When Véronique and Danny contacted a manufacturer to source parts to build their own sauna, the employee tried to dissuade them from such a project.
Published at 12:00 p.m.
They didn't listen, and that didn't stop them from having an adorable, functioning, barrel-shaped sauna in their Montreal backyard today. And although they made a few mistakes along the way, they didn't find the experience particularly difficult.
“We were inspired by an article that presented the approach of a group of friends who had built a sauna in the forest. It didn't seem very complicated. “Geometrically it’s pretty simple, but you still have to work the wood to bend the pieces and fit them together,” explains Véronique Lamontagne, who took care of drawing the plans in software. 3D while his partner Danny played the saw.
In 2020, the couple thought about building a sauna and considered housing it in their basement, which needed renovation. Due to space and time constraints (they couldn't wait to go to the sauna and the work on the basement would probably take a long time), Véronique and Danny decided on a courtyard arrangement.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
In winter you have to hurry to get to the hot barrel!
For materials, they sourced simple cedar boards (moisture-resistant wood) from the local Home Depot. They found their electrical appliance for the heater on an online classifieds site. The elements that were a little harder to find were the metal hoops that were used to loop everything together; they had to bring them from the United States.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
The challenge was bending the boards and fitting them together.
As for tools, Danny used the usual tools, namely hammers, saws, etc. The only special item was a wood router needed to bend the boards. “In the article I read, they burned their first roundabout… and the same thing happened to us within 24 hours! We got another one, more powerful and more suitable. It takes a little time and trial and error, but it's not difficult once you understand the technology,” says Véronique, who bought these two used spinning tops.
However, you have to be quite handy, which is the case with Danny, who has worked in renovations for several years and is therefore familiar with more powerful tools. How long does it take to build this sauna? The couple took their time with long breaks for over a year.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Véronique Lamontagne can now enjoy the warmth of her sauna.
The longest part was making the plans and working on the wood. The construction was completed in a few hours. But someone with a plan and the materials available could do it all at once in a week.
Veronique Lamontagne
Today they use it about twice a week. Véronique emphasizes that the handcrafted side does not allow for a perfect seal, especially since the wood is subsequently processed, which is why they added a waterproof layer to seal everything.
And on the budget side? For a 6-foot-long barrel with a 2-foot-wide vestibule, the bill came to around $2,500. “We couldn’t have gotten a comparable finished product for the same price,” they specify. And do it yourself, yes, unforeseen events may occur, but that's the fun! »