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I have a little sauna in my garage that I can sit in but was thinking of building a bigger one so I had room to lie down/lounge about in.
I had a quick look at some ready made kits and they range from £5,000 - £15,000 which is a little more than I am willing to pay for and extra couple of feet of space.
My little sauna appears to be 4 double skinned wooden panels with insulation between them held in place by the roof and floor panels. The heater unit is a glorified kettle element and there is a wooden bench to sit on.
I don't see £5,000 worth of material there. Anything I should know before I knock up an 8ft x 10ft sauna behind the garage?
Do I need planning permission for a heated garden shed?
I'd though the same as you, couldn't see where the costs are.
Not sure of PP, as mine will just go in one of my outhouses.
WCA naked in a home made wooden box with a BFO electrical heating element and water... this thread has sooo much potential.
I have a little sauna in my garage that I can sit in but was thinking of building a bigger one so I had room to lie down/lounge about in [s]when we invite the neighbours round for dinner parties[/s]
Sorry wca , i couldn't resist. If you are building it i'd get a mate with some electrical knowledge to sign off on the glorified kettle element and associated wiring. I'd say go for it - a home sauna is fantastic.
A mate had one built in his garden in the shape of a snails shell, (nautilus or spiral design) with a central wood burning stove and a pully system for dribbling water onto a hotplate - it used to be great after a long party weekend at the house as it could accommodate at least a dozen folk (his house was run an artist's retreat/commune type affair by his parents) and it felt fantastic in the winter to sweat the weekend out and then jump in the sunken plunge pool at the door then run back into the sauna before the water froze you - throw some pine needles or suchlike onto the stove hotplate and the smell that permeated the air was amazing and cleared your head in seconds.
I miss that house......and the parties..... 😉
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Some useful advice here http://www.greatsaunas.com/plans/build_sauna.cfm
We are about to build one in brick and create a natural swimming pool next to it. We have been planning it for a couple of years. looking to incorporate a log burning stove. the plan was to start in march but i crashed and am only now fit enough to get on with it. I will not be spending much as i am a tight git. material costs and mini digger costs really.
Think carefully about the wood burner - very romantic but 1.5-2 hours warming up before each sauna instead of 15-30 minutes for electric.
The wood burning one I have used in Sweden took about 45 minutes to get really hot. If you do go down this route prepare yourself for very hot saunas, we just went outside and rolled in the snow about every 15 minutes.
trouble s it is a free-bee and we have a wood, so loads of fuel. it is going to be used loads as it will also be part of a stone stable/ coach house we have turned into a bike workshop/ man cave.
we will look for the electric type now off your advice, cheers.
the idea is we can ride straight of the fell into the mancave, stroll through the outside heated shower, into the sauna, then take a plunge in the pool. All without messing the main house up. |Next to the pool is the patio with pizza oven/ bbq and there is even an outside toilet for the ladies!
Some useful advice here http://www.greatsaunas.com/plans/build_sauna.cfm
Sensible info in general but I disagree about floor drain being optional. Heavy water throwing can get the stove so cool that not all water will vaporize. But your habits may be different, I only know who we do it here in F-land.
Oh and the difference between wood and electronic stove is not only the warming up time, it's mostly about the air circulation as the wood burning stove will draw some air to stove unlike electronic one. Typically the best sauna experience is in old wooden ones which have enough air circulation and not too much insulation.