I’ve been wanting a sauna – a real, wood-fired, outdoor one, not the infrared type that we had before – for the past year or two. There’s nothing quite like a sauna to take the cold out of your bones, and after experiencing them when I was younger, and then again a few years ago in Europe, the desire was stuck in the back of my mind. My friend Dan seemed to get a great deal of enjoyment out of his, and after watching him avoid Covid and most other illnesses for three years while everyone in his household was ill multiple times, I started asking him about his. Dan’s a patient man and a great inspiration, so I finally decided to build one, this summer. 

After a lot of research, I decided my best approach would be to have a local shed company build the shell and deliver it. And given that I needed a space for our exercise equipment, I ordered an even larger shed to build an exercise studio, to sit right beside the sauna. And given that these buildings would sit in an area that gets a decent amount of sun each day, I decided to keep them “off grid”, and power them with solar. You might say things ballooned a bit. Kate says they got completely out of hand. I can’t really argue this one. But damn, they turned out great!

In truth, I should say they’re turning out great. It’s December, and while both buildings are now usable, I’m still working on them. But the solar’s done, and the lights are installed, and the exercise studio has heat, so that’s saying something. And perhaps mostly importantly, the hot room in the sauna is up and running! I’m trying to use it at least four nights each week, and I’ve convinced Kate to join me sometimes.. My body thanks me. Now if I can just get all that remaining cedar installed in the other parts of the buildings, so I can get my garage bay back.