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skru33

Basement bathroom design?

last year

Hi! We are redoing our basement and want a sauna and steam shower. I have considered hiring a professional designer but wonder if it is necessary. Contractor does all expects of the Reno and says a rough sketch is fine… the only element that can not be moved is the sauna, as it has a lower ceiling. What do you think of this design?

Comments (20)

  • last year

    I don’t love that the door opens to the side of the toilet. And if the door is left open you would see the toilet.

    skru33 thanked Val B
  • PRO
    last year

    I have never found a contractor who could do those items well I like premade stam showers and saunas then maybe the contractor could install following the directions . Both of those create a ton of moisture that needs to be controlled or mould will be you next issue . The premade ones are awesome and well sealed . As for seeing the toilet it is a bathroom and they have toilets if it is an issue close the door honestly.. NOt sure I would use both but that is a personal thing .

    skru33 thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
  • last year

    What is the square next to the shower that the sauna door is opening onto?

    skru33 thanked kandrewspa
  • last year

    I would swap the vanity and the toilet and change the door swing.

    hide the toilet when the door is open.

    skru33 thanked Lyn Nielson
  • last year

    Hi! The square is a cabinet that will have towels and such!

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    Some quick thoughts. Most saunas and steam baths in North America are built poorly with the end result being that they don't provide a very good experience and so used for only 2 or 3 years before becoming dust collectors. The details on both of these, like getting sauna benches high enough, are critical. And when done right result in a great experience.

    For the steam bath it's recommended to not combine this with a shower as the two are typically used together in an alternating fashion; steam, cool shower, steam, cool shower, etc.

    The sauna in your drawing looks small. The minimum interior volume for a sauna to work properly is about 6w x 7d x 8h' but ideally a bit larger. This, too low of benches and bad ventilation are the number one mistakes that people in America make.

    A typical three round sauna session will involve each person showering 4 times (unless cooling off in a natural body of water like a lake). It's best for the shower to be open to make this quick and simple (photo).

    Two good resources for these are Trumpkin's Notes and the book 'Secrets of Finnish Sauna Design'.



    If you do it right you'll really enjoy the end result.

    skru33 thanked opaone
  • last year

    Oh wow thanks for this great info! We have now decided against the steam shower… ok will take your advice with and open shower!

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    Yeah, if you do it right, particularly the sauna, you'll have a wonderful and enjoyable experience.

    skru33 thanked opaone
  • last year



    I have reworked it.... does this look better?

  • last year

    Can you provide the dimensions of your room and the sauna?

    skru33 thanked Moore4
  • last year

    Sauna is 5 fout 5 and 6.5 feet tall. The room is 7.5 feet wide and 11 feet long. Thanks for your interest! :)



  • last year

    Saunas that small usually become dust collectors or storage rooms in short order as they do not provide a very good experience. If that's all the space you have then I'd not waste money on it.

    If you can do 5.5 x 6.5 x 7 finished interior then you can use a Saunum heater, not ideal but workable.

    Better would be at least 6x7x8.




    skru33 thanked opaone
  • PRO
    last year

    The bathroom looks too tight. If this is a basement hopefully you can steal a bit of space from elsewhere to make the layout better and more functional.

    skru33 thanked Norwood Architects
  • PRO
    last year

    I have done many small saunas that are used often for 2 people there are great advantages to smaller .I think eliminating the steam shower was wise too I guess moving the tloilet will be fine if it is possible without digging up the concrete to access the sewer line

  • last year

    "I have done many small saunas that are used often for 2 people there are great advantages to smaller "

    Smaller saunas do not work well. They have too much stratification, uneven heat and steam, and poor air quality among other problems which is why you don't see them in Finland and elsewhere in Europe. For whatever reason American's build them and then most become dust collectors.

  • last year

    Your drawing with fixtures appears to be out of scale. Using your dimensions, and utilizing the concept suggested by opaone, here would be my suggestion. Build out the sauna to be closer to size recommended by opaone, utilize the shower outside, using the idea in that photo.

    You could put in a glass door to close it off from the vanity/toilet area, or a curb & shower curtain. I show a 3-foot door into the bathroom, full size 4-foot vanity with linens and 21" linen cabinet. If you used a slightly narrower door, you would have room to put a partition up behind it to provide privacy for the toilet. Towel/robe hooks across from the toilet right outside the shower & sauna entry.

  • last year
    last modified: last year

    @Moore4's redo is a big improvement IMO. I would not do a glass door or curtain or curb - just leave it open and very easy to move through. Maybe swap the linens and hooks?

    One more sauna bit. Sauna is a social thing and it's not unusual to spend several hours doing hot - cold rounds.. While a sauna and shower area are considered a wet area, they ideally should be separate from a WC.

    If you have the space, flip things around so that the WC (toilet & vanity) is a separate room/space from the sauna/shower space. And connected to a rest area and to outside (to cool down).

    skru33 thanked opaone
  • last year

    After reading opaone's suggestion for better separation of sauna & shower from WC (toilet & vanity), I played with this again. I feel like I am splitting hairs and certainly pushing minimum guidelines to give you separate access to both, but here's an offering.



    skru33 thanked Moore4
  • last year

    This is truly amazing.... thank you meeting tomorrow with our contractor!

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