the home sauna

Active Relaxation

text by laurie lamountain photos by kevin brusie

The pandemic has put an exclamation point on this, but the world is spinning too fast. Sauna has a discipline to it. Like meditation, which I can’t do, but sauna, I can,” says Bob Daigle. Bob is actually a very can-do kind of guy. After spending six years on a sailboat with his wife Maggie, the couple decided

“ they wanted to be on dry land and found a piece of property on which to build a home off Quaker Ridge in Casco that faces breathtaking views of the White Mountains. Though he had never worked with insulated concrete forms before, he built their entire house with them. He admits that there was a steep learning curve, like the time he had to move the location of a window because it was too close to a dividing wall, but the result is a super-insulated house that is impervious to world record winds from Mount Washington. As was the case for a lot of people when the pandemic hit, Bob was taken out of his normal routine. With unplanned time on his hands, his son Keith suggested he build a sauna. He then did what any DIY builder would do and consulted the Google. Saunatimes.com proved to be an excellent source of information and he highly recommends it to anyone going the DIY route. “It can’t be stressed enough,” warns Bob, “a sauna building has very specific requirements. Get a book and read it.” He’s also quick to add that a home sauna is actually not that difficult to build and, if done properly, will not result in the negative consequences that can occur when applying heat and moisture to the interior of a wooden structure; something most builders avoid. It’s all about a little building with a well insulated and ventilated room.

The well-insulated aspect is achieved by creating a proper vapor barrier to “seal in” the heat and moisture that a sauna produces. It’s only in this way that you can hope to sustain the high temperatures that make it a proper sauna. His method is applying Reflectix® over batt insulation in the walls. Once the seams are taped to make it perfectly air tight, he covers it over with 3/4” tongue-and-groove eastern white cedar. Eastern white cedar is definitely Bob’s wood of choice because it has characteristics that allow it to sustain extreme temperatures, it looks good and it’s fragrant. Plus it’s local, which accounts for its sustainability.

Ventilation is what he stresses most. Living in a super-insulated home has made him aware of how important air quality is. Their house has an air exchange system and a Netatmo Smart indoor air quality monitor that constantly measures CO2 levels.

“The thing about bad air is it’s odorless, colorless . . . so when it goes above a certain level, you don’t know it. You’ll just be half as smart, but you wouldn’t know you’re half as smart because you’re half as smart. There have been studies that show that cognitive levels decline significantly as CO2 reaches excessive levels.”

He adds that an unintended positive consequence of COVID is the attention it drew to the importance of ventilation. So when it came to building what amounts to a wellinsulated room with a wood burning stove at the heart of it, he was naturally attuned to proper ventilation. He cites a Finnish Sauna Society review that estimated 90% of American saunas are bad; the other 10% are worse—and it’s all down to improper ventilation. Even if their estimation is harsh, one can assume they know a thing or two about saunas, given that there is one sauna for every two people in Finland.

Ridge and soffit vents are essential to the exterior building, but ventilation inside the sauna room is equally important. Tempered glass windows (transom windows preserve wall space and privacy) and a 3” gap under the door to the changing room allow airflow. Tunable vents that can be opened or closed according to atmospheric conditions create an air exchange system—allowing the room to breathe continuously. An air intake vent located low on the wall near the stove will continuously pull fresh air into

the room, while an exhaust vent located higher up on the opposite wall will expel CO2 laden air to the outdoors.

An outside standalone sauna usually has two separate rooms. The changing room is similar to a mudroom in that it’s an entry area where you can stow boots and outerwear. It’s also a good space to take a break from the heat of the sauna from time to time. How big it should be is determined by how many people are likely to use the sauna on a regular basis, but a general rule of thumb is that it accounts for about a third of the total space. Including a bench, hooks, shelving and a table to hold snacks and water makes it imminently useful. The cedar door that connects the two rooms usually has a “candle window” made of tempered glass that allows light from the changing room into the sauna.

Then there’s the all-important heat source to consider. The traditional fuel for sauna is wood and for this Bob favors a middle-end Finnish stove called Harvia. It’s not the Cadillac of sauna stoves, but it’s efficient, lightweight and affordable. Other options are gas and electric.

“If the room is the heart of the sauna, the stove is the soul,” says Bob. “It needs to be properly sized and built specifically for use in a sauna. From cold start, stoves take about 30 minutes to get the sauna up to temperature. People vary in the temperature they like best, for me about 165-170˚F is perfect.”

To avoid adding a drain, simply scrub the sauna after each use, shut it down and let it dry out naturally.

Ladling water over the rocks produces steam that the Finnish refer to as löyly, which pushes the health benefits of sauna. Hypertension runs in Bob’s family, but six months after taking sauna regularly his blood pressure was the lowest it’s been in a long time. Studies show that it flushes toxins and cleanses the skin and hair follicles through deep sweating, improves brain health, promotes better sleep, and just feels good. He likens it to pushups for your immune system.

“It’s finding a quiet time to let the world wash away. And that habit really does it, it completely takes your mind off things. That’s probably why meditation hasn’t necessarily worked for me in life; it’s not enough change. But a sauna, when you walk in and it’s 160˚, that gets your attention.” R