Choosing The Best Floor For Your Sauna

When you are choosing a room to build in a sauna, you should consider using a smaller room so that the heat is distributed properly. As long as you can lay down and sit comfortably on every bench, you have the ideal room size.

Tips to building a sauna in your home
As long as you can lay down comfortably, turning a small room into a sauna is perfect.

Avoid rooms with high ceilings, as heat rises, leaving the bottom bench chilly and wasting the heating by having to fill a high ceiling room.

One thing you also need to be aware of is how the sauna door is going to swing. You want enough room for the door to swing out, not into the sauna. Being whacked on the elbow or knee by an inward swinging door defeats the purpose of relaxing in a sauna.

Choose the right wood for your sauna

Saunas are always hot and dry, so avoiding grainy woods will save your delicate skin from burning, as the knots get hotter than the rest of the wood and that can result in skin burns.

The best wood, considering that you want it to have a minimum reaction to the heat, and the most recommended for a sauna, is Western Red Cedar or Aspen.

They will not get discolored on the same degree as other woods, such as redwood, but you should still use sealant to protect the wood in the sauna. Another reason for choosing cedar is its inherent stability. Unlike other woods, which shrink and swell, cedar gives much better results.

Here are 3 Tips to Plan the Sauna Room Layout

1. Plan the size of your room: Saunas can be virtually any size or shape, but if wish to enjoy lying down in your sauna, leave 6 feet in at least one direction. 

2. Plan the door location and direction of its swing: The door should swing out of the room and not into the room.

3. Plan the location of your heater: Place it preferably near the door wall, because cool air will be naturally drawn through the door. 

Contact us today and visit our showroom so you can choose the very best one for your future spa.

Picture of Chris Keale

Chris Keale

Owner & Operator of Tongue & Groove Flooring
Wood Flooring 101 Course Creator

Chris Keale is the owner of Tongue & Groove and the creator of the Wood Floors 101 course, an educational resource that helps homeowners and design professionals make confident flooring decisions.

With a career that began in global technology and consulting, Chris traded boardrooms for floorboards, bringing his leadership skills and love of craftsmanship into the hardwood flooring industry. Since 2007, he has grown Tongue & Groove into one of Colorado’s most trusted flooring companies—built on a foundation of integrity, education and precision. 

Known for his sharp insight, dry humor and genuine commitment to his clients, Chris has helped homeowners, builders and designers through the complexities of choosing and installing hardwood floors. Whether teaching in the showroom, on a jobsite or through his Wood Floors 101, his mission remains the same: to simplify a complicated industry and deliver floors that stand the test of time.

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