With the development of excellent sauna installation instructions on How to Build a Sauna, the home owner has become empowered to "do-it-yourself".
With do-it-yourself (D-I-Y) sauna kits costing $2,200 to $4,900, a saving of $2,000 to $3,200 becomes powerful motivation to go the do-it-yourself route.
A Moment in History The author was a founder of a sauna manufacturer in 1974 and has observed the shift in consumer preferences ever since.
In 1976 - 1978, almost all the saunas sold were prebuilt saunas.
By 1985, our D-I-Y sauna kits were chosen by 40% of customers.
Today, D-I-Y sauna kit sales have over 80% of market share.
The Installation of a Do-It-Yourself Sauna Kit Makes Sense There are 6 strong reasons why the D-I-Y sauna kit has become such a popular choice among home owners today.

1. Save Money - When the typical saving is in the $2,000 to $3,200 range, the purchase of a D-I-Y sauna kit makes sense.
   
2. Great Instructions are Available - Most D-I-Y sauna kits come with excellent instructions that are matched to the parts in the sauna kit.
   If the kit comes with the best-seller sauna building book, The Art of Sauna Building, it is usually the sign of a good quality sauna kit.
   
3. The Size and Layout can be Customized - A D-I-Y sauna kit can be easily customized by the manufacturer to fit any spot in the basement, beside the bathroom and actually anywhere in the home.
   The D-I-Y sauna kit even works well as an outdoor sauna kit.
   
4. Creating Value in the Home - An expenditure of $2,500 to $4,000 for a home sauna adds considerable value to the home.
   The rule of thumb is that the value is almost double the cost of the material as you are providing the labor.
   
5. Personal Satisfaction - Among the 32,000 saunas that were designed to my standards over the years, many were sold to customers who were not handy.
   But with good instructions, the saunas were successfully built, even by those not gifted with handiness.
   My favorite story is about two sisters sharing a home.
   They were not handy but they believed that this was the right thing to do as they could not afford a carpenter to install the sauna.
   They were meticulous in reading and following the instructions to the letter.
   Upon completion, they were ecstatic at their lovely creation.
   Their thank you letter to me is still prized in my memorabilia.
   (Yes, I took a lot of D-I-Y sauna kit orders as a result of their connections!).
   
6. Health Benefits - The health benefits of a real sauna are well-known to all who use their saunas regularly.
   Want to reduce colds and the flu by 70%? Regular use of the sauna will boost your auto-immune system, Want to sleep better? You will after a sauna.
   Want to have younger-looking skin? The sauna has a way of making you shed the dead skin cells on your face.
   Is that D-I-Y sauna project starting to look good?

The Alternatives to a Do-It-Yourself Sauna Project If time is an obstacle to a sauna building project (it needs up to 30 hours), or you want the guarantee of a professional installation, consider the alternatives:

1. Buy the same D-I-Y sauna kit -Let a local carpenter install it for you.
   Pay them $1,700 to $2,400 to install it and get peace of mind along with a professional-looking job.
   (It's the same kit - just a different installer).
   
2. Buy a prefab sauna kit -Pay the manufacturer for the quality and the engineering.
   (Price range $4,800 to $7,500).
   It will be a do-it-yourself project to assemble it after arrival (allow 2 to 4 hours).
   

An Electrician is Needed A licensed electrician will be needed to do the electrical work.
The wiring needs to be installed early in the construction process.
Every home in North America has the 220-volt power needed - it's the same hook-up as your kitchen stove.
The Best 5 Tips for a Do-It-Yourself Sauna Project

1. A sauna does not need plumbing.
   A sauna bucket will hold the water to throw on the stones to change the humidity.
   
2. A drain is not needed.
   If water is used carefully, no drain is needed.
   
3. Get the most important planning tool for a D-I-Y sauna installation - Get a copy of "The Art of Sauna Building".
   
4. Buy the complete sauna kit from a manufacturer or their factory-outlet.
   You will save considerable time and frustration by buying a professional sauna kit for D-I-Y installation.
   
5. Get the best advice from real sauna practitioners - there is so much bad and misleading data on the internet today.
   If you need special advice, contact the Sauna Guru on the internet.
   

Is a Sauna a Realistic D-I-Y Venture? Finland today has over 3 million saunas.
Finland's population is 5.
3 million.
Most of their saunas were D-I-Y projects as every Finlander knows how.
Do the math - the answer will be in your new sauna! (If the statistic of the 3 million saunas in Finland shocks you, it came from the Secretary of State, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, at the International Sauna Congress 2010, held 27-28 May 2010, at the Tokyo Dome Hotel).
Now, if you can't trust a Finn about your sauna, who can you trust?