Sauna, Hammam and Steam Room Build Notes by Sauna Dekor

Private villa sauna with a pitched ceiling, Istanbul. Almost everyone specifying a residential sauna starts at the wrong end. Brand first, then cabin size, then timber species, and heat type last — by which point the decision has already been made for them by whatever the shortlist happened to sell, or by an electrical design that was frozen two months earlier. The decisions have a correct order, and it is roughly the reverse of how the market presents them. What follows is that order, written by the people who get called back when it was ignored. Some disclosure before the advice, because it is relevant. Sauna Dekor Spa Solutions manufactures saunas — we run our own joinery workshop in Istanbul, we have done since 1987, and this is our fortieth year. We are also the contractor that installs them, in villas, branded residences and hotel projects across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye, and in more than 35 countries in total. So we have a commercial interest in what gets spec...