The Sauna

Cover, The Sauna Author(s): Rob Roy

Publisher: Chelsea Green Pub Co

ISBN: 0930031873

Order From: Amazon.com
(links will open in a new window)

Paperback, 208 pages
Publication date: March 1997

How-To Editor’s Recommended Book, 03/01/97:
This book could be called Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Saunas and Then Some! It is replete with sauna history; tradition; health benefits; a complete, detailed guide to building one for yourself, along with resources for equipment and supplies; and instructions on the proper use and maintenance of saunas. You name it, it’s here!

Customer Comments

koralglo@netrom.com from Bloomingdale, New Jersey , 11/03/97, rating=5:
It is a book about rather specific sauna I ordered that book because I wanted to construct a sauna in my basement. Based on the publisher’s recommendation I felt very confident that I will find all the necesseary information to help me with my project. To my deepest disappointment this book deals only with a very specific type of a sauna: one that is constructed from logs in a cement base.

Table of Contents
Introduction
1. About Saunas
2. Cordwood Masonry
3. The Post-and-Beam Log End Sauna
4. The Earthwood (Round) Sauna
5. The Sauna Stove
6. Variations on the Theme
7. Taking a Sauna
App. 1. Sauna Equipment Manufacturers and Distributors
App. 2. Sauna Societies
App. 3: Annotated Bibliography
App. 4. Glossary of Finnish Sauna Terms
Index

Alternative Housebuilding

Author(s): Mike McClintock

Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company.,Inc. Ney York

ISBN: 0806969954

Order From: Amazon.com
(links will open in a new window)

Alternative Housebuilding Paperback 367 pages May 1989 Log buildings,Timber Frame, Pole, Cordwood, Stone, Earth Masonary, Earth Shelter

Build a home using logs, adobe, stone, cordwood, rammed earth, or earth-sheltered methods for less money and lower energy costs. “Includes information and diagrams detailed enough to construct seven different homes…an unbiased, unglamorized, nitty-gritty understanding of what goes into constructing the different styles.”—Green Living.

Complete Book of Cordwood Masonry Housebuilding; The Earthwood Method

Author(s): Rob Roy

Publisher: Sterling Publishing

ISBN: 0806985909

Order From: Amazon.com
(links will open in a new window)

Build a low-cost, energy-efficient home! Rob Roy, cordwood’s most famous builder, with the help of nearly 300 photos and how-to illustrations with easy-to-follow directions, shows how and how not to build your very own stunning log-end home. Full-color photos throughout. 264 pages (8 in color), 290 b/w illus., 8 x 10.

The Natural House

Author(s): Dan Chiras

ISBN: 0890132578

Order From: Amazon
(links will open in a new window)

Gracious, comfortable and ecologically-benign homes are being built all across America. You may be intrigued by solar techniques and natural materials, yet lack an overview introducing the basic choices now available, along with the pros and cons of various building options. The Natural House addresses that interest with style and substance.

This exciting new book, written by a veteran author who himself lives in a straw-bale and rammed-tire home, takes the reader on a tour of fourteen natural building methods, including straw bale, rammed earth, cordwood, adobe, earthbags, papercrete, Earthships and more. You’ll learn how these homes are built, how much they cost, and the pros and cons of each. A resource guide at the end of every chapter offers a wealth of information.

This comprehensive sourcebook offers in-depth information that will guide your search for the perfect sustainable dream home. It’s a must for builders, contractors, architects and do-it-yourselfers.

With a writing style that is clear, understandable, at times humorous, and fun to read, the author shows how we can gain energy independence and dramatically reduce our environmental impact through passive heating and cooling techniques, solar electricity, wind power and micro-hydropower. Chiras also explains safe, economical ways of acquiring clean drinking water and treating wastewater, and discusses affordable green building products.

While Chiras is a strong advocate of natural building, he takes care not to romanticize natural building techniques. He alerts readers to avoidable pitfalls, offering detailed practical advice that could save you tens of thousands of dollars, whether you’re buying a natural home, building one yourself or renovating an existing structure or considering hiring a contractor to build for you.

468 pages, 2000

Cordwood Construction: A Log End View

Author: Richard C. Flatau

Publisher: Richard Flatau; Rev ed edition (January 1, 1988)

Paperback: 122 pages

ASIN: B0006YJ9CA

Order From: Amazon.com
(links will open in a new window)

Cordwood Construction: A Log End View , is a great, smaller book on how to build a cordwood home, by author/builder Richard Flatau.

158 b/w photos,diagrams, and formulas; design ideas and good information on all aspects of constructing a home, with tips, and resources for the do-it-yourselfer. Sections on mortar mixers, types of wood, insurance, how to be mortgage free. And what Richard says he’d do differently from his 20 years experience!