Our Story,
I’ve been using saunas and cold plunges for about seven years. I started with cold plunging and later added the sauna. With my background in welding, construction, and product design, I built my own plunge and sauna. During COVID, when my landscape design and construction company shut down, some friends asked if I could build plunges and saunas for them. At the time, these wellness tools were just starting to gain mainstream attention through popular podcasters.
However, I always felt something was off when building saunas. I knew how to build them well, used high-quality materials, and my work was well-received—but something bothered me. When I visited friends a year or two after building their saunas, I noticed how the elements and extreme temperature fluctuations had already taken a toll. That’s what unsettled me. I didn’t want to build something that would last only five years and then quickly deteriorate.
I began researching sauna brands worldwide. Saunas range from $3,000 to over $60,000, yet even among high-end brands, I wasn’t convinced they would last beyond ten years. Over the past five years, many friends have asked me for sauna recommendations. My best advice has been to buy a barrel sauna from Costco, spend a day or two assembling it, and then use it for firewood in five years before starting over. Personally, I dislike barrel saunas—they feel claustrophobic. You can’t stretch out, stand up, or move around. Even in larger models, two people often feel like one too many.
In 2024, I revisited the idea of building saunas. I created some cool designs, but deep down, I knew the fundamental problem remained. Traditional outdoor saunas, aside from barrel designs, are essentially well-insulated sheds—regardless of the price. And how well do sheds hold up over time? Now factor in extreme temperature swings, often reaching 200°F, and it’s clear these structures are doomed.
In my mind, a sauna should be more like a car: structurally stable, capable of withstanding extreme temperature changes, and, if cared for, still looking great after 10, 20, or even 30 years. A house was the only other comparison, but houses require constant maintenance and don’t face the same temperature extremes.
So, I decided to start fresh: what would I want in a sauna if cost wasn’t an issue?
This was the only way I could see myself doing it. I believed there was a market for this, though I had no idea how big. I just trusted there were others like me.
