Sauna wood: which wood to use in your sauna project? 

Get your sauna wood delivered to you (only for US people) from us, see selection at: thesaunaheater.com/pages/wood-sauna-building-guide

Poplar or Aspen benches for cooler seating. Clear pine or spruce on the walls and ceiling. I agree with Trumpkin on cedar - never was used by my Finnish relatives here in Canada. Birch for the vihta !

As long as you select a low-density wood, the type of wood is less important than proper design for ventilation to minimize temperature stratification and ensure a healthy environment. Western red cedar and redwood are popular on the west coast of the US because they are plentiful there, clear pine elsewhere. In Finland, it's Nordic spruce and alder. (Finns don't use Western red cedar because it isn't available locally.) Trumpkin's dislike of cedar is aimed at the eastern cedars, the white and aromatic, which I agree do not belong in the sauna. (He specifically mentions cedar closets and chests, which use aromatic cedar and not WRC.) Western red cedar, on the other hand, is my material of choice for its workability, aesthetics, dimensional stability, and -yes- aroma (which is completely different from aromatic cedar). Western red cedar is actually not a true cedar at all (genus Cedrus) but rather Thuja.

I am being offered a Mahogany sauna at a lower price than Canadian Hemlock due it being a cancelled order. Whilst I know the mahogany would much more expensive to build, I’m worried it would get too hot and have a high thermal conductivity. Any advice?

Why do you not use hemlock? For alder to be a good choice, does it need to be thermally modified? I appreciate your video because choosing a wood IS CONFUSING.

yes everyone is biased in some way. I prefer western Red Cedar. It is more common and available here in Canada.

What is your opinion on basswood?

I read that Spruce and Pine have more resin than some woods and when heated the resin can be a lung irritant? What do you think? Thanks for the video.

I’ve never heard of anyone using alder in a sauna. Doesn’t it rot easily?

Obviously cost and availability play into these decisions too. Where i am the home improvement stores have very little untreated wood, so i used Douglas Fir ship lap. It does ooze a little sap, but otherwise has been good so far