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wood emissions

Started by iain_lansdell, August 20, 2004, 04:24:11 AM

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iain_lansdell

I'm looking into building a sauna, but i want a wood that doesn't give out any emissions, I know that poplar is a good one but does anyone know of other woods that might be suitable.

beenthere

Emissions?  What kind? ::)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Tom

Welcome to the forum Iain.

If you are talking about aroma from the wood then Aspen is commonly used, I hear.

We use Cypress in the southeast USA sometimes and I've heard of cedar, though the smell would seem to be quite strong for me.

Commercial Sauna companies use Red Wood.

I don't know much about Saunas, except that they are hot, but, one thing you want to stay away from is a wood that has knots.   If you make a bench with a board that has a knot, the knot gets so hot that it will blister a bare bottom. :)

CHARLIE

Welcome to the forum! 8)  You'll love it here. It's full of mighty nice and informative people.  

The ones I've seen have been built using clear redwood.  Why not do a search on the internet for "Sauna" and see what wood the commercial companies use. Be DanG sure not to have any exposed nailheads or screwheads on the inside of the sauna though. :o
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

MemphisLogger

I've had a few customer's have me saw 'em Eastern Red Cedar for their saunas, but they were folks who absolutely loved it's smell.  ;D

If I were to use local species for my own, I'd probably use ERC, too or use it to swap out some of the Old Growth Redwood that the previous owners planked the front of my house with.  ???

Factors I'd be concerned with would be the constantly wet nature of the use. I'd make sure that the wood had been ABSOLUTELY sterilized with a kiln and have the sub flooring and surrounding walls treated for termites before installation. I'd also treat the backside of the paneling with a residual fungicide.      
Scott Banbury, Urban logger since 2002--Custom Woodworker since 1990. Running a Woodmizer LT-30, a flock of Huskies and a herd of Toy 4x4s Midtown Logging and Lumber Company at www.scottbanbury.com

iain_lansdell

I'm sorry but i dont think i made my original question very clear. I'm looking for woods that dont off gas at all, because i'm looking to use the sauna for detoxification and want it to be hypoallergenic as I'd like to sell the sauna to the public eventually.
Also the sauna will be of Far Infrared, so there will be no steam and it will operate at a much lower temperature than a  normal sauna.

Tom

I remember a conversation here about non-allergenic woods but can't seem to find it now.  It was a long time ago.  In this conversation, Aspen and White Birch were the two recommended woods for toothpicks, tongue depressors, etc. because of their lack of allergenic resins and chemicals.  I would think that a wood that was approved for tongue depressors, where contact with a sensitive patient could be fatal, could be used as a "non gassing " building material for a Sauna.  While I'm no expert and have no real experience in this realm, it makes sense to me. :)

OneWithWood

The only problem I could see with using Aspen for a sauna would be durability.  Aspen rots quickly if not kept completely dry.
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

iain

hello iain and welcome to the forum :)
i dont think you will find enough usefull birch here in the uk
what temps are you going to?
will it really be only dry heat?
what type of consrtuction t&g over lap etc?
what about out gassing from the insulation if you use foam?
i would look at lime and syc they are both cheap enough if you need to go soft wood try new growth white pine or fast growth larch and kiln to around 85centigrade for a day to get rid of most ot the aromatic oils just like setting pitch
hope this helps a bit
        iain

iain_lansdell

thank you very much for that information, you obviously know your stuff and it was very useful.
In answer to your questions:
Yes it will only be dry heat.
We'll be using tongue and groove.
There will be on insulation.
We expect the temperature to be a maximum 145f

iain_lansdell

I've been talking to someone in China and she says that FIR sauna manufacturers over there are mainly using Hemlock fir or Hemlock spruce because of its non-toxicity, does anyone know about Hemlock.

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