SOME LIKE IT HOT (IN OUR HOMEBUILT SAUNA)

(Page 3 of 3)

March/April 1978
 
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The first time we fired up the stove, we were pleasantly surprised at its efficiency. The draw was terrific, and in no time at all the fire was roaring. As the rocks on top of the stove heated up, Chris fashioned a ladle from an old mushroom can and a birch branch. We took it into the sauna along with a bucket of water, and then-after we'd stripped down and gotten used to the heat-Tom splashed a little water on the sizzling rocks ... whereupon we instantly experienced a super blast of hot air!

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Twenty minutes later-after several more "blasts" of heat (each one accompanied by emphatic "oohs" and "aahs')?three steaming bodies ran outside to leap into cool, blue Lake Michigan. Have you ever felt so clean that your skin literally tingled all over? Quite a rush, I must say!

I've bathed in commercial saunas, and I can tell you honestly that-for sheer atmosphere and charm -they just can't compare to our little homebuilt model. Yet our homespun Finnish bathhouse was much less expensive to build than any sauna I've ever been in. All told, Tom and I figure we spent $19.54 on the project: $2.35 for stovepipe, $4.26 for miscellaneous hardware, and an outrageous $12.93 to rent the trailer we used to haul the privies from the camp to our cottage. Everything else was scrounged.

My brothers-Matt and Dave-and my father did make some later additions to the bathhouse: For instance, they put a vacuum cap on the stovepipe, shingled the roof, caulked the building's seams, and gave the exterior a coat of wood preservative (estimated cost: $30). We could easily have done without most of these items, however ... and did, at first.

So, if you crave a sauna ... don't let a high price tag put a damper on a hot idea! You can have that authentic, wood-fired Finnish sauna that you've always wanted ... and you don't have to pay $450 (or even $50) to get it. All you have to do is scrounge a little ... and "think sauna"!

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