MJBaldwin Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 I know back in the day these were more of a necessity than they are today but my question is has anyone built one?my hunting shack is off the grid with no electricity or water. I am thinking one of these would work perfect for up there to clean up. I would be on a tight budget and was thinking of using logs for the walls (trees I cut down from up there) and then a wood burning stove...Any information, pictures anything would be great. I am not 100% I am going to build it but sure would be nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowthenJoe Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 I have one in my backyard that was built by the previous owner. Since moving in, I have done a bunch of modifications. A sauna can be as simple or as complex as you want to build it. Ideally, you would have some sort of water source. I know some people have a simple hand pump in their sauna. Others jump in the lake afterwards. Either way, you will want to "wash" the sweat of when you are through. Since your stove will be running hot, you will need to take clearances into consideration. Building one on a budget may be tough. Proper insulation and venting is very important. It is also important to have good wood inside the sauna as the conditions in there will be very extreme. Most folks use Western Red Cedar, which isn't cheap. Here is a site that may give you some ideas.http://www.saunatimes.com/-Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncesi Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 The old Finnlanders used to use Poppel and it works fine cedar lasts longer and smells better but as stated poppel works fine. Get someone who knows how to build a stove to do it for you, there goes the budget. They can attach a water tank on the side for warm water to wash with. Be sure to get the rocks from a proper supplier or some use washed rocks from the shores of a lake like Superior. If one used rocks form the yard and heat them up and put water on them for steam they can explode and that would be bad. Been in many log saunas and they work fine. Some were built like a log cabin and others had the logs standing vertically and used 2 x material for the top and bottom plates. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkunkedAgain Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 I know that a sauna sounds good, but if you're on a tight budget and really just looking to get clean, why not go with an old fashioned wash tub like Robert Mitchum used in El Dorado? Heat up water, dump it in the tub, sit in the tub with a long handled brush, get clean, and you're done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nofishfisherman Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 MJBaldwin said: I am thinking one of these would work perfect for up there to clean up. Not sure how you'll use it to clean up. You'll be sitting in there sweating like crazy. You'll need some way to wash off when you're done or you'll be covered in sweat smelling 10x worse than before you went in.I know there are DYI sauna kits out there, you may want to look into one of them. I'm not sure how they heat them I'm assuming most have an electric heating element to them but perhaps you can find one that heats using another method. Of course you'll still need to find a water source for rinsing off afterwards and of course having that water source would solve the clean up problem in itself. Or you can go with the tub like Skunked mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walleyehooker Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Your first problem is not having water. A wood stove can be easily built with an attached tank to heat the water but you still need cold water. It doesn't have to be big to do the job and some well placed tin can protect the wall. I would still want to line it with some smooth cedar as slivers are never good in a sauna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delcecchi Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 The classic way was to scrape the dirt off, once you start sweating. End with a rinse of a small bucket. I would hang a solar shower type thing in the cool/dressing room. You only need like a gallon of water to rinse off. The classic sauna has two rooms, I believe. The cool room and the hot room. The stove is set up so it is stoked from the cool room or outside. I bet the local library has books about saunas. Or there are probably all sorts of web pages. You could even do the native sweat lodge thing if you were really short on money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAMAN Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I go up to a hunting camp up by Voyagers NP each summer to fish. It is 'kinda' off the grid though it does have power, but no running water or gas. They have a sauna and each night we crank the heat up, heat up some water on the stove and "shower" off. It feels so amazing after a long day in the boat and sun. This sauna was built free standing and looks like a small shed, the interior is all wood but I don't believe it's cedar, the floor looks to be cedar with 1/2" spacing to allow for drainage. I believe there is also a bed of rock below to keep from becoming a mud pit. They also have one of those battery powered camp showers with a pump, you mix the appropriate hot and cold water in a 5 gallon bucket which is plenty for 1-2 people. The sauna heating element is electric but i see no issues trying wood if they are available, but I'd imagine el ectric would be cheaper and easier, and if you have access to a large enough generator may be a better way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom7227 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I have built a shower using a 30 gallon steel drum, a turkey cooker heater and a hose. If you add a 12 volt pump like is used in an RV you have a great setup. Water temp was measured with the outdoor part of an indoor/outdoor thermometer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkunkedAgain Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 delcecchi said: You could even do the native sweat lodge thing if you were really short on money. Good point. We'll do this in the BWCA if there long enough. Find a couple of long branches, form a teepee, wrap with a couple tarps, then roll in some hot rocks from the fire and dump water over the rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJBaldwin Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 Thanks for all your info guys. I am still debating on it probably would not be until next summer I just know that it would feel amazing after a day of walking all day and what not...We typically bring at least 10 gallons of water and could always bring an extra 5 gallons if I did do this... My only conern would be rodents in the summer/winter if I kept spacing in the bottom of this as well as water freezing as we will mainly use this is the middle of winter months... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walleyehooker Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I would just slope the floor and put a hole with a screen to get rid of water. The stove we made was just basically a metal box on pipe legs with a metal divider plate. Stove on one side water on the other. You can buy a stove kit with a cast iron door and vent to bolt on. Also made it so you could put rocks on top of the stove part. Pretty easy if you have or know someone with a welder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishwidow Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I have built one. It was not cheap, but you don't need to spend as much as I did. I did cedar board walls, ceiling, and benches. The floor is tiled,the stove is a store bought wood burner. Their is a cool room attached. 2 x 4 construction with fiberglass insulation. Metal studs offset from the wood wall covered in cementboard and cultured stone.You can do it much cheaper,but the isulation keeps it hot longer. You also need a fresh air intake and an outlet vent if you are going to burn wood safely. The biggest thing, I think, is adequate water. I stayed at a cabin once that had a sauna with a washtub outside that had a few gallons of water, with the idea that you stood in it and poured a dipper over you to cool off. That worked OK.We probably use a gallon and a half during our saune sessions to throw on the rocks and create steam. After that you need to get in a lake or take a shower to get rid of the sweat. Nothing puts you to sleep faster than a good sauna and a glass or two of wine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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