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Building a Finnish Sauna

Building a Finnish Sauna

Want you own Finland Sauna?




Want your own sauna? Why not consider building a Finnish Sauna?

The Finland sauna is the most common type of sauna there is and is well within most peoples’ capabilities to plan and build themselves.

I will show you the steps to building a Finland sauna and what you need to consider at each step of building. I will even show you where you can buy a pre-cut sauna kit if you want to follow the easiest route possible.

Read about Building a Finnish Sauna below:



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Building a Finnish Sauna

Location, size and price

The first decision you need to make when planning building a Finnish sauna is where to place your sauna.

It can be a free-standing structure inside or outside of your house or it can be a structure in a corner of an excising room in your home. You can even go so far as to convert an existing smallish room in your home into a sauna.

Consider the number of people in your family and the amount of friends you’ll be wanting to share your sauna with. A sauna can be small enough to accommodate 2 persons or big enough to accommodate a group of people at a time.

The most affordable option is Portable saunas that can be bought from around $200, whereas a Pre-cut sauna can start at around $2 000 and reach well above $12 000 depending on the size and accessories.

 

Framing, wiring and insulation

The frame is very important when building a Finnish sauna since it is the skeleton for the interior of the sauna, the position of the door and supports the heater and benches.

When ordering a Pre-cut Sauna Kit everything will be pre-cut to size and will save you a lot of head-scratching and calculating.

The next step is to install wiring for the heater and the light. You’ll need a dedicated circuit for this as well as very thick, 8-gauge electric, cable. If you know your way around wiring it should be a simple job, but it is always a good idea to get an electrician in to finalize the work on the breaker panel.

Insulation of your sauna’s walls and ceiling is next in order to provide a moisture barrier. It’s best to use aluminum foil instead of plastic that can melt. The foil will not only provide a moisture barrier but will reflect heat back into the sauna.

 

Lining the interior walls

Your next step is to line the walls and ceiling of your sauna with tongue and groove panels.

Start from the floor up and continually check level. Install the panels groove down to prevent water pooling in them.

To limit the exposed metal in your sauna, nail the panels through the tongues so that it is covered by the groove from the above panels.

Keep in mind that the knots in the wood will become hotter than the surrounding wood. Try to place the knotted wood panels near the bottom or on the ceiling to ensure your comfort.

 

Benches

When building a Finnish sauna the benches should receive special attention since it is the most used parts of any sauna. The wood in the benches will be left untreated and need to be sanded very carefully to ensure a smooth finish. The last thing you’ll want is sitting on a splinter!

It’s a good idea to install the wall supports for the benches first and then to measure the exact size of the benches to ensure a perfect fit before building your benches.

Finnish Sauna Bathing

Remove the benches from time to time to clean but also to sand them down again to keep them silky smooth.

Building a Finnish sauna will take time and effort, unless you go the pre-cut sauna kit way, but is very rewarding and give you pleasure for years to come.

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