The Finns have been using saunas for relaxation, health, and detoxification for thousands of years. By building an outdoor sauna, you too can have your own reclaimed wood hot house in your backyard!
Although you can purchase pre-fabricated sauna kits, you can easily make your own using reclaimed wood. Essentially a reclaimed wood sauna is an insulated shed with an electric, gas, or wood burning heat source!
On average you can expect to spend around $3000 to $6000 on your outdoor reclaimed wood sauna depending on the size and any bells and whistles that you decide to add. There is also about a twenty-hour time investment from the start to finish of your reclaimed wood outdoor sauna.
When Building an Outdoor Sauna, Location is Key
Deciding where you want to put your reclaimed wood sauna is an important task as they are not easy to move. First, you want to make sure that you have a flat and level place to build your reclaimed wood sauna. Placing your reclaimed wood sauna on uneven ground will make for awkward seating arrangements inside. Secondly, choose a secluded spot in your yard so that you can have privacy while enjoying your reclaimed wood sauna.
Stay Green when Building an Outdoor Sauna
By simply using reclaimed wood to build your outdoor sauna you are already being eco-friendly. You can take this a step further and use an infrared heater rather than a wood burning or gas heater. Infrared heaters heat up much quicker and take up 90 percent less energy.
Materials
There are basically seven parts to an outdoor sauna made with reclaimed wood:
- Floor
- Outer Walls
- Ceiling
- Door
Floor
You will want to construct your reclaimed wood sauna from the ground up starting with the floor. Make sure to measure this out accurately because this is the foundation for your sauna. Keep in mind that this may take some extra time because working with reclaimed wood is not exact.
Outer Walls of Your Outdoor Sauna
When building the outer walls make sure that you get the boards as tightly together as you can. The key to functional walls is the accuracy in framing them out. By laying out the boards to finish the walls ahead of time will allow you to make sure that they fit tightly within the frame.
Insulating Your Outdoor Sauna
Remember to plan for installing insulation before you finish off the walls. This will prevent steam from escaping. Steam is the essential piece to your reclaimed wood sauna.
Ceiling
Make sure that the height of the ceiling of your reclaimed wood sauna does not exceed seven feet. Also cut out three areas for ventilation to keep airflow moving.
Sauna Door
You will want to make sure that you have measured out the space for the sauna door when you do the initial framing of your reclaimed wood sauna. A standard sauna door is two feet by six feet. Unless you need special accommodation keep with these measurements.
Building an outdoor reclaimed wood sauna will bring a lot of enjoyment to your family and will provide a place to relax! This is a very doable DIY project that does not require specialized skill.
Visit Rocky Mountain Reclaimed today to see all of the available reclaimed wood options!
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