My dad wants to extend his shed and build a sauna in the new bit.

I questioned the logic of this given that the door is a tarp and the roof is asbestos and suggested that he might be better off levelling the whole thing and starting again from the concrete base.

In the unlikely event that he listens to me, we're still faced with the question: How do you build a sauna?

Anyone got any clues?

Some good tips here

Hilarious, duly forwarded to my mother and sisters! Thank you.

Do NOT turn it up to 110deg 🙁

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10904691

Yes, I've done it in an extension. First I battened out the wall it was to be against and insulated it with 100mm glass fibre, then I built a 100x50mm batten frame about 2m x 1m x 2m internal, with tongue and groove on the inside, 100mm insulation, chipboard roof, plasterboard outside. I got the heater from Ikea, about 7kW if I recall right. There was a openable vent at head height to let out the heat if required (and for ventilation when not in use). I made 2 benches out of deal, one low down for lower heat, one about 900mm off the floor. It cost about 50p to get up to temperature. You need to do the t&g dead tight as it will shrink from the heat.

[edit]total about £500 in 1993. You have to budget for a separate electrical feed for the heater, unless you use a smaller heater and allow a slower warm up

Apparently that competition was a dead heat.

Cheers Simon.

Ewan. you're going to straight to hell.

You can have saunas with simple walls – the Finnish army take portable saunas with them on manoeuvres which are just tents.

The inside wood must be birch though. V important.

And DO turn it up to 100deg, and go in for a few mins then into a cold pool or shower, and repeat. Definitely the best way 🙂

Heard a story years ago about a family in Kilwinning (Scots STWers need no explanation) who nicked one of those wee yellow plastic shelters that you used to see navvies having their tea in, and used an electric wallpaper stripper for the steam room effect!.

As my father in law usually says, 'There's wiser folk in Kilwinning'.