Are you thinking about building your own DIY sauna?

How hard can it be? A bit of wood here, install a heater there, make sure you’ve got the proper ventilation. Surely, it’s pretty easy, right?

It’s definitely possible to build your own DIY sauna. However, it’s a little more complicated than just gathering wood and materials. You can choose to get a pre-made sauna kit and assemble it or salvage materials and construct one from the ground up.

So how do you get started creating your own DIY sauna? Are there particular types of wood you need? Should it go inside or outside? Instead of wandering around the hardware store, get all the answers you need about DIY saunas below.

How Do You Build a Sauna?

If you’re looking to build a sauna from scratch, you’re going to want to start with setting up the frame. You should use timber instead of metal and ensure you leave enough room for ventilation, the door, the heater, and your benches.

Next, insulate the frame and the ceiling. Polyester insulation should work, but you can use your preferred material too. You should also wrap the interior with aluminum foil with the silver side facing into the sauna.

Batten down the sauna walls and ceiling and clad the interior with cedar. Make sure to cut some spaces for the vents, lighting, heater, and thermostat sensor cables. Not all of these are absolutely necessary. It’s up to you what you want to include inside your DIY sauna.

Now you’ll want to build your benches. This is best built separately and then installed into the sauna. You should place your door now too. Make sure that it swings outwards and has a window, so no one has to knock to see if anyone is using it.

Finally, put in your heater and lighting. You can also add any other finishing touches like backrests or floor mats. That’s basically how you build a sauna from scratch.

What Materials Do You Need to Build a Sauna?

Thankfully, building a DIY sauna doesn’t require making big decisions over the types of materials available to you. The wood you’ll want to use to create your DIY sauna is going to be cedar. It’s flexible and doesn’t get damaged by moisture or extreme heat. It’s also anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.

What Type of Heater Do You Need for a Sauna?

The other big decision is your sauna heater. There are three models to choose from, gas, wood, and electric. Gas and wood heaters are perfect for outdoor saunas. If you’re building a DIY sauna inside the house, then gas or electric is your best choice.

One of the other popular heaters is infrared. This type of heater doesn’t warm you up by increasing the humidity. Instead, they heat the body directly. They’re faster to warm up, and you can spend more time in one. You can even use it daily.

How Much Does it Cost to Build Your Own Sauna?

The cost to build your own DIY sauna can vary according to several factors. Firstly, you need to decide if you’re going to place the sauna inside or outside of the home. You should also know how large you’re going to make it. Finally, what type of heater do you plan on using to warm up the structure?

Smaller indoor saunas begin at approximately $3000 and can get as expensive as $15,000. The higher-end models include more customization options so you can get every inch just the way you like it.

Outdoor saunas are a little more expensive. Prices can range from $5000 to $15,000. There are some additional steps you need to take with an outdoor DIY sauna to ensure that it’s protected from the weather and other elements. However, it’s simpler to set up a sauna outdoors as you can simply build it from scratch. With an indoor sauna, you need to consider the dimensions of your house and the existing infrastructure.

Is a DIY Kit Better Than Sourcing Materials?

There are advantages to using a DIY sauna kit compared to sourcing all of the materials on your own. The key benefit is that all of the pieces of the sauna will be cut precisely to the measurements that you need. You’re not going to have to use a tape measure or perform any mathematics to work out where you should slice the wood.

However, sourcing materials allows you to build the DIY sauna your way. You get to choose all of the dimensions and can decide where the benches ago. If you prefer laying down inside a sauna, then you can measure it appropriately. However, if you like the idea of having more people join you for a sauna experience, then you can adjust the design accordingly so everyone has enough space and doesn’t feel cramped.

You’ll need to decide how much effort you want to go into building the sauna as well as how different you want it to be. If you’re not too concerned with the design, then a DIY sauna kit could be the best option for you. But if you’ve got more creative intentions, then sourcing the materials is the right choice for you.

Where Can You Find More Information?

Building a DIY sauna can be a big project to undertake. First, you need to make a decision between getting a DIY kit or sourcing the materials yourself. There are also choices to make when it comes to what type of heater you want to use inside your sauna. It might sound like a lot of work to create a DIY sauna, but the experience can be very rewarding.

If you’re not sure where to start on your DIY sauna or have more questions on how to start your build, make sure you get all the answers you need here.