The biggest problems that customer mentioned were (1) resin coming from the wood; (2) wood deformation; (3) mold appearance; (4) difficulties constructing the sauna on site.
Let’s take these problems one by one:
(1) Resin coming from the wood. Spruce or pine are the two wood types containing most of the resin inside the pores of the wood. Normally, the temperature inside of the sauna is about 100 C. The resin inside the wood pores becomes liquid and, therefore, it starts to leak. This is a completely normal and natural fact. Mr. Ludwig`s ordered sauna was made of spruce, therefore, he faced this problem. This is the main drawback of having this type of wood. On the other hand, the products of this kind of wood are the least expensive. Do all wood types have this resin problem? No, not all. We use mainly 3 types of wood to construct an outdoor sauna. The first one is spruce, the second one is larch and the last one is thermo wood. We always recommend choosing the thermowood to avoid many unpleasant but natural happenings with the wood. Thermowood is affected the least by the temperature and humidity changes as deformation through clamminess is reduced up to 90 %. Moreover, the resin is removed from the wood during the thermal modification process.
So, could I order the sauna from spruce or larch? Certainly, you can! All the wooden parts inside the sauna that you expose your body to are made of deciduous wood (linden or alder). This kind of wood does not reproduce resin, therefore, it is completely safe to sit or lie on the benches inside of the sauna without the unpleasant feeling of the resin.
(2) Wood deformation. In this case, the customer addressed the problem of the deformation of wooden doors. Well, bigger or smaller deformations for all wooden structures are completely normal and natural. The best way to minimize deformations is to use thermo wood. This type of wood, as mentioned above, is burned at high temperatures and, therefore, most of the water capillaries are removed and burned. This will minimize the possibility of deformations. Mr. Ludwig constructed the outdoor pod sauna in the early winter when the weather`s humidity is extremely high. Moreover, the customer mentioned that the building process of the sauna was performed in a super humid environment with much water. The bent door is a result of temperature and moisture changes. As a natural product, timber will react to changes in atmospheric conditions (may shrink or expand). Visible splitting of the wood may occur as it expands and contracts with changes in humidity and temperature.
(3) Mould appearance. Well, the appearance of mold on wood or on another surface requires certain conditions. The area must be humid enough, and the outside temperature should be around 0-5 C. If the mold appears, we advise using various anti-mold agents after the wood surface has been completely cleaned. To reduce the possibility of mold appearance, we do recommend oiling all external wooden parts at least twice per year. The linseed oil is perfect for this purpose.
(4) Difficulties constructing the sauna on site. It must be understood that in order to construct the sauna one should have at least basic carpenter skills. Regardless that we always pre-build the most sophisticated parts in our factory (like sauna`s wooden base, full panoramic windows, doors, etc..), there will still be situations that require skills and knowledge. We do always recommend consulting the professional carpenter if you face any uncertainties. We provide the basic building manuals, and they can always be acquired before ordering the particular product. Please carefully evaluate your skills before ordering. Manuals will not cover all aspects and they are more of informative type of material. If the situation allows, we do always recommend ordering an already factory pre-made sauna. We will build it perfectly so you wouldn’t have any problems. On the other hand, self-assembly packages are extremely useful for hard access locations.
