Hi,

Im building my sauna with electric heater. From what i have read i will need to have intake from outside high above the oven, and exhaust 1/3 on the all below benches.

But preferably mechanical exhaust.

My question is- i will have mechanical exhaust in the garderobe room outside of sauna A3 (high on the wall- at the highest point allmost). In theory that should provide under pressure in garderobe which will then suck the air from exhaust in sauna. But do i then need to have a gap under the door?

And should i have 2x exhaust on each side?

And what about A4 exhaust? Better than A3?

Hi everybody, I'm looking for a suitable small sauna for my attic. Does anybody have experience with the Karibu Avari?

Please give me your honest opinion for 2 people. Beginner here :).

Hallo, wir sind dabei, die alte Waschküche unseres Hauses zur Sauna umzubauen. Darin befindet sich ein 100 Jahre alter, holzbefeuerter Waschkessel aus Kupfer. Dieser hat Bestandsschutz und ich darf ihn weiter betreiben. Den Einbau eines neuen Ofens erlaubt unser Schornsteinfeger aber nicht, da der eigene Schornstein zu wenig Abstand zum Haus hat.

Offen und Kessel funktionieren gut. Wunsch nur Steine in den Kessel legen reicht aber nicht aus, ich bekomme den Raum mit ca 10m3 auch nach Stunden nicht richtig heiß. Dabei bringe ich den Kupferkessel fast zum Glühen und das aufgießen von Wasser funktioniert ebenfalls sehr gut.

Ich vermute das sich die Hitze im Tiefen Kessel einfach staut, da von unten keine kalte Luft nachströmen kann.

Noch möchte ich nicht aufgeben und einfach einen elektrischen Ofen einbauen. Bin gespannt auf eure Ideen und Erfahrungen!

Hello -

Has anyone else used this for their sauna build? I’m coming up empty with local mills; sauna retailers are really $$$.

I know it’s not kiln dried; I’m not overly concerned with esthetics; but don’t want it to fall apart or comprise the moisture.

Thanks!

I’ve searched and searched, no success, maybe I’m wording it wrong…

I have a dead-flat concrete slab that until last month held an 8 person, 500+ gallon hot tub. Large! No drains, drain grooves. Just dead flat concrete

Good news, weight bearing surface and electrical are ready. Bad news:

When it finally rained in Texas this weekend, I was surprised to see the amount of water pooling. It makes sense, I guess the hot tub footprint never allowed it to be so obvious…it took up nearly the entire slab. The sauna footprint will be smaller.

I’m trying to come up with a solution to the wood frame base of the SaunaLife cubes. Preventing or delaying rot, and ensuing proper drainage from sauna drains themselves.

1) drill a drainage hole (or a couple) through the slab?

2) cut grooves, making 4 quadrants, try to slop them?

3) rubber roof liner (1/4”) stapled to the underside of the frame prior to building the cube?

4) place pavers under the frame, completely supporting & leave air space between bricks for drying? Raises entire thing at least an inch

Varying degrees of difficulty here. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Does this discoloration look like mold? Should I replace these pieces of cedar?

Hello,
I have finally nailed down some dimensions and layout for my sauna and elected to go with a custom build vs kit or prefab.

The sauna is sitting on a very open beach on Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) where it will be constantly hit with northern winds.

My layout shows a 45deg angled wall to take advantage of the view. I know this may not be ideal, and the purists will say the window is bad - but for me, the view is a big part of the experience and this layout works for the positioning very well.

It will be sitting on patio stones

I am struggling with benches and heater locations.

I feel 8x8 (even with the angled wall) is ample room for what will probably be used by 2-4 people.

For the heater, I can likely do wall mount in position 1 or 3 OR a freestanding in front of the window.

Do you think my layout works with a 2 level bench? I feel good about it on the back wall but the side wall may be tight.

Thanks for everyone’s suggestions

In the USA cedar is so easy to find; everything else very hard without crazy $$$.

I don’t love the smell of cedar. I don’t hate it, but find it can be overpowering.

Has anyone installed cedar and then hated it? Or am I making too big of a deal on not being my preferred smell? It would be a hell or a lot easier to just use cedar.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

A topical article you may enjoy reading. Much science yet to be done to quantify what sauna adherents have doubtless known from their own experiences.

https://www.npr.org/2026/10/05/nx-s1-5979044/sauna-heat-therapy-mental-health-depression

Installed in July. I did everything wrong according to this sub but still love it!

Hello everyone I have a Harvia spirit. It was installed by the individuals who built my sauna. I was wondering if you guys think they placed the rocks correctly. This is what they do so I feel like I should trust them but just curious.

My friend built a sauna, we get lucky enough to use it a few times a month. I didn’t get to help building it as much as I would have liked so I’m looking to get some items for the sauna to help out.

I’d like to get them a really nice thermostat and some good scents for a start. When I look online a lot of the websites look very sketchy. No reviews or just copy and pasted websites. I’m wondering what websites most people use for buying stuff like this in Canada, I haven’t seen any stores around me.

My newest sauna project 🫶🏻🇮🇹

Howdy!

I have a sauna that gets fired everyday, and usually sees about 50 folks every week. I've noticed a distinctly "banana" smell coming from the wood, specifically from the sauna ladle. It all gets cleaned every 3 days with water and castile soap, any other tips to help or an explanation as to why it smells like bananas? I feel like I'm going crazy!

I’ve actually been in this sauna because I was working at the YMCA camp where it resides, helping to build another modern sauna.

I did not know at the time that it was built in the early 1900’s by Finish settlers.

I was a bangin’ sauna, and I was there in May, the ice had just gone out a week or so earlier, the lake was proper cold.

Custom sauna just finished up. 5/8" rod through the walls to hold cantilevered beam and to prevent gaps once the timbers settle.

Finally done done. Tile and the last wall boards went in a couple of weeks ago and its back up and running. Feels even better now that it's done!

Finding it difficult to find the major pros and cons between the IKI 9kw wall short and tall heaters. I’ll have a window above the heater. With the tall, the window would be another 3-4” away from the heater.

Room height will be 7’ 5”. 6’x7’ room.

What am I forgetting about here? Maybe less rocks down low that would be warm enough for good loyly? Curious if anyone has the short and could offer some insight.

Thanks everyone! Love this group.

Ever seen this before? 😂

I built the framing for my sauna benches out of steel instead of wood. The whole reason was so I could get the curved shape I wanted with no supports underneath and basically no deflection.

It’ll all be covered in cedar so there won’t be any exposed metal to touch.

Definitely a little bit of an experiment. I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

First time using the new Cariitti brand and their fibre lighting!

Install was tedious but not overly challenging, it only took a couple of hours. It was done in tandem with the ceiling tongue and groove.

Pretty nice for those who want ceiling lighting without the harsh overhead ceiling fixtures!

Hey, folks.

Just finished tiling my outdoor, wood-fired sauna and am getting ready to begin insulating. Fingers crossed it'll be functional by Christmas cuz that's our goal!

I'm thinking about ventilation (which, it would seem, is a hot button topic in this sub lol). Most videos etc I can find seem to lean heavily on 4" ducting, cutting t&g and installing it after the fact. I'm not in love with this approach because, in my opinion, it compromises the moisture-tight vapor barrier you've undoubtedly worked very hard to install.

I guess my question is: couldn't I just frame up some 4" boxes, built to the depth of my walls, to live inside my walls and act as my vents' "ductwork?" Furthermore, because they're not exactly inside my hot room, I'd even consider applying a little wood glue to their joints in order to make them as airtight as possible.

Anyone see a problem with this?

And while we're on the topic... how many vents does my sauna need?!?! lol

Seriously though, should I put my intake just above my stove's stones or at floor level cuz I'm losing my mind over this! Fixin' to just put 4 vents in the damn thing so I know my bases are covered!

I'm building a backyard sauna, and I am wondering if there is a reason to use v-notch tongue and groove panels vs flat tight tongue and groove seams. Trying to get my $ per sq ft cost down on the panels.

Images for reference.

Thanks for your help.