Building your own sauna - what to consider

Many home and property owners would like to build their own sauna. Either sauna kits or selected raw materials are used for this purpose. The main aim of building your own sauna is to save costs but also to realise your own individual ideas for your future sauna.

The space requirements for the sauna are very varied. Firstly, it is important to consider how many simultaneous users a sauna is to be built for. While a small sauna for one or two people without an additional cooling room and relaxation room and without a plunge pool, changing room and anteroom only takes up a few square metres of space, a large sauna with all the associated additional rooms and facilities requires a little more space.

A basic decision is also made when deciding where to install the sauna. Should it be integrated into the rooms of the house or perhaps built as a separate house in the open air? These are important questions that also affect the construction of the sauna.

Suitable materials for building your own sauna

Basically, the interior of the sauna consists of a waterproof tiled floor,

In addition to the right materials, a sauna heater is the centrepiece of your sauna

A concrete floor, but also a tiled floor, is generally covered with wooden grating or wooden tiles, which must be cleaned and disinfected regularly. The wall panelling itself is known to be made of wood. It should be borne in mind that not all types of wood are equally suitable here.

Nordic spruce or fir, hemlock and other resin-free woods from good production and processing have proven to be favourable for sauna construction. It is important that the wood used in sauna construction is processed in such a way that it is installed with as little warping as possible. Appropriate thicknesses of the planks and boards must be observed. Absorbent materials such as aerated concrete, lightweight building blocks, plasterboard and other fibre composite panels, glued wood or so-called impregnated wood are not suitable for sauna construction. Thorough information must be obtained before purchasing.

Behind the inner panelling, which should be ventilated, comes the insulation, which is sealed by the barrier layer. Aluminium and copper foil are particularly suitable as barrier layers, which are applied here as a vapour barrier to the insulation layer. The thermal insulation itself can consist of all commercially available insulating materials that are heat-resistant, non-flammable, non-gassing and odourless. For indoor saunas, external panelling is not absolutely necessary; in outdoor areas, the sauna should also be clad on the outside with statically safe panelling made of suitable wood of the appropriate thickness.

Caution: The ceiling of the sauna should be open to diffusion, otherwise condensation will form. A suitable diffusion foil can be incorporated here. Otherwise, appropriate thermal insulation should also be provided at the top.

From an energy point of view, external windows should not be incorporated into the sweating room itself. A control window is only located in the sauna door, which is also made of wood, has a wooden handle and opens outwards. Locking systems are not permitted for a door on the sweat room.

Correct ventilation and air extraction

The correct arrangement of the ventilation opening is crucial for the right climate in the sweat room and for the smooth operation of the sauna heater. Ventilation takes place via a sufficiently large opening behind the sauna heater, slightly above floor level, which allows fresh air to enter. The ventilation opening is located approximately at the height of the upper row of seats and should also allow stale air to be discharged directly to the outside. Both openings are located on the opposite walls of the steam room.

You will find helpful information on the recommended dimensions of the ventilation openings, which are based on the size of the sweat room as well as the output of the various sauna heaters.

Without correct ventilation, the sauna will not function properly and, in addition to rot and mould in the sauna area, there may also be health hazards for sauna visitors, mainly due to a lack of oxygen.

Sauna equipment

The sauna heater itself is of course the most important piece of equipment in the sauna. Depending on the design of the sauna, we recommend placing the heater in a corner. This allows the heat to be distributed most evenly in the room. No wall panelling made of tiles, metal or similar materials should be placed near the heater, as these increase the heat radiation from one side in an unpleasant way. A wooden grille is recommended to protect visitors from accidentally touching the hot sauna heater. The sauna control unit is installed on the outside wall of the sauna, which controls the heater.

Use a foot tub to warm up your feet before a sauna session.

As a rule, wooden versions are also preferred for the water bucket and sauna ladle. Even if stainless steel buckets and ladles look very stylish, they can heat up very unpleasantly. The same applies to door handles and any handrails. The sauna benches themselves should of course be made of splinter-free, resin-free and cleanly smoothed wood of a suitable quality. Wood species such as birch, alder, lime or poplar can also be used.

If sauna stones are used, the quantity depends on the total volume of the sauna and, of course, on the stone capacity of the respective heater. It goes without saying that suitable materials must be used for sauna stones. Diorite, granite, basalt stones and gneiss are recommended. Other materials are unsuitable.

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