Home DIY

It may be a bit different cos 'murica, but I remember MTB youtubers Syd and Macky recently built one in their house.

I once had a chat with the guy who runs the Finnish Sauna in that church in Rotherhithe (top recommendation btw, it can be hired for relatively cheap: https://lontoo.merimieskirkko.fi/the-finnish-church-in-london/) and I asked him why more people in the UK didn't have home saunas like in Finland, and he said it was a planning/building control issue that prevented most people who wanted to from putting one in - you might want to make sure that whatever you're planning is within the regs.

Yeah - there were quite a few, this made sense to me: https://www.saunafin.com/blog/sauna-kits/how-to-build-sauna-kit-guide/

This guy's recent video looks pretty helpful for the actual build up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Cj9q00nJA&ab_channel=JohnThain

In my head, i thought some non-flammable insulation in the framing, followed by a vapour barrier and then cedar/larch/pine cladding would work well to be reasonably insulated and mean heat-up speeds were good. I'd imagine that'd make sense for a basement too (depending how outdoor-ey your basement is).

When I was house buying I viewed a property with a home sauna in the garden.

It wasn't on the property details and neither myself nor the estate agent knew it was there so came as a bit of a surprise to follow the chunky electric cable they had running up the middle of the garden (I strongly suspect there was no approval for that) to discover a sauna.

Also interested in this.
Sauna util room combo?

Thanks. Sounds reasonable.

As breeze block and insulations seems just needs a vapor barrier foil and cladding.

A friend bought a house with a sauna. And a hot tub and pool. Shortly after they moved in I was round for a pool party and the sauna stopped working. Borrowed a screwdriver and had a look to find the heater (20-30A) was controlled with a normal light switch (6A maybe?). The wrong wood had been used and when it heated up it started to drip sap. Hot tub turned out to be full of something nasty and had to be condemned. Pool itself was okay although the flue from the boiler was leaking, fortunately in a drafty shed.

Isn't sauna shower more common? Or is that a steam shower room?

I asked him why more people in the UK didn't have home saunas like in Finland, and he said it was a planning/building control issue that prevented most people who wanted to from putting one in

That and the materials and know-how to build one without killing the occupants / creating an unholy mess, and meeting the regs aren't readily available at a price folks are willing to pay.

I can't see how fabricating an electric sauna is a difficult thing. Just a 220v electric item in a wooden room. No water. Nothing dangerous. Sure, a real fire one is a bit different.

This is what i thought - the only potential complication is cable sizing to your location - depending on the size of your heater

Is it? I absolutely love steam rooms and they really help with my minor respiratory issues...

I stayed in a place in Romania on a trip we no longer talk about which had a sauna in the garage which looked like 2 kebab shop heaters plugged into a shed with a car stereo on the outside.
It wasn't horrific and no one died.
Same cant be said about the trip (although no one did fully die, just a bit inside).

I can't see how fabricating an electric sauna is a difficult thing.

You underestimate, I suspect. Or perhaps overestimate the ability of the folks who would put themselves forward to build such things at prices consumers would accept.

A friend bought a house with a sauna. And a hot tub and pool. Shortly after they moved in I was round for a pool party and the sauna stopped working. Borrowed a screwdriver and had a look to find the heater (20-30A) was controlled with a normal light switch (6A maybe?). The wrong wood had been used and when it heated up it started to drip sap. Hot tub turned out to be full of something nasty and had to be condemned. Pool itself was okay although the flue from the boiler was leaking, fortunately in a drafty shed.

I take no responsibility for others idiocy.
But I'm sure I can source some nice pine or cedar and hire an electrician to run a three phases from the fuse box to the basement.

Sounds like my time in Romania.

No idea if they are any good but if you have bit of space and cash you can get a standalone steam shower enclosure which looks a bit like a fancy shower but also has a steam generator and a seat or two. Eg https://victoriaplum.com/product/insignia-premium-black-framed-twin-steam-shower-cabin-1400-x-900

You have 3 phase in your house? Most UK installations are single phase.

I'm in Spain. But actually not three phase, just figured it might be needed. I did enquire on such for fitting a kiln for my wife.

In Spain, innit.

My godfather in France has a sauna which he built himself back in the day.

It's next to his bathroom at the top of the stairs. /csb

Been making good where we had to remove some boxing to replace a water supply pipe. Kind of surprised how not terrible it looks so far considering how pissed the boarding is and how horrible the easyfill was to apply. Skirting now fixed to a batton with spacers to account for the wobbly boards and today I fixed another batton and easy-filled the gap.

How best to finish the remaining gap? Bit too big for caulk alone in places. I'm thinking sand, fine surface filler and maybe a notched board I can run along the top of the skirting to bring it roughly level. Remove board, sand, refit and caulk.

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Fibacryl in a tube is quite a good option. I would probably put some caulk saver foam 'sticks' in first and the Fibacryl likes to shrink so you need to let it dry and apply a second time. You don't really want to sand it much as it's rubbery.

https://www.toolstation.com/toupret-fibacryl-flexible-filler/p40082?utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&mkwid=_dc&pcrid=&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_5unBhCMARIsACZyzS1HR_WhKuEgT-TSNrCgMS0HrDrrXuqeSXpekcle23ngqlOnKXCcqTAaAtvoEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewprod/f/FOSSA_CAULK_SAVER_6_METER_ROLL/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw_5unBhCMARIsACZyzS0zEDGDYuR2tDD-bi8FuBrGZLiV7R_iGjl6H8JWaEMyRAvgefFYpsoaAqAREALw_wcB

You don't really want to sand it much as it's rubbery.

I found that out unfortunately after for some reason thinking it would sand. It also exposes the fibres in it if you try to. Brilliant otherwise though.

No clamp hack!

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