It's possible to economize on gym visits and construct a sauna in the comfort of your own home, your back yard, garden or even the basement. Building a sauna in a bathroom sounds impossible, but with a few clever adaptations, it's possible to save as much as 50% on the cost of a modular, pre-built sauna. And there's no need to go crazy on cost: a couple of heaters is often all you need to work up a sweat.
Whether you're keen on steam or you want the convenience of infrared, here are a few hacked sauna solutions that will inspire you to work up a sweat.
1. Choose your location
Your sauna needs to be located in a spot which can be well insulated and protected against moisture damage. If you plan to run a wood burner, you'll need to be able to route a flue safely through the room for the fumes from the fire to escape, and you'll need to ensure you have some way to position ventilation grills to allow the air to flow.
Installing a sauna in a bathroom means paying particular attention to fixtures and fittings because plastic can warp and metal can get hot. Zoning off an area is the safest idea. Make sure you furnish with ceramics and wood where possible. Remember: you will find it easier to heat a small room, so if you have a choice of rooms, choose your en-suite.
If you're in any doubt, go for an infrared (FIR) installation: it will keep the ambient temperature low, so it's ideal for an existing bathroom, and the heaters can be positioned either side of the body for efficient heating. If you're going pro, you'd normally install special IR emitters with reflectors and special temperature controls. The hacked variation on this sauna calls for neither, making it far cheaper.
2. Insulate the room
If you're installing from scratch, cotton insulation is a great, eco-friendly choice. It's not something you can make yourself because it needs to be treated in order to be flame-retardant, but it's safer than fiberglass in the home - and you can donate some used denim towards the next batch.
After positioning the insulation between the baton frame and fixing it down, ensure that the room is well prepared with a vapor barrier if you're going for a steam sauna. Use aluminum foil: not only is it cheaper, but it won't melt or warp like plastic. Tack it to the walls with aluminum tape, taking care around the edges and on the seams and working from the floor up.
3. Construction
Steam saunas are typically constructed from cedar wood, because it will not expand excessively or crack when hot, it insulates well and it's much less likely to rot. Cedar wood comes in seven different grades: there's no need to go for anything better than Proprietary or even Standard for panelling. With an infrared sauna, you have more choices, including pine panelling which is easier to find used. Recycle off-cuts from a builder's yard or carpenter, or use old furniture. It's absolutely essential to ensure that any wood you acquire is not chemically treated or varnished.
If you need to nail any wood in a steam sauna, it's a good idea to carefully cover each nail, or place a layer of thin wood over the top to ensure all the metal parts are tucked away. Tongue and groove is a popular choice for sauna construction since it requires minimal tacking.
If you plan to install a wood-burning stove, you'll need to fire-proof the walls and roof around the stove. Particle board isn't cheap, but this is one area you don't want to skimp on.
If you don't have an air vent in the bathroom, don't make one: the gap under the bathroom door will work just fine.
4. Seating
Since metal is an absolute no-no in a steamy environment, a wooden bench is the way to go. If you're not too hot on DIY, find an old futon frame and trim it down to fit your sauna space. Many futons are discarded when their mattresses become lumpy, so this is almost certainly something you can find from your local used furniture store. Avoid using left over, untreated wood for any areas where you're likely to sit: it may absorb sweat over time.
With an infrared sauna, you'll need to position your bench carefully because the emitters or lamps won't heat the air around you. You'll need to be close, and ideally sitting between two heaters. It's a good idea to plan the heater positioning first, then position the futon.
5a. Installing a wood burning stove for steam
A wood burning stove can easily be made from a junk yard gas canister. Use a cheap angle grinder to lop off the top, then just find a metal bucket, cut a hatch and fit the flue. If any signs of paint or chemicals remain, light a few fires in your canister outdoors before you install it. Visit a thrift store for an old wooden spoon and a ceramic container or cookie jar for your utensils, and buy a carbon monoxide detector with an alarm - just in case.
The stones which sit in a sauna heater are commonly dark minerals, such as granite. Reclaim your granite from old flooring tiles, paperweights, kitchen counters and broken kitchen appliances, or scavenge some rocks. Make sure you stress-test any found rocks by quickly heating for two minutes, dropping into icy water and inspecting for cracks.
For constant humidity, you'll need to give your coals a little extra help. Soapstone heats to twice the temperature of brick, it stores heat for a really long time, and it can be used safely with aromatherapy oils. Place a few drops of essential oil in your soapstone for a soothing aromatherapy sauna without the expense of installing a separate diffuser.
Soapstone can be purchased online from aromatherapy stores and costs around $3 per oz (and pre-infused soapstone costs a lot more). However, it can be reclaimed from kitchen counter manufacturing too. Don't accept off-cuts that have been treated with chemicals or glazed.
(For a cheap alternative to a burner and steam, use your existing bathtub. Run the bath as hot as you can with the shower door closed, then release the steam when you have a good full bath.)
5b. Installing infrared heaters
Infrared saunas are more portable, and in a bathroom they're a better choice because they won't warm the air so much, meaning you're less likely to burn yourself on metal fittings or warp your toilet seat with the heat. Obviously electrical equipment should never be used when there's water in the bath (or anywhere else).
Instead of purchasing special sauna heaters, fit infrared bulbs to your standard light fittings. A minimum of 1,000 watts is needed to really heat up a room, so you may need to replace the cabling to the fittings first. Make sure the bulbs are securely fitted since they will get incredibly hot in use and you definitely don't want to touch them. If you need to hang anything, a telescopic shower rod provides a great temporary hanging point.
If your room is small, infrared bulbs in your existing fittings will produce enough heat to give you a sauna experience. A pack of five 250 watt heating bulbs costs around $43 from ELights, giving you four for your ceiling and a spare. If you prefer to replace the housing at the same time, pick up two 500 watt Nutone 9422P double heat lamps from Elights at $70 each.
In a larger room, you may need to panel at least one wall with cedar or pine to absorb the IR and create more heat. Even better, use low-cost, free-standing or wall-mounted IR heaters and zone your room. This $65 Lorell space heater is ideal. Two $53 halogen IR ceiling lamps such as this one at Build.com will work great too; if you donít want the light, simply pull the bulb. You'll need to sit between your heaters so the IR can absorb, so allow good clearance all around each one when you position them.
Oliver Archibald and Claire Broadley are a pair of gadget and prototype tech nuts who also enjoy odd bit of DIY. Both are also associate editors and contributing writers for adventure and spa days site, Wish.co.uk.