Build Your Own Sauna: The Oceanic Way

From timber selection to finishing touches, learn how Oceanic’s materials help you build a beautiful, relaxing sauna at home.

If our pre-built saunas don't quite match your vision, why not craft your own? With Oceanic's premium timbers and materials, you have everything you need to bring your dream sauna to life. To guide you through the process, we've created a helpful step-by-step guide to ensure your project is a success.

Before you start installing your sauna cabin, let's take a moment to consider a few important factors to ensure a smooth and successful setup.

Type of structure, free standing cabin or cladding onto existing wall
Domestic or commercial installation
Construction of the room the sauna is being installed into (single brick external wall, internal wall etc)
Ventilation / Condensation
Size of the room including ceiling height
Location of the door (must open outwards)
Sauna Heater location
Bench location
Air vent positions

Free Standing Structure

The best method for constructing a sauna cabin inside a property is to build it as a free standing structure with an air gap surrounding this and any adjacent walls within the room. Air vents must be built into the wall panels at the correct locations depending upon the location of the heater. It may be necessary to install a small extractor fan or simply leave the a door open to deal with condensation depending on the building.

Worst case scenario is a single layer brick external wall, i.e. in a garage. In this instance we would recommend an air gap of 50mm between the walls of the sauna cabin and the wall of the room. A normal indoor room in a house would require minimum 25mm of space around the outside of the cabin for it to breathe sufficiently.

A free standing cabin is built by constructing the walls and ceiling as a set of individual frames that are filled with insulation and clad before fixing together to form the structure. It is advisable that frames of equal size are assembled on top of each other on a flat surface. See following section for more information about building the frames.

Sauna Panel Construction

Panel frame constructed using 32 x 32mm framing timber. The space between the framing is to be filled with 50mm Rockwool insulation, which can be sourced from any local builders merchants. A specalist heat proof foil lined vapor barrier and tape should be used between the cladding and framing in commercial applications.

Internal Frame - construct from 32x32mm Spruce framing, insulate voids using 50mm rockwool insulation

Faces of panel, clad with your chosen cladding material.

Panel shown with cladding on both sides. If only inside is visible hardboard can be used on the exterior to reduce costs.

Panel Dimensions

Just follow these dimensions, and our standard doors, glass panels and overlap moulds will slot seamlessly into your sauna cabin.

Panel Frame: 32x32mm Framing

Uprights: 1895mm
Bearers: 551mm (Optional width) This creates a 615 mm wide panel, making efficient use of our standard 95mm cladding while ensuring strong structural integrity.

Cladding:

1895mm

Base:

50x50mm (length will depend on your cabin size) sandwiched between two 19x69mm bench in either Spruce or Abachi either side which your panels will slot into.

Cladding Directly Onto Existing Wall

It is possible to clad directly onto existing walls using timber stud framework and simply affix insulation and internal cladding, this may necessitate the inclusion of a vent in the construction. The existing room could, depending upon it’s construction cause condensation to form which is both undesirable to the cabin and the to property.

If cladding directly onto an existing wall it is worth considering the use of a vapor barrier with a foil lining between the cladding and the existing wall. For commercial saunas a vapor barrier is also required when building a free standing sauna as described previously.

It is necessary to check if the room is square. If not square it is advisable to pack the battens to create square walls. When cladding directly to the wall the same frames can be fixed to the wall or just use horizontal battens (vertical battens if horizontal cladding is preferred) similar to a stud wall construction.

Ceiling

The ceiling will need to be made using frames as shown on the previous page. It may be necessary to clad the frames before installing, joint overlap mould can be used to cover the join between panels. Corner mould can be fitted where the walls meet the ceiling. A nail gun is the best method for fixing overlap and corner mould.

Sauna Cladding

Cladding for walls and ceiling
We stock matchboard cladding in the following dimensions:

Spruce cladding 9mm thickness 95mm wide with a cover of 85mm
Spruce cladding 18mm thickness for heavy duty sauna 85mm wide with a cover of 85mm
Knot free premium hemlock cladding 9mm thickness 85mm wide with a cover of 85mm 95mm wide with a cover of 85mm
21mm ThermoWood 21mm thickness, 117mm wide with a 95mm cover

All our timber is kiln dried Grade A sustainably sourced from Finland and Canada

Cladding dimensions
9mm or 18mm thickness x 95mm width (including tongue and groove)

12 lengths required per linear meter.
Available in packs of:

6 x 1895mm or 6 x 2100mm in 9mm Spruce or Hemlock
7 x 2069mm in 18mm Spruce

21mm ThermoWood x 117mm width (including tongue and groove)
10 lengths required per linear meter
Available in packs of:

5 x 1990mm in 117mm ThermoWood

Please call for a quotation for longer lengths

Calculating the number of lengths of cladding required

Work out the number of lengths for each wall and ceiling individually
Number of lengths of cladding = Wall length in meters x 12
Length of cladding for walls = Internal ceiling height

Ideal ceiling height
If using an Oceanic Sauna Door the external height of the door frame is 1895mm. If building a free standing structure with frames and a base a typical height for the cladding is 1895mm as shown previously.

A lower ceiling height makes a more efficient sauna as heat rises. If you prefer a taller sauna you will need to consider the area above the door also needs cladding.

For the ceiling cladding work out which direction you want the cladding to be fitted, normally along the longer distance for fewer fixings. Note, longest cladding length is 4.3m, please call our sales team for advice and shipping / delivery information.

Wall	Wall Dimension	Number of Lengths	Length of cladding (mm)
Left	1	12	1985mm
Back	2	24	1985mm
Right	1	12	1985mm
Front 1	0.693	9	1985mm
Front 2	0.692	9	1985mm
Ceiling	2	24	2100mm

Cladding required (internal only):

66 lengths = 11 packs 9x95mm at 1895mm

24 lengths = 4 packs at 9x95mm at 2100mm

Standard height sauna, cladding tothe left and right of door only

Taller sauna requires additional cladding above door

Bench Kits

Oceanic Saunas can provide ready to assemble bench kits including back rests and floor mats, with everything you need to construct your sauna bench kits. The kits are available in a range of stock sizes and can be cut to size onsite as required.
The bench itself is made up of a set of timber slats that are fixed onto a frame with right angled stainless steel brackets. Cross members add further strength and rigidity. This bench is then mounted to the wall via rails and is supported via either one or two high or low supports that fix under the bench. The rails are also supported via rail supports.
Bench kits are available as:
Domestic 5 slat bench kits made from 69 x 19mm spruce or abachi (421mm depth)
Heavy Duty Commercial 5 slat bench kits made from 90 x 25mm (526mm depth)
See our full range of DIY sauna benches

Ventilation

Correct positioning of vents is required for good airflow around the sauna. Fresh cool air can be pulled in via the gap underneath the door with a vent at high level in the opposite side of the room to the heater allowing warm air to escape. An additional vent at low level behind the heater are optional.

Note all vents are passive.