DIY Outside Steam Rooms Designed For Year-round Usage

Exterior Steam Rooms; both energy efficient, freeze proof, modular construction, low maintenance with both shower and sound. The older unit has been in almost daily use for over 15 years. The second unit is an updated version fabricated during the Covid-19 winter. The first 12 minutes covers the completed units, the remaining footage show some of various fabrication stages of the updated unit. No sucking tile, minimal heat bleeding glass, cross ventilation, freeze-proof, minimal maintenance. The older unit took around 60-80 hours due to the pre-fab panels. The second unit was a time sink primarily due to both fabricating the panels and the size restrictions of the pre-fab shower pan. The new unit took close to 400 hours. The new unit has shed most of the "industrial" look that the old unit has; the white fiberglass shower pan, walls and trim. The exterior matches with the house. The new unit was "baked" for a handful of days to accelerate off gassing. The compatibility of the materials used in regards to thermo-expansion rates determined both the material choices and adhesives. This is steam room number 4 and my last. The first room was fully tiled in a unheated garage under a stair case with a sliding glass access door . The second was a free standing exterior that was built like a boat inside out and had a small soaking tub. Both of the units were fabricated using standard dimensional lumber and batt insulation. The first two convinced me that the boilers need to be in a freeze-proof room or crawlspace. They were damaged during severe winter events with extended power outages or teenagers turning the heat lamp power off. By buying the used boiler, and off-the-shelf materials, the new unit was $4k. The labor, priceless, as mentioned earlier, the fabrication of the panels was very time consuming. The refrigerator panels can be had for around $150/ea for a 12 footer. Custom panels with FRP on the interior would be ideal. Building a proper jig table would- in hind sight- been the way to go and that would allow to gang all the panels at once. This was a typical one-off, you get will good at it once your done.