How to Build a Finland Sauna Cabin

A Finland sauna cabin would be a nice addition to complement anyone’s house. According to the Finnish Sauna Society, almost every Finn owns such a cabin at one of the tens of thousands of lakes that dot this northernmost European nation. For the Finns, sauna bathing is a way of life and a commitment to a healthy lifestyle.

A traditional Finnish sauna burns wood. The sauna bath house is usually located in a small cabin near a lake or river. In North America, most outdoor saunas are situated in the backyard and the shower has to suffice for the traditional swim in the lake. There are several options for recreating a Finnish outdoor bath house. A builder could build from scratch using plans that are readily available. The second and better option is sauna kits or pre-built sauna rooms that make construction of such a cabin a feasible project even for the novice home renovator.

The Western red cedar cabins from Mr. Sauna make construction of a Finnish sauna a snap. There are several designs to choose from and each bath house can be assembled with a few simple tools. No framing or insulating is required. These are completely self-contained home saunas with red cedar exterior walls. All that is needed for outdoor use is the addition of a roof and a wood burning sauna room heater to recreate the Finland style bathing experience.

Another self-contained cabin is the ThermaSol modular home sauna that comes with an electric heater. The western red cedar wall and ceiling panels are coded for easy assembly. The Finnish style bath house comes with pre-assembled benches, a pre-hung door and accessories such as a bucket and ladle. These cabins come in a variety of sizes and fit perfectly into the corner of a spare room in your house. With the addition of a roof, ThermaSol saunas could be set up on suitable flat surface in the backyard.

By Kevin Urban

Build a Home Sauna with Pre-Built Sauna Room Packages

Building your own home sauna from scratch can be an overwhelming project even for the experienced do-it-yourselfer. Sauna room packages make construction a snap as all the material for a complete sauna room can be ordered online and delivered to your door. Expect to spend from as little as one hour to 2 – 3 days assembling the sauna. It all depends on what type of package you order. Builders have a choice of pre-built saunas (also called modular sauna rooms) and kits. A kit is cheaper but more complex to assemble.

Modular packages can be assembled in as little as several hours. These are pre-built  sauna rooms  and construction is straightforward. The packaged material will come with detailed assembly instructions. Depending on the manufacturer, assembly sometimes consists of simply locking the cedar wall panels together and sliding the ceiling panels into place. Pre-assembled benches and pre-hung doors complete the sauna room. A licensed electrician should be hired to install the sauna room heater in compliance with the building code. Voila, enjoy! The modular sauna is up and ready for use!

Sauna kits are more complex to assemble than pre-built packages but considerably cheaper than pre-assembled modular saunas. Depending on the manufacturer, these kits can be supplied in red cedar, aspen, fir or poplar. A builder can custom design the entire room by choosing the type of sauna room heater (wood burning, electric, infrared), and accessories. These saunas can be built in any shape or size desired, so let your imagination go wild. It’s important to remember that these material kits are only for the inside of the sauna. The area needs to be properly prepared for the installation of the kit by building an insulated frame with outside paneling in place. The wiring and any plumbing should be installed professionally prior to ordering the custom sauna kit.

Have a look at our buying guide where we have listed a few manufacturers of modular sauna packages and precut kits to build the sauna room of your dreams.

By Kevin Urban

You Could Build Your Sauna Room Today

We have all heard about the wonders that staying for a few hours in a sauna can provide for the well-worn person. While there are many ways that you can enjoy these benefits of soaking the steam into your body the best way is to build sauna room units. You will be able to find different companies that will provide you with various sized pre-cut sauna rooms.

Some of these companies will also help you with the assembling of the sauna room that you need. You can also find various manuals and articles that will detail the process of how to build sauna rooms in your home. A few of these materials can be found on the internet and in other cases you can find books on building saunas at your local library and book shops.

The best way to build sauna rooms is to look for a good location for the sauna. The location of the sauna room is important for many reasons. One such reason is if it is outside, separate from the house, how likely is it that it will get used.

You can find the various items and materials that you need for the sauna from companies that supply water resistant wood. Often times you can find everything you need at your local Home Depot.

To build sauna rooms, the best type of wood that you can purchase and place within the sauna is that of Cedar wood. This wood is water repellent by nature and it is also stain resistant. You will also be able to clean the sauna once you have finished using it without any problems arising due to the wood not withstanding the clean.

Additionally you will need to locate stones that have the ability to withstand the constant heating and cooling that is needed in a sauna. Hence when you are purchasing these sauna stones to you should purchase good caliber Finnish stones. Finnish stone have a great reputation to withstand the heating elements.

The roof of the sauna should be high enough so that the heat will not press too much on you. You can make this roof level, which is about seven to eight feet, above the ground of the sauna. You will have to ensure that when you are about to build sauna shed that any metallic pieces are not showing or jutting outside into the sauna itself.

For the assorted inhabitants of the sauna you will need to provide long and wide benches. These benches should be connected to the walls in a way where you won’t have any problems with the benches moving aside.

The benches can be made to many different specs. There are benches that are long thin cuts with spaces in between each of them. They have solid flat benches. When it comes to the benches it is all a matter of preference. One thing I would suggest is to always have two benches at different levels. One of the main reasons is that the temperature level is different depending on what bench you are occupying.

Now, if all this sauna building seems to be to much you may feel less stress when you purchase a ready to assemble sauna. However, all the fun is in learning and building the sauna yourself.

By Bowe Packer

Building a Home Sauna Room From a Kit

We have all heard about the wonders that staying for a few hours in a sauna can provide for the well-worn person. While there are many ways that you can enjoy these benefits of soaking the steam into your body the best way is to build sauna room units. You will be able to find different companies that will provide you with various sized pre-cut sauna rooms.

Some of these companies will also help you with the assembling of  the sauna room  that you need. You can also find various manuals and articles that will detail the process of how to build sauna rooms in your home. A few of these materials can be found on the internet and in other cases you can find books on building saunas at your local library and book shops.

The best way to build sauna rooms is to look for a good location for the sauna. The location of the sauna room is important for many reasons. One such reason is if it is outside, separate from the house, how likely is it that it will get used.
You can find the various items and materials that you need for the sauna from companies that supply water resistant wood. Often times you can find everything you need at your local Home Depot.

To build sauna rooms, the best type of wood that you can purchase and place within the sauna is that of Cedar wood. This wood is water repellent by nature and it is also stain resistant. You will also be able to clean the sauna once you have finished using it without any problems arising due to the wood not withstanding the clean.

Additionally you will need to locate stones that have the ability to withstand the constant heating and cooling that is needed in a sauna. Hence when you are purchasing these sauna stones to you should purchase good caliber Finnish stones. Finnish stone have a great reputation to withstand the heating elements.

The roof of the sauna should be high enough so that the heat will not press too much on you. You can make this roof level, which is about seven to eight feet, above the ground of the sauna. You will have to ensure that when you are about to build sauna shed that any metallic pieces are not showing or jutting outside into the sauna itself.

For the assorted inhabitants of the sauna you will need to provide long and wide benches. These benches should be connected to the walls in a way where you won’t have any problems with the benches moving aside.

The benches can be made to many different specs. There are benches that are long thin cuts with spaces in between each of them. They have solid flat benches. When it comes to the benches it is all a matter of preference. One thing I would suggest is to always have two benches at different levels. One of the main reasons is that the temperature level is different depending on what bench you are occupying.

Now, if all this sauna building seems to be to much you may feel less stress when you purchase a ready to assemble sauna. However, all the fun is in learning and building the sauna yourself.

By Bowe Packer

What to Know About Steam Shower Doors

Steam shower doors are made for the purpose of keeping the steam, generated from a steam shower generator, within the steam shower enclosure. For experiencing the real pleasure of a steam shower, it must be ensured that the steam is not escaping from the steam shower enclosure. To achieve this very purpose, it must be ensured that the doors should reach up to the ceiling of the steam room and should be sealed with the walls of the steam room, just like a weather stripping.

If you are handy you could do it yourself or get a professional to do it for you. A specialist in this area can suggest the right options and will produce a customized door made especially for your steam room. If your are purchasing a ready made home steam room, then you will get your shower doors already attached to your home steam room that is completely vapor proof. You only need to ensure that it covers all of the specifications, the steam doors should have. But if you have decided to build your own elclosure then you will have to get customized doors from a reliable source.

If you have hired a contractor to build your steam shower room, then be prepared to notify him of the responsibility to provide a completely vapor proof steam doors. There are two things to keep in mind while talking about the design of the doors, which are termed as: layout & style. For an instance, a style can have simply a single door or can have additional panels attached to the same shower doors.

While choosing the steam shower doors, you have many criteria on which you can select your own doors. Manufacturers of the units produce doors having different designs and colors. Additionally, you can select your unit based on their finishes like, silver bright-anodized finishes, gold finishes and white powder coat finishes. You can also adore your shower with different styles and colors of glass. You can also choose different transparency for your glass that include deco, clear and obscure. You can select your doors to be either the hinged ones or the swinging ones. You can also make use of some vinyl seals that not only works as a good seal for the steam shower doors but also enhances the beauty of the area.

By Victor D Williams

How to Make a Shower Pan - With No Leaks

Here’s the real story. Shower floors leak. Water goes right through the groud and even the tile. If you want to build a tile shower then you or someone must know how to make a shower room pan. That liner is the key to a leak proof shower. Trouble is, it’s hidden. Here’s what you can’t see.

From the ground up…

Well, maybe not the ground, but the sub-floor or the concrete base. See, you start a shower pan from the bottom and build up. The base is tricky. See, if the base moves, guess what? The floor cracks. Masonry, including the tile grout, won’t stand movement. Make the base rigid to start.

Then the slope…

Over the base, which is usually covered with felt, goes a layer of sloped mortar. It’s called deck mud. It’s a special blend of water, cement and sand. It’s sloped just right to send water to the drain. Then comes the trick…

The membrane to drain…

The real trick to the pan is the waterproof liner. It’s a vinyl sheet that’s folded and glued just so, right over the sloped mortar. The liner forms a waterproof pool that’s built into the floor. The drain is tricky too, but that’s another story.

More mud…

Above the liner goes the mortar base that the tile is installed over. It gets sloped too and it sometimes gets a layer of reinforcing wire. Know why? To make sure it’s stable and not moving at all.

Is there an easier way?

Building a shower pan is really quite simple. But it surely isn’t easy. There are some real tricks. Get it wrong and it’s disaster. What about another way? Here’s the deal. Kerdi makes a shower room liner kit that eliminates all the mud work. How does that sound? You also have an option to build shower benches and even custom shower sizes too. All with no skilled mortar work involved.

If you want to see how to make a shower pan the way many pros do it, check out the Kerdi system.

Custom Steam Rooms and Steam Showers

In the past ten years steam showers and steam rooms have become more common place in the average north American home especially in colder climates. A steam shower is a sealed shower room that has a steam generator connected to it working as both a home steam room and a shower. When it comes to steam showers many people opt to buy the all inclusive modular steam showers which can have a whirlpool bathtub attached at the bottom and come with a built in steam generator over head shower and many are fitted with extras like radios and telephones. Although the modular steam showers are very popular most home buyers are impressed with custom steam showers.

When building a custom steam shower there are many building materials that can affect the size of the steam generator you will need. It is best to call a reputable company to get some expert advice on choosing the generator that will work best for your needs. There are many brands of steam generators on the market however Mr.steam generators are the ones that we have has the most success with. They have a wide range of add-ons that can be both beneficial to your health and the value of your home.

Custom steam showers can be hard to design. It’s a good idea to research different styles online to get an idea of what fixtures and building materials you would like to construct your shower out of. You will also need to know what you are going to build your shower enclosures out of before deciding what size steam generator you will need. Different building materials such as stone and tile have different insulation properties making some materials more suitable for steam room design.There are also many other features that a typical steam room usually has built into them. Chromo therapy lights which are used for light therapy are a very popular addition found in many steam rooms. Aromatherapy is also a very good additional to any steam shower. This allows you to use essential oils such as eucalyptus to further the health benefits that a steam room can provide.

When it comes to fixtures in your steam room,there is an infinite amount of choices to choose from. Some steam showers can just have the standard shower fixtures however when building a custom steam room many buyers go with luxury shower fixtures. This can be a shower panel with body jets or a fully integrated system that has electronic controls.

When designing a custom steam shower your first step is to price your budget for the project. Since these systems can become very expensive its best to plan everything out with your builder before making any final decisions. It is very easy to go over budget when designing a customer steam shower enclosure. By designing it with your builder this will eliminate any surprises that would arise that you the home owner wouldn’t foresee. Owning a steam shower will not only improve your health but will also make your home more valuable and appealing to potential buyers.

Building a Steam Shower - Steam Shower Construction Tips

Home shower steams are a hot item these days. A big obstacle for many people is the cost it takes to purchase one.

Building your own steam shower is a cheaper alternative, but before you grab your toolbox…

You don’t have to be Bob Vila to do it, but there are certain tasks are important to successfully build a steam shower. Unless you have the necessary skills, be prepared to work closely with a plumber and an electrician.

Among other things, the following three tasks are a necessary part of your checklist:

• Install a steam shower generator
• Purchase a special door to seal it
•  Cover the roof of the enclosure

The last two steps are particularly important because steam will wreak havoc if it’s able to escape the enclosure. It will cause damage to drywall, paint, and wallpaper. Not to mention the rotting problems that you’ll have to deal with.

Huge headache.

Covering It Up

A couple of good options for this step are to purchase an acrylic dome top or a cover made of fiberglass or stainless steel.

Whatever you choose, consider a sloped or curved ceiling. This isn’t necessary, but…

If the ceiling is flat, condensed water will constantly drip straight down.

I’ve used steam enclosures with flat ceilings. It seemed that whenever I was slipping into a peaceful state, I would get hit in the eye with a drop of water!

If there’s a slope, you won’t have to worry about that because water will run down the sides.

Use A Vapor Tight Door

If you’re going to prevent steam from escaping your steam shower enclosure, a vapor-tight door is crucial. Shower doors are sold in many different styles and colors.

Install A Steam Shower Generator

Without a steam generator, well… You can’t build a steam shower. The steam generator’s job is to produce water vapor (steam). It’s what will add the steam to your shower.

You can’t buy just any steam generator though! It needs to be the correct size. No worries - dealers do provide help in choosing the right model for your situation.

Depending on your handyman skills, you’ll need to have a plumber and electrician to make connections. In fact, your warranty could be voided if you don’t hire credentialed professionals for the job.

This article outlines just three steps needed for building a steam shower, but you will definitely need to do your homework to learn how to build a steam shower that works. It’s very doable, but you need to make sure you have all your bases covered first to ensure a successful project.