Winterising your garden sauna: the autumn checklist

Winter is the season you put a sauna in the garden for, and also the one when every neglected job shows up at once. The list is short and genuinely enough, and the whole thing takes one afternoon in September.

Seal and door: the most important point

Check that the door closes by itself and sits snugly all the way round. Test: with the sauna heated, run your hand around the closed door.

A worn seal is the biggest single heat loss in winter, bigger than the difference between 38 and 44 mm wall thickness. A new one costs very little.

Lubricate the hinges. Metal behaves differently in winter, and you will notice a sticking door at the first frost.

Flue and stove

Clean the flue before the season, not in the middle of it. Soot builds up faster in a sauna than in a fireplace, because you heat briefly and intensely.

Check the stones and replace any cracked ones before regular firing begins. Crumbling stones release heat less well and block air circulation.

With an electric stove: check that all the heating elements work, and test the controller and timer.

Roof and drainage

Look at the covering and the overhang. A single loose spot is enough for water to run in there all winter, and you will only notice in spring when the damage is done.

Clear the autumn leaves and needles. Wet leaves hold moisture against the covering and age it faster.

Check that water runs away from the sauna and does not collect around the supports.

Water: the most expensive winter damage

If you have a plunge tub, garden shower or hose at the sauna, drain the pipes completely.

Freezing water bursts pipes and fittings. It is damage you discover in spring, and it costs many times more than half an hour's work in autumn.

Path and lighting

Firm up the path or lay mats. You will be going out heated, barefoot or in flip-flops, in the dark, and ice is a typical cause of injuries at garden saunas.

Put a little light at the entrance. Even a solar light changes the comfort of a winter evening more than you would think.

Plan a spot for the snow shovel within reach.

Log store

Dry wood under cover, for the whole season. This is where winter fails most often: wood bought in November is damp, and damp wood means a sauna that will not get warm and a flue that fills with soot.

Wood should season for at least a year. So lay in your winter supply early, or buy kiln-dried wood.

With two sessions a week, allow roughly one cubic metre of stacked logs for the season.