Sauna Gets Roof, Walls

A group of volunteers yesterday revived last year's sauna project at Better Farm, adding a roof and starting work on exterior walls.

Begun last summer, Better Farm's sauna is an exercise in upcycling. All components are reused from something else: a pallet floor, exterior walls reclaimed from a demolition project this winter, and even a tree stump left after a windstorm knocked down a giant tree back in 2011. What couldn't be reclaimed was purchased from the sawmill next door.

Here are Bob Laisdell, workshop instructor (left) and one of last year's sustainability students Jacob Firman, getting things started:

 After Day 1:

 

Here's the sauna taking shape, with some of the pallet flooring complete:

The crew yesterday trimmed up and finished the roof, which is now ready for metal sheeting (also reclaimed from the winter's demolition project), completed the pallet floors (pallets plucked from the dump), insulated the floor (reused hard foam insulation), and added one of the exterior walls (reclaimed tongue and groove). Once the exterior walls are done, it will be time to add a window or two, put in the front door, and get started on the inside benches, wood stove, vent, and changing room. Here are some photos from the day:

 

Measuring the roofline.

The tree stump will become a bench in the sauna's changing room. Cutting pallets to fit around said stump? Not a fun project.

 

 

To learn more about the projects and upcoming events at Better Farm, click here.

Sauna Update

Better Farm's sauna gets a roof and floor.

We back in July broke ground on a sauna constructed entirely out of local and reused materials. In this instance, "green building" refers to the long list of items we're upcycling for the project, and our commitment to purchase everything else hyper-local (like locally sourced lumber from our next-door neighbor).

Here's our list of building materials so far:

• Rigid insulation gleaned from a construction project that had pulled it out of an old house
• A cast-iron wood stove pulled off a job site as garbage
• A stump fro a fallen tree that's being incorporated as seating inside the sauna
• Wood beams from a house demolition
• Pallet boards from packing crates and shipping materials
• Rough-cut lumber from Redwood Lumber Company

Of course, we had to buy our nails and screws new (except for a few we gleaned from Better Farm's tool shed). Since breaking ground last month, we've added most of the roof (will have to pick up more lumber and cover with metal) and floor (we need only two more pallets to get that job done). Next up are the walls, wood stove, and lining the interior walls, floor, and benches in cedar. Lastly, we'll pack the wood stove with rocks from the Adirondacks to allow for radiant heat (and steam potential)! Here are some more photos from the project's progress:

 

Many special thanks go out to Bob Laisdell for spearheading this project! Want to get involved on this project, or another one like it? Email us at info@betterfarm.org.