THE BUILD
How a Ryt Sauna is built
Every panel, every spec, and the reasoning behind each one.
R20
Wall insulation
R24
Ceiling insulation
5
Vents (3× standard)
7
Modular pieces
~2 hr
On-site assembly
−25°C
Cold-tested to
90°C
Interior temp held at −25°C ambient
MODULAR DELIVERY
Seven pieces. Two hours. Through the gate.
A Ryt Sauna arrives in seven main pieces: the base, four walls, the ceiling, and the roof. Each piece is finished inside and out before it leaves the shop. Mark is personally involved in every build.
The widest piece is 8 inches at its widest cross-section. That easily fits through standard backyard gates. No crane, no removed fence panels, no contractor on standby.
From truck to fully built sauna in about two hours, by the Ryt team. If you ever move, the sauna can move with you. We are available to take it apart and reinstall it at the new spot for an additional cost. Or you can do it yourself. It is the same seven pieces.
INSULATION
R20 walls. R24 ceiling. No spray foam.
A sauna should be built like a house, to keep out the weather and last decades.
Designed for use in all the Canadian seasons, even the winter. The walls and ceiling are rigid polyisocyanurate (polyiso) aluminum-foil panels, R20 in the 5" thick walls and R24 in the ceiling, behind a full aluminum-foil vapour barrier sealed with high-heat aluminum tape.
Polyiso is rated up to 121°C (250°F) to deliver maximum heat retention, faster warm-up times, and exceptional energy efficiency without degradation.
The base is insulated with a mix of polyiso and Roxul mineral wool. There is no spray foam in the build, anywhere. The whole assembly is designed to eliminate thermal bridging with its layered insulation. This greatly reduces the loss of insulating value at panel joins, framing, and seams that most kit saunas suffer from.
Tested at −25°C ambient. The interior holds 90°C in those conditions. That is the full Finnish-spec temperature, in a Canadian February, on a right-sized heater. On builds we deliver and install we guarantee it: if yours does not reach 90°C, we collect it and refund you in full (full terms). Most competitors do not insulate. They sell a 1.5-inch timber wall, a glass front, and leave the buyer to figure out why the heater cannot keep up in February.
Getting the insulation right is not just about heat retention. It lets the heater do its job within CSA specs. An uninsulated kit forces buyers into an oversized heater that violates the heater’s own minimum-square-footage rating. An electrician who knows the code should not install it and it will not pass an inspection. A correctly insulated sauna does not need that workaround.
FLOOR AND BASE
Aluminum-wrapped, side-drained, sealed underneath.
The base is wrapped in aluminum on the inside, the outside, and underneath. That seals it from rain, snow, and any rodent or insect that thinks the underside of an outdoor structure looks like a winter home. None of them get in.
The floor itself is sloped and waterproof, with a drain on the side: left or right, your choice. Not the center, so the ice doesn’t pile up under it over the winter.
Most kits put a timber floor in their sauna, the same wood they use for the walls. That floor does not drain. Water seeps into the joists, freezes in winter, rots over summers. A center drain is not much better in Canada. Water finds the floor’s coldest spot and ices over. A side drain pulls everything out the edge before it has the chance.
Use as much water as you want. Throw it on the rocks, throw it on yourself, hose the inside down to clean it. The floor handles it.
ROOF
All-aluminum. Lifetime.
The slightly sloped roof is custom-fit aluminum, with Titanium PSU30 roofing underlayment and weatherproof detailing at every seam.
Some sauna companies finish the roof with a rubber membrane. Rubber membrane roofs will eventually leak. Sometimes in year five, sometimes in year three. The aluminum roof on a Ryt Sauna is not going to need re-shingling, re-sealing, or a service call. That is what lifetime means here.
VENTILATION
Five vents. Three times the residential standard.
Five major vents on the standard build, four of them adjustable. The North American residential standard is one bottom vent and one upper vent with exterior covers that block most of the airflow. That is not enough. A sauna with two people and a closed door builds CO2 fast, and CO2 is what most people read as “I got dizzy in the sauna.” It is not the heat, but the lack of oxygen.
Smaller Ryt builds have four vents but that is still far more than the industry standard. The adjustable vents let you tune airflow to the room, the season, and the number of people inside.
Ventilation is also why feet stay warm. Air mixes properly when there is enough of it moving. In a poorly ventilated sauna the upper body cooks while the feet freeze on the lower bench. A Ryt Sauna does not have that problem, because the air actually circulates.
The FAQ goes deeper on this: CO2 buildup, why two vents isn’t enough, and the math behind 3× standard.
INTERIOR WOOD
Aspen, the way Finland builds.
Cedar is a North American invention. Saunas in Finland predate it by centuries and they don’t use Cedar!
The interior is local Ontario and Quebec aspen, ¾" thick, 5¼" clear shiplap as the standard profile. Light, consistent in colour, low-density so it does not get scorching to sit on, no resin to drip, no off-gassing, very low allergy rate.
Cedar’s reputation as “sauna wood” is a North American story. It got marketed that way because it grows here, smells nice, and was already in lumberyards. None of that means it is the right pick for a Finnish sauna interior.
Aspen is better in many ways. Some people are allergic to cedar without realizing it until they are inside one. Cedar is softer, so the benches dent over years of sit-on-it use. Cedar darkens considerably with sauna use, while aspen barely changes.
Wood is installed horizontally by default for airflow: the strapping behind the panels runs vertically so air moves freely behind the wall, keeping it dry. Vertical 1×6 tongue and groove aspen is a paid option for buyers who want that look. Shiplap cannot be installed vertically.
BENCHES AND FLOORBOARD
Feet up, where the heat lives.
An authentic Finnish sauna puts your feet at or above the rocks, because that is where the heat is. In a three-tier build, that is straightforward: top bench sits high, the second bench gives you somewhere to put your feet, the lowest bench is the step up. In smaller builds the geometry is tighter, but the principle holds: feet stay as high as the room allows.
In compact saunas, competitors typically put the foot bench 8 to 15 inches below the rocks, a compromise we find unacceptable. In a Ryt build the foot bench may sit just below the rocks, but the insulation keeps your feet comfortably warm even in deep winter.
Benches are heavy-duty with no fasteners showing on the surface. They lift out for cleaning and for when you want extra space to stretch.
The floorboard is a removable wood grate that sits 4 5/8 inches off the actual floor. Feet stay dry. Cleaning is easy: pull it out, rinse the floor under it, put it back.
DOORS AND EXTERIOR
Full length glass door and maintenance free exterior.
The included door is a full length glass panel set in a cedar frame, with aluminum capping over the frame on the exterior side. We have other door styles available for an extra charge. One example is our insulated door for those in extremely colder climates.
Some sauna companies build with a full-glass wall that might look appealing, but with an R-value between 1 and 4, it creates massive heat loss in the winter, putting unnecessary strain on your heater. We take a balanced approach to design, carefully selecting glass proportions so you get good views without giving up heat retention.
The exterior is LP Smartside panels by default. The panels arrive factory-primed and we paint them to any colour of your choice. Chamclad recycled-PVC cladding is a premium upgrade option in a wide range of profiles and finishes. The aluminum for the trim, base, door frame, and roof comes in over fifty different colours.
Door hinge, floor drain, heater, and controls can be installed on the right or the left. Pick whichever side suits how the sauna sits in your yard.
Other customizations available: side door (this one needs enough interior depth, which we confirm for the size you are building), larger front window, extra glass, change room with a separate entrance, porch overhang from an extended roofline, and size modifications. See Pricing and Options for what each one costs.
ELECTRICAL
Pre-installed and eSAFE-certified. Your call.
To simplify installation, any Ryt Sauna can come fully pre-wired and eSAFE-certified straight from our shop, which as far as we know is an industry-exclusive feature in North America. With the controls, lights, heater wiring, and sub-panel already built in, your local electrician only needs to complete the final hookup to your main power source.
eSAFE is available on builds we deliver and install, and on builds we crate and ship for self-assembly. USA certified package coming soon. Contact us for details.
We also offer two other options: a components package, or a recommended-electrician referral, for buyers who want to use their own electrician.
THE WHOLE SHEET
Every spec in one place.
Insulation & sealing
- Walls
- R20 rigid polyisocyanurate, aluminum-foil faced
- Ceiling
- R24 rigid polyiso, aluminum-foil faced
- Base
- Mix of polyiso and Roxul mineral wool
- Vapour barrier
- Full aluminum-foil, sealed with high-heat aluminum tape
Roof, floor & drainage
- Roof
- All-aluminum, custom-fit per build with Titanium PSU30 roofing underlayment. Slopes to the rear
- Floor
- Sloped, waterproof, aluminum-wrapped sealed base
- Drain
- Side drain, left or right. Water does not go under the sauna
Ventilation
- Ventilation
- 5 major vents on the standard build, 3× residential standard, 4 adjustable
Interior
- Wood, default
- Local Ontario and Quebec aspen, ¾", 5¼" clear shiplap. Tongue and groove available
- Wood, upgrades
- 1×6 clear aspen T&G, or Western Red Cedar (1×4 / 1×6 T&G or 5¼" shiplap, knotty or clear). Vertical installation with tongue and groove only
- Floorboard
- Removable wood grate, 4 5/8" off the floor with rubber feet
Doors
- Default
- Glass panel in wood frame
- Upgrade
- Other styles including a fully insulated door
Exterior & finish
- Siding, default
- LP Smartside, painted to your colour with top-grade exterior paint made in Canada or the northern United States. Black and white are free on the Oma and the Haven, any other colour is $350 on those two. Free from 3 person up
- Siding, upgrade
- Premium Chamclad recycled-PVC cladding, made in Edmonton
- Trim colours
- Gentek brand, 50+ aluminum colours for trim, base, door frame, and roof flashings
- Heater
- Fenno and Saunacore, Canadian made and CSA approved. Other choices available
- Heater exterior
- Stainless steel
- Fasteners
- Stainless steel
Performance
- Cold-tested to
- −25°C ambient, interior holds 90°C
Build & logistics
- Modular pieces
- 7 main pieces: base, 4 walls, ceiling, and roof, plus benches, railing, heater, door, and floorboard
- Widest piece
- 8 inches at its widest, so it fits almost anywhere
- Assembly time
- ~2 hours by Ryt’s team. 4 to 6 hours for first-time self-assembly
- Hand built where
- Pickering, Ontario. Come and see the build quality for yourself
Want to talk specifics?
Pricing, model lineup, sizing, lead time. Or send a photo of where you are thinking of putting it and we will go from there.