Dear Suzy,
Don’t laugh, but even after the summer we’ve had I’m toying with the idea
of putting in a wood-burning sauna. I’ve written to a handful of companies
(even perused a website or two) and there seem to be two routes: 1) give them
the specs and they’ll cookie-cut one to fit or 2) let them sell you a
free-standing unit. Both require assembly and are pretty expensive.
I was wondering if there might be someone locally experienced in doing this
kind of work (and cheaper). I really want a wood stove over electric and wonder
if I can get away with a regular wood stove instead of the primo,
direct-from-Finland, expensive sauna stove that most offer. A friend built one
years ago from a plan, which I think came from the Whole
Earth catalog.
It’s a pipe dream, but we’ve got this back tool shed with a nice stone
floor and …well, what can I say? Any advice?
Signed,
Silly Yankee
Dear Silly,
I received your question the day I finished slapping stucco on our barn, when
the humidity and temperature had both reached 98. That day, I indeed thought
you were silly, among other things, but now that there’s a hint of fall in the
air, a sauna is beginning to sound almost appealing. The Finns certainly like
them and have for more than 2,000 years. The evidence? There are 1.5 million
saunas in a country with a total population of only 5 million. That’s more
saunas than cars. A few crazy Finns have even converted their cars into saunas.
Of course, what else would you expect from a country that drinks Aquavit and
eats old smoked fish they bury in the back yard?
But here’s the really weird part. (Cue the theme from Twilight Zone.)
As I was thrashing around on the Web looking up sauna trivia, a couple was
visiting my husband and taking a little tour of our house. They walked by my
office window. I waved but was much too busy, busy, busy researching
Finnish saunas to meet them. Finally, I wandered out just as they were about to
leave. And they were from Finland! Blond hair, beautiful accents,
everything. They said they have a sauna here in Texas and they got the heater
from Sears. Isn’t that a great example of acclimating to American society while
still maintaining a native culture?
I suppose trying to build a sauna as cheaply as possible is one way a Yankee
could cling to his native culture, but you have to be careful. I talked with
Larry Graham, general manager of Pool Pro’s Big Kid’s Superstore (catchy name,
huh?) who offered the following tips:
1. Use Nordic Spruce for the interior. Cedar, redwood, and hemlock will dry up
and turn gray and then begin to absorb your perspiration and stink.
Eeuow. I think sweat is one of those products that shouldn’t be recycled.
2. Make the sauna big enough to lie down in and entertain a few intimate
friends, but not so big it takes a Treaty Oak for one heating. Finnish
Architect Pekka Tomila suggests a 350-cubic-foot minimum and thinks all bathers
should be able to lie or sit above the top of the heater — since that’s where
the heat will be.
3. While a regular wood-burning stove might do the trick, remember the
temperatures in a sauna are 175-210 degrees. You’ll need asbestos mittens to
touch that cast iron stove. You also won’t have those cool rocks to ladle water
over to give you the proper humidity level. Plus, perfect ventilation is
imperative or your first sauna bath might be your last.
This article appears in October 18 • 1996 and October 18 • 1996 (Cover).