Book review: Rob Roy's "The Sauna"

July 22, 2007 

Rob Roy's "The Sauna" is both an intimate tale of his sauna beliefs and of how to build them. Of American origin and well travelled around the world.

He first set sights on a sauna in the Republic of Iceland. The sauna temperature was maintained above the boiling temperature of water and the rest of the bathing experience was close to the Finnish sauna way of doing things - plunges into cold water between sauna sessions.

Just two years later he had settled down in Scotland and got around to building his first makeshift sauna... and committed a mistake that almost led to a fire in his house. He bypassed the thermostat of the heater and forgot to turn the heater off for the night after an especially exhausting hiking trip.

From there on Rob goes into the history, building issues and a lot more. What makes this book unique is that half of it deals with cordwood masonry saunas (the building of which is his primary occupation), which is not considered as a traditional sauna building at all. What makes it good is that he really has built several cordwood saunas and does know what he talks about.

Overall, the book is well written. The focus on cordwood saunas is somewhat too big, but overall manageable. 

The book has an extensive amount of subtitles, which is perhaps the best way to give an overview of what the book is about:

• Acknowledgements
• Introduction to the revised edition
• Introduction to the first edition
• About Saunas
• The Author and the Sauna: A Personal Odyssey
• The Sauna in the Highlands
• The Saunas at Log End
• The Earthwood Sauna
• A Little History
• The Smoke Sauna
• Löyly: The Sacred Steam
• Smoke House, Drying Room, Birthing Chamber, Mortuary, Temporary Shelter
• The Sauna and Your Health
• Fact or Fiction? (deals with the major misconceptions surrounding saunas)
• A Couple of Cautions (cautionary warnings by a doctor and authors)
• The Sauna and Age (children and the elderly)
• Ice and Snow Baths
• The Sauna and the Common Cold
• The Sauna and Pregnancy
• Other Health Claims
• Siting and Design
• Siting (most of the advice is in the North America context, although many also apply generally)
• Rural Siting Considerations
• Urban Siting Considerations
• Town or Suburb
• Design
• Stoveroom Size
• The Dressing/Relaxation Room
• Shape
• Platform (Benches)
• Cooling Tank
• Other Design Tips
• Cordwood Masonry
• Wood Rot: The Myth
• Weathering
• Advantages of a Cordwood Sauna
• How to Build a Cordwood Wall
• Choice of Wood
• Seasoning the Wood
• How many Cords?
• Log-End Preparation
• Estimating Other Materials
• Tools for Cordwood Masonry Work
• The Mortar (+Cordwood Mud Recipe)
• Laying Down the Mud
• Installing the Sawdust Insulation
• Laying the Wood
• The Second Course
• Pointing
• Finishing Up for the Day
• The Post-and-Beam Log End Sauna
• The Floating Slab Foundation
• Preparing for the Foundation Pour
• Pouring the Footings
• The Post-and-Beam Frame
• Roof Decking
• The Earth Roof
• The Sawdust Concrete Floor
• The Floor of the Antechamber
• A Wood Disk Floor
• Concrete Floor Options
• The Instant Slate Floor
• Framing for Windows, Doors, and Vent
• Cordwood Masonry at Log End Sauna
• Windows and Doors
• Sauna Platforms
• The Earthwood (Round) Sauna
• Advantages of a Round Sauna
• Drawbacks of the Round Design
• The Round Foundation
• Cordwood in the Round
• Plates
• The Wagon-Wheel Roof
• Snowblocking
• The Roof Deck
• The Earth Roof
• The Eight-Sided Sawdust Concrete Floor
• Platforms in a Round Sauna
• Windows
• The Oval Sauna
• Earthwood Sauna Update
• Variations on the Theme
• Cordwood Masonry Design Features
• Texture
• Pattern
• Special Design Features
• Giant Log-Ends
• Artistic Pointing
• Bottle-Ends
• Shelves and Towel Pegs
• The Sauna Cabin
• The Temporary Shelter Strategy
• Internal Walls
• The Conventionally Framed Sauna
• Conventional as the Alternative
• Foundation Options
• The Railroad Tie Foundation
• Foundation on Posts
• Floor Options
• Loren's Sauna Addition
• The Plan
• Loren's Foundation
• The Drain
• The Concrete Floor
• The Stick Frame
• Closing In
• Insulation and Vapor Barrier
• Interior Walls
• Vapor Barriers in the Sauna
• Loren's Platforms (Benches)
• Loren's Heater
• Finishing-Off Details
• Performanc and Cost
• The Sauna Stove
• Heating Options
• Electric Heat
• Gas Heat
• Wood Heat
• Konnos (The Rocks)
• Stove Capacity
• Installation of Electric Heaters
• Gas Sauna Heater Installation
• UL Listing (Underwrites Laboratories)
• Woodstove Planning and Installation
• Stovepipe Installation
• A Homemade Sauna Stove
• Adapting a Stove for Sauna Use
• Combustion Air
• Taking a Sauna
• A Crying Shame
• The Finnish Tradition
• First Curing
• Ripening the Sauna
• Temperature
• Perspiration
• Löyly
• Fragance
• How Long?
• Cooling
• Repeat
• Whisking
• Sex and Sauna
• Behaviour in the Stoveroom
• Sauna and the Psyhe
• Washing Down
• The Relaxation Room
• The Dry-Down
• Refreshment
• A Fine Sauna Sunday Afternoon
• Sauna Is a Personal Matter
• Sauna Equipment Manufacturers and Distributors

 

You can buy the book at Amazon: