Standard lumber framing? Extry VB? Treated lumber for floor? False floor to get above stratified cold air? Lights inside?


I'll think up more questions over time!

VB?

Vapor barrier.

Since my saunas are detached I did not put in a vapor barrier. As KK stated, the residual heat dries 'er right out. I do not add water to my sauna preferring a dry sauna. Probably one of the best benefit from the sauna is your body adapts to the heat adn this really hepls when you go to a hot climate.

Jeez, and here I thought it meant virgin birch.

I like a floor drain, but it's extra work when building it.

Put a big pot on the stove, a high shelf with a 5 gal. bucket on it, good sized bilge pump with a shower hose and head attached to it and voila, shower in the sauna.

Mix the hot water on the stove top with cold rainwater in the 5 gal bucket to your tastes

Feels so good to rinse off afterwards

But you freeze your ass off if it's less than 90 degrees. 😄

Had an old shed moved/skidded in. Installed cedar on walls, benches and lid. We fiberglassed the floor and added a drain. Found an old bathtub, and it now sits in the opposite corner from the stove, which is mounted through the wall that creates a hallway/changing room. Sauna room ended up about 9'x12'.

It is a must-have without running water.

Careful there, Mike. Them things are dangerous!

My friend in Hope built one 10X12, concrete floor, no floor drain, many years ago, out of either 6 or 8 inch , 3-sided squared cedar. Don't ask where he got it... but he was working for a government agency at the time, and they had some leftovers.

The wife and I were over visiting and he fired up the sauna. True, we'd been into the banana Daiquiris for awhile... and I'd never been in a sauna before.

I was advised that if I started feeling weak I should go outside (it was down around zero) where there was a half barrel filled with cold water, and douse myself over the head until I recovered and could re-enter. "The pitcher is right there"....

So it came to pass. No one told me his wife had brought out the pitcher of Daiquiris as well... I just thought someone had thoughtfully pre-filled that pitcher. It took another half dozen pitchers of cold water to get all that stuff out of my hair.

I not only remember it well, I'm frequently reminded of it....