The word “sauna” is toasty in the dead winters, as the snowflakes start whirling and the temperature stays below zero. The idea of having a wooden heated sauna right in the mid of your place seems quite tempting to resist.
Everybody wants their house as a place that can endow with a maximum level of level. Installation of a sauna at your place is one of the easiest and best solutions. But if you don’t plan it properly, you will be facing huge trouble in the future. So you need to do proper planning and research before building a sauna in your home. Else what has been aimed for the comfort purpose will turn into a source of mess. And the difference between these two points is very slight; therefore don’t go the wrong way to get maximum out of your great choice.
You can find a good deal if anyone puts traditional sauna for sale. Installation of sauna inside the home is a big undertaking, and you have to go through ample of decisions to make. Whether you need a sauna for your home or cabin outside the place, there are some very important things to consider before installing a sauna in your home. Let’s move directly to the list, shall we?
Available space at your home
Saunas are usually removable structures; they are designed to fine in houses of average capacity. Though, even a single person sauna can acquire unnecessary place and change the look of that place. Here you may think of installing sauna outdoor but this is not the right solution. The saunas that are installed outdoor need durable material that ensures the weather conditions. And the budget will exceed in such cases.
If you have a limited budget, you should go with the indoor sauna cabin installation. You can use your basement as a sauna place, but you need to clean it as basements are mostly used as storerooms.
Know material options
You can use softwood, for example, hemlock and spruce; but cedar could be the classic choice because this wood has a pleasant fragrance and doesn’t absorb excess heat. Some people like to go with concrete, marble and some other substance for their sauna floor.
Need a Floor Drain?
People don’t consider the need to drain at the time of sauna installation; somewhat it’s a fact that floor drain isn’t an absolute necessity. If you don’t splash water around your sauna, there is no need for drainage. There are lots of reasons to install a floor drain in the sauna. This will help you in cleaning the sauna much easier. You can wash your sauna with tap water. In the sauna you bring water buckets, maybe someday the water will be all over the sauna floor.
Whereas some people like to shower inside the sauna room and in this case there must be a proper drainage system. If you have a separate bathing room beside the sauna, make sure it must be warm too.
Size of the Sauna
This is you who need to finalize before installation what is the purpose of building a sauna? Are you going to use it alone, or with a partner or you are planning to host some guests over there? You should plan the sauna’s size that how many people can be able to use the place at once.
And what you want to so in the sauna, you just want to sit there or plan to lie down? And if you have someone else inside the sauna, is he/she also lie down? All these points should be clarified earlier so you can put the benches around it mannerly.
Vent placement
Ideally, you need two vents in the sauna, so plan the design accordingly. You need one vent near to your heater and the other one to intake vent below or opposite to the sauna close to the ceiling. The fresh air coming close to the heater placed can supply appropriate oxygen to the woods burring in the stove.
These vents are very important to maintain the air, heat, and moisture in the sauna; and make sure the presence of breathable air inside the room. This method is also required to keep your sauna clean and dry between uses. This ventilation is so important that I suggest you hire a professional who can plan a ventilation system that could be best suited for your place.
Natural light
Sauna’s windows are usually small, but they must be wider to get natural light as this is the perfect way to bring light inside the sauna room. And this can also help you in ventilation, so keep in mind when designing your sauna.
Control panels & Heaters
There is state of the art heaters and panels claimed to offer intuitive user manuals. You can see the temperature, humidity level, warming up phase, time at once. The ventilation system and wood used in the sauna; it’s the heaters and control panels that are responsible to maintain the required climate inside your sauna. You should surround your sauna heater by the protective case and make sure that nobody can burn themselves.
The temperature should not exceed 100°C outdoor.
The door of the Sauna
Make sure that your sauna door opens outwards for safety reasons. If you want to install a glass door for safety reasons; it should be of shatterproof glass. But if the glass or other material has worse insulation properties, your heater size might get affected. Inside the wooden door handle can be a good option to protect against burns.
Traditionally the door is made of wood; make sure there is some gap between the floor and the door. This is nothing but for ventilation purposes.
Nailheads conduct heat
If you have the plan to install sauna by yourself, keep one small thing in mind that nail heads often conduct heat perfectly. So there shouldn’t be any exposed nail head on the seats, floors or wall. And if you find some, don’t try to touch it in the hot sauna. Anyways, if you know how to install a sauna, keep working on it, but if you have any ambiguity in building that place you might end up harming yourself or the sauna or both.
Conclusion
You must get a bit of expert advice because when there comes wet space with heat or electricity, one must be very careful. If you have to install an electric heater in the sauna, let the electrician do this work.
Well, there are many sauna kits available in the marketplace, which can help you in building your sauna quite conveniently. Better do research work and this can help you out in figuring out what should be done before installing a sauna in your home.
