Got the door home and measured it for the glass insert. I went to Groves Glass (in Port Hadlock) and ordered some 7/16ths tempered rain glass to match the guest bathroom window. A week later it arrived and I fitted it to the door. Bill figured I was using double strength (1/8") glass, so the rabbit in the door was too shallow. No worries, out came the router and I deepened the rabbit to accommodate the glass. 1/2 hour of work and a bunch of anxieties left on the garage floor.Gary Ellis installed the door, only because he's so damned fast and good. In a half hour he did 4 hours of my work. So this was a deal. I took the pins outta the door and finished off the jamb and door with 3 coats of polyurethane. In went the glass (silicon caulk on the corners) and the stops and the door was ready to reinstall.
We used a bullet catch for the door, as specified by code. The idea here is that you shouldn't have to operate a lever to get out of the sauna if you've succumbed to the heat. With a bullet catch you just have to lean against the door and it opens—pretty easy to escape from hell.Bill made two handles for the doors from a block of teak I scavenged from the Shipwrights Coop in Port Townsend for $10. Did you know that teak goes for about $45-60 a board foot nowadays since most of the forests in Indonesia were raped long ago. I expect to see synthetic teak on the market any day (if not already). Never the less, the teak handles look great and they match the little bench we have next to the shower and door.
The door trim is up now and painted, so the sauna appears to be finished from the outside. To complete the interior, I need to buy about 250 sq. ft of cedar for the ceiling and walls. This equates to about 570 linear ft of 1"x6" siding. You can get tight knot tongue and grove siding for about $1.20/ln ft, or clear T&G siding for $3/ln ft. The clear is really good looking but 2.5X the cost, so some soul searching will have to go into this decision.
I still need to buy a heater for the sauna. Will probably make a trip down to sales-tax free Portland and shop for a Tylo or Finlandia heater. Prices are better and selection is good, plus we'll get to explore more of Portland—Americas most bicycle friendly city they say.
