First听we roasted sausages over an open fire听next to a lake. At dusk听it was time for the sauna听(the only Finnish word in the English dictionary). I had no clue what I was doing, so I followed the Finns. I was 18, had just graduated from high school, and had flown to Finland to visit Hanna, an exchange student who鈥檇 lived with my family in California a few years prior.
We piled into a wooden shack听heated by burning wood, with way too many people naked under towels. The sweat began to drip down my face, and I could feel my entire body relaxing in the dry heat. Soon听we rushed outside and bolted to the lake for a cold plunge. Then back to the heat. This was repeated for hours. And that was my official introduction to saunas. I鈥檝e loved them ever since.
For me, saunas are most enjoyable when you鈥檝e spent all day outside. After skiing or听biking in the cold, nothing beats a hot, dry sweat. The听medical benefits of saunas are disputed, but I find it鈥檚 more of a social occasion. Take a backcountry hut trip in Canada or visit an off-the-grid lodge in Big Sur, California, and you鈥檒l be treated to the weird luxury that is sweating in a confined space with others. But can you re-create that at home? You bet.听I called up a few friends who have听brought the beloved Finnish tradition to their own backyards for tips on how you can do it,听too.
A Kit Versus DIY
It鈥檚 considerably easier to buy a premade sauna kit than to build one from scratch. You can find kits to convert a spare room or a large closet in your house, or听you can听install a prefabricated, freestanding sauna in your backyard. The North American Sauna Society (yep, that鈥檚 a thing) has a听 across the U.S. and Canada. You can even buy easy-to-install options at听 or听for as low as $1,000.听 has Scandinavian-style outdoor barrel saunas (from $4,099) that can be put together in four hours, or check out the cabin and barrel sauna offerings from听. For something more eccentric, , run by a Canadian named Mika Sihvo听whose family hails from Finland, builds custom saunas (from $11,290) on trailers so you can take them on the road.
But听let鈥檚 say you want to do it yourself and create a unique, individualized sauna space. Where do you begin?
Pick a Location and a Size
You can鈥檛 just听put a sauna听anywhere. You need level ground and enough room to build a box about seven feet high and at least six feet wide. 鈥淚 prioritized view over all else,鈥 says Ben Christensen, who works in fly-fishing and built a sauna at his home in Bozeman, Montana. 鈥淗aving it a good distance from the house is also comforting if you鈥檙e using a wood-burning stove as your heat source. It keeps the fire hazard away from the main structure.鈥
Plan on making the building at least four feet by six feet听to fit two or three people, or bigger if you want more company. 鈥淚 wanted my sauna to be a social space, so I went pretty big鈥攊t鈥檚 about 10 by 12 feet,鈥 says Eben Mond, a ski coach in听Silver Plume, Colorado, who built听one听in his front yard. 鈥淲e maxed it out with 17 people once.鈥
Select Your Materials
Most people build saunas out of 鈥攕ince it can handle moisture, it will last longer. But it鈥檚 also quite pricey. Mond went with what he had. 鈥淚n Colorado, beetle kill pine is the cheapest wood you can get locally,鈥 he says. He found some rough-cut pine and got it milled.
You鈥檒l need to pour a concrete foundation, then frame the walls and roof鈥攈ire a builder if you need help here. The floor can be tile, concrete, or wood. The North American Sauna Society building a drain for easier cleaning. For insulation, it听advises using standard fiberglass听and an 听along the walls and ceilings.
鈥淒on鈥檛 skimp on insulation,鈥 says Christensen. He used cedar siding on the outside and cedar tongue and groove on the inside. 鈥淭he wood is听a bit more expensive, but it smells great and is naturally rot resistant. For the other building materials, we used a lot of leftover wood from other projects, including all of the decking.鈥
For the wood on the interior, Christensen says to opt for 100 percent clear-grain wood鈥攁s in no knots. 鈥淲hen the sauna heats up, the knots in the wood get especially hot and can be a bit uncomfortable against your skin,鈥 he says.
Check out this ($20) for specific guidelines on building.
Add Your Own Design Elements
Mond wanted windows so he could enjoy the view:听鈥淓veryone who comes to my sauna says, 鈥業t鈥檚 nice to see outside.鈥欌 Use double-paned glass, he says, and keep it听away from the heat source. (Mond鈥檚 windows are 24 inches from his stove.) He also added two doors鈥攐ne on each side鈥攆or ample ventilation and easy access, and听a spacious bench along one side of the sauna that fits eight people comfortably.
鈥淲e designed the ceiling pitch so it鈥檚 lower by the heat source and higher where we sit,鈥 Christensen says. 鈥淭hat causes the warm air to circulate up toward us, and when you throw water on the hot rocks, it gives you a major blast of heat right in the face鈥攚hich is a good thing.鈥
Having a source of cold water nearby is a good touch. 鈥淲e had an old claw-foot bathtub that we set into the hillside adjacent to the sauna deck,鈥 Christensen says. 鈥淲e fill it off of a hose and use it as a little dunk tank.鈥
Choose a Heat Source
You can choose between wood, gas, electric, or infrared. Most sauna purists will say wood-burning is the way to go. Christensen scored an old barrel wood-burning stove from a local; Mond bought a woodstove on Craigslist. 鈥淔or me听it was all about the kind of vibe I wanted in the sauna,鈥 Mond says. 鈥淚 was going for the 鈥榳e鈥檙e on a hut trip in the mountains鈥 feel, and that means burning wood.鈥 It gets really hot鈥攁round 150 degrees鈥攂ut it takes him hours to heat the space up, and he has to manually stoke the fire while he鈥檚 in there.
Electric and gas saunas are easier to maintain and quicker to heat but not quite as charming. Infrared heaters are the most efficient, as they heat up quickly and use considerably less electricity. Almost Heaven sells听 designed for saunas.
Total Cost
Using repurposed materials and local wood, Mond estimates he built his sauna for around $2,000. Christensen found double-pane windows and a solid oak door at a ,听and his build cost closer to $10,000, including hiring a contractor to help build a platform.
Once your sauna is up and running, there鈥檚 nothing left to do but crank it up, invite some friends over,听and sweat it out.