Outdoor sauna kits

Although most sauna kits are aimed at integration into one of the rooms of a house, there are also sauna kits designed for stand-alone outdoor assembly.

The big difference between a standard indoor "home" sauna kit and an outdoor kit is the free-standing ability of the outdoor sauna – which is in fact a small building.

Standard home sauna kits are intended to provide a lining and possibly one or two independent walls. They require building against a structural internal wall and have no protection against the elements.

Outdoor kits have walls that can support themselves along with a roof and a weatherproof design that allows them to be constructed in a garden or back yard. This type of kit requires a solid base and the provision of necessary services, but nothing more and, once assembled, will resemble a garden shed or a log cabin.

Materials

Most outdoor saunas are made from Cedar wood.

Cedar offers high resistance to moisture and the side walls are usually assembled using tongue and grooved panels (e.g. typically 2 inch X 6 inch). This kind of construction can deal with the rigors of cold and damp weather and will offer excellent weatherproof-ness. It will also retain the heat within the sauna when it is in use.

Outdoor saunas require a pitched roof to help shed the rain and to prevent the build up of naturally occurring debris like leaves and twigs. In the case of many outdoor kits the roof will be supplied assembled or partially assembled and will require nothing more than bolting on to the side walls.

A roof of this kind will require asphalt (shingles) to ensure its waterproof properties and this is not always included in the kit. If it is omitted, it will be necessary to buy this roof covering from a builders yard, DIY store, construction merchant etc.

Benches, a heater stand, heater guard etc, will be the same as those found in an indoor sauna and may be pre-built or supplied for self assembly.

Since an outdoor sauna will not have the benefit of an existing finished floor, an outdoor kit should be supplied with a floor lining, typically duck board slat flooring. This is easy to assemble and comfortable to walk or stand on.

An outdoor kit will include a weatherproof door and casement, which can usually be hung on the left or right, and there may also be a window (or multiple windows for large sauna buildings).

All outdoor saunas should include a heater. In most cases this will be an electric heater with thermostatic controls and safety cut-offs.

Provisions

If you want an outdoor sauna it is important to pre-plan the preparation and services since the facilities that you take for granted in a house are not usually present in your garden.

Firstly, the sauna will need to be assembled and bolted down to a solid base. The best option for this base is a concrete platform (raft) and it needs to be located in a position where it will be dry and not subjected to puddles or water run-off. Including a waterproof membrane in the concrete base to prevent rising damp in an advisable precaution.

Secondly, the sauna heater will require either gas or electricity to power it. Electricity will probably be a necessity since most sauna users like a light so that the sauna can be used at night. Electric heaters, be they Finnish style or infrared, are the most economic to run and tend to be the standard that is supplied with most kits.

Some sauna users also like a water supply to be sourced to the sauna, although if the reason behind this is simply to generate a steam shock, a pale of water can be kept in the building for this purpose.

The size of the sauna will also play a part in dictating the likes of heater type, requirement for services etc, since a large outdoor sauna will require more space and more heat than the typical home sauna.

As an example of sauna size versus people capacity, a 6 ft X 8 ft sauna will usually hold up to a maximum of 8 people and will include 2 benches and a powerful heater.

In buying an outdoor sauna kit be aware that, the greater the degree of factory prefabricated assembly, the greater the cost of the kit.