SaunaFit Panoramic-View Cedar Barrel User manual

Panoramic-View Cedar Barrel Sauna
Assembly Instructions
Please read and understand the complete instructions prior to assembly and use of your sauna Customer agrees
not to hold Dundalk LeisureCraft Inc and any of its authorized dealers liable for improper installation,
maintenance and repair of this product
2 People (recommended)
Rubber Mallet
Carpenter’s Hammer
6’ Step Ladder
Cordless Drill (we supply the bit)
Carpenter’s Level
¾” Wrench
Tape Measure

Preparing the base A full gravel pad as shown
here, or individual gravel pads for each cradle
(see picture, front page): Clear loose vegetation
and soil, level the ground with a slight slope for
drainage, and fill the area with 2-4” of crushed
limestone gravel Level and tamp Patio stones
as pictured here are also an option
A solid concrete slab, or a new or existing
wooden deck all good options as long as they
drain well Consult a professional building
contractor if you’re not sure how to proceed
with these options
Level the cradles on top of your prepared base,
space evenly, and make sure they’re arranged in
a straight line Using one of the long boards as a
guide
Lay down the special 3” bottom stave (with two
convex edges) across the centres of the cradles
Mark the exact centres of the cradles Measure
30” from the ends of the cradles to the middle
Fasten it to the cradles with the supplied 2½”
screws NOTE: Always check to ensure that you
have the correct screw length so that there will
be enough thread to hold, and especially, so that
the screw won’t go all the way through the
material and come out the other side
Measure cradle to cradle on both sides and also
corner to corner to make sure the cradles are
parallel
Please note that the number of Barrel
Cradles supplied is dependent on the
overall length of the sauna Saunas with
overall lengths of ten feet or longer have
three cradles while Saunas that are
shorter than ten feet have two cradles

Fill the cradles with enough staves to hold the
middle section with the door, and the
corresponding back middle section
Make sure there are no gaps between the edges
of the staves (tap together with mallet)
A half-inch hole was bored for drainage just
inside the walls on the lower special stave
It is handy for cleaning it out but you might want
to put a sieve in it to keep bugs out
Place the middle section of the front wall with
the door into the groove in the staves
Pay attention to which side the hinges are on
This will determine whether the door swings to
the left or to the right This is the time to
choose
Have someone hold the door assembly in
position while you put the dome into position
and brace it with two barrel staves

Fasten the half-moon side wall segments to the
door frame with supplied 2½” screws into pre-
drilled holes at the top and bottom
The tops of the various wall sections are marked
with A, B, C, or D at the top to ensure that they
are properly matched (Fasten “A” to “A”, “B” to
“B”, etc )
Position the temporary stave-holder stands on
either side of the dome approximately 1¼” away
from the edge of the dome You can use screws
or spikes to hold them in place
When the front wall has been assembled and the
stands are secured at the back, it’s time to build
up the rest of the barrel
Beging by inserting staves and tapping them
snug against the previously poisoned ones, using
the finishing nails every second board if
necessary to hold them in place until the bands
are installed
Here, the stave is fitted over the wall leaving a
deliberate gap The staves don’t have to go on

all the way to the line The line is just a guide to
keep the round shape Leave as much of a gap
as possible. This will make it easier to fit in the
last staves at the top and shape the barrel
The gaps are to ensure that instead of squeezing
the end walls, all of the force of the bands will
be directed to pressing the edges of the staves
together to form a water-tight seal
Continue placing the staves up around the front
wall and dome, tapping them tightly together so
that there are no gaps between boards
Again, make sure the inside faces of the staves
follow with the pencil circle on the end walls to
get a nice round circlular shape to the barrel
Here, because the staves are on the top half of
the barrel, they won’t need finishing nails to
hold them on
Finish installing the staves on the top half
If you end up with a gap like this you will have
to insert the supplied spacer between the two
haves of the special top stave Remove the top
stave and disassemble it, then reassemble with
the spacer and fasten with the same screws It
should look like the picture below

This is how the sauna normally looks at this
stage The barrel will be adjusted later with a
rubber mallet to eliminate this hump
First, the bands must be put on around the
sauna and the tightening hardware assembled
Put them on just snug but do not tighten them
yet
Hint: you might want to put the joints in the
bands in the least-visible position You can even
position them on the bottom under the barrel
Remove the temporary stave-holder stands
Slide the front band 2” from the forward edge to
the front edge of the sauna If you don’t have a
porch, position the second band 24” from the
front edge Measure several places to ensure
that they are on straight
Measure 2” from the back edge of the sauna to
the rear band Space the other one evenly in the
middle, again measuring in several places to
ensure straightness
If you don’t have a porch you will not have that
second band There are various configurations
of barrel saunas, but generally one band goes 2”
from each end, one band goes exactly on top of
each wall, and there will be one half-way
between the rear-most wall and the back band
With all of the band snug in position, it’s time to
adjust the barrel shape to as near a perfect circle
as possible, before tightening them up
Bump the staves upward where necessary (from
inside the sauna if you don’t have a porch to
avoid possibly cracking ends)

Bump the bands inward where necessary, hitting
on the bands if possible
Even up the ends of the staves from the front
and back too
IMPORT T:
After adjusting the staves, (before tightening up
the bands), your barrel should look like the
picture to the left; with a gap at the top of
approximately ¼” at the most, that spans
approximately a quarter of the barrel
If you have significantly less of a gap than ¼”, or
the gap spans significantly less than one quarter
of the barrel, you will you will have to add the
spacer (see second-last page “Adjusting Barrel
Size”)
If you have significantly more gap or if the gap
spans significantly more than ¼ of the barrel,
you might have to reduce the barrel by
disassembly that special top stave and
trimmning as much as ¾” from each half (see
second-last page “Adjusting Barrel Size”) This is
very rare Call customer service if you need
assistance
With the shape of the barrel and the size of the
gap right, it is time to tighten the bands
Recheck the spacing and straighness of the
bands just before tightening
Now tighten the bands, each a little at a time If you have two people assembling, one should tighten while the other
bangs down on the bands, (or up from inside the chamber if necessary) to keep the circular shape
You can use a power driver such as this cordless drill with a deep ¾” socket, but if you do you will still need to use an
open-ended or box wrench to tighten fully
Don’t be afraid to tighten as much as possible with a standard wrench, but don’t use an extension to achieve greater
torque or you might overtighten and damage the wood or the hardware

Flat Floor option: (included with Signature
Contoured Benches option) Place the fully
assembled flat floor in the sauna, and make sure
it is level
It is not necessary to secure it with screws The
benches will hold it in place
Signature Bench Assembly – porch seats
Note: Porch & Signature Benches are optional
Assemble porch benches (if applicable) by
fastening seat assemblies to front assemblies
using 1½”Kreg Screws, 2 places (image left)
Install the porch floor, if applicable Ensure that
it is level with the bottom of the door
Level the bench and fasten to the sauna’s front
wall with four 2½” deck screws into pre-drilled
holes (see image below)
Also fasten from the outside through the outer
wall into the back of the bench seat frame with
2 ½” screws (1 place)
Finally, the outer leg of the seat fastens to the
floor with one 2½” Kreg Screw through pre-
drilled screw pocket on the inside

Signature Bench Assembly – Sauna
Chambre Benches
The sauna chambre benches are a little
different than the small porch seats They have
supports at each end for the seat assembly to
rest on
Join the bench supports at the top of the bench
front by their square ends with two Kreg
screws
Level the Bench Support, and join the angled
end to the sauna wall with two Kreg screws, as
shown
Place the bench seat on top of the installed
bottom assembly as shown
Secure the top of the bench to the bottom
assembly in the front with two 2½” deck
screws (2 places, as shown)

To fasten the curved bench in the dome, first
attach a support bracket to the dome-end of
both benches with three 2½” deck screws
each
Lay down the curved dome bench and fasten it
to the support brackets with 2½” deck screws
(2 places per side)
Fasten the Dome Bench Support to the bottom
of the Dome Bench
Level the bench and screw in four 1½” deck
screws into pre-drilled holes
Fasten the bottom of the Dome Bench Support
using two 2½” Kreg Screws into pre-drilled
screw pockets

The Head / Back Rests can be placed anywhere
they are needed
The door handle usually goes in the centre of the
door (left) and the Towel Bar is made to go on
the inside of the door (below) but can be
installed lower or higher as desired It usually
goes about half-way vertically Use 1½"screws
The heater goes beside the door on the side of the
front wall with the short bench
Pictured is the Tylo Sport Sense heater See the
manufacturer’s installation guide for your heater.
The heater guard might look a little different
than the one pictured, depending on your
sauna and heater type Fasten with screws
provided with the heater
Wash the rocks thoroughly before placing them
into the heater or you’ll have a muddy mess when
you put water on them
IMPORTA T: Operate the heater for an hour with the sauna door fully open to burn off any residual coating from
the manufacturing process
Congratulations! You have successfully assembled your Cedar Barrel Sauna.

ADJUSTI G BARREL SIZE (CIRCUMFERE CE)
It is important to realize that the sauna’s outer barrel “cylinder” (assembly of the sauna barrel “staves”) needs to
“float” around the circular end walls when fully assembled and the straps tightened, with a space between the
circular end walls and the barrel cylinder. When fully assembled you won’t see this space. It will be inside the
groove that surrounds the end walls. This air gap is necessary to ensure that the force from the tightened bands is
applied only to pressing the edges of the barrel staves together to form a water-tight seal, instead of wasting the
force on squeezing the end walls, which would result in loose joints and leakage.
IF THE GAP IN YOUR SAUNA IS NOT SIMILAR TO THE PICTURE BELOW, THAT IS TO SAY, A ¼” GAP SPANNING
APPROXIMATELY ¼ OF THE CIRCLE, YOU MIGHT NEED TO INCREASE OR DECREASE THE BARREL CIRCUMFERENCE
ACCORDINGLY
To increase the size of the barrel, insert the spacer Remove the special top stave with
the two concave edges, and take the two halves apart by removing the screws Place the
supplied spacer in between the halves and screw the assembly back together using the
same screws The new wider special top stave assembly is inserted back in place, and then
the circle is reshaped The gap should now be about ¼” and span about ¼ of the circle
(pictured below with spacer inserted) If so, tighten the bands
To decrease the size of the barrel, remove the special top stave and disassemble the two
halves Rip ¾” from the inside edge of both halves, reassemble the two halves, and reinsert
it into the barrel and reshape the circle This will decrease the barrel’s circumference by
1½” (figure right) The gap should now be ¼” to ½” and span ⅓ to ½ of the circle If so,
tighten the bands If you are not comfortable doing this, or if you don’t have access to a
table saw, call Dundalk LeisureCraft and we can help

WARRA TY
Our Products are warranted to be free of defects in materials and workmanship under normal use and service, for a period of
three years (3 years) from date of purchase With the warranty you will get a NO HASSLE next business day (depending on
shipping service) replacement for all requested parts Product must be cared for properly, this warranty does not cover
misuse or negligence and the manufacturer is not liable for any injury or damage caused by the product The warranty is also
not valid if repairs are attempted by anyone not authorized to do so Please contact your Dundalk LeisureCraft Dealer for
more warranty Information
HOW TO TAKE A SAU A
Pre-heat your sauna to the desired temperature (usually between 80-100°C)
While it’s warming up, take a nice hot shower
Enter the pre-heated sauna, relax and allow your body to perspire in the soft dry heat Do not throw water on the rocks during
the first part of the session
Cool off with a cold shower or a quick swim in a lake or pool
Re-enter the sauna and sprinkle water on the rocks This will increase humidity to about 30% to assist in perspiration
Half a cup every 5 minutes should be enough Too much water will just cool off the rocks and you’ll get less steam
After a 20-30 minute sauna, cool off in the shower or lake or pool
Repeat this sauna/cold shower process as often as desired
It is important to drink during your sauna session and even a light snack
Like bathing in a hot tub, excessive exposure can be harmful to a person’s health People with poor health should consult their
physicians before using the sauna
THESE ARE GUIDELINES ONLY ENJOY YOUR SAUNA WHATEVER WAY YOU DESIRE
CHILDREN MUST BE SUPERVISED BY ADULTS
MAI TAI I G YOUR SAU A AFTER I STALLATIO
Wash the layer of rock dust off of the sauna rocks before using them f
When your sauna is set up and working you should “break-in” the sauna before using it for the first time Turn it on its highest
setting and keep it like that for about 1 hour This is recommended to burn off any oils and impurities from manufacturing, and it
also “cures” the woodwork After about ¾ hour, slowly pour about one litre of cold water on the rocks It should all turn to
steam and not come out of the bottom of the heater If it does, you’re pouring too fast
It is considered good sauna etiquette that guests take a shower with soap and sit on a double-layer of terrycloth towels to
prevent perspiration from getting onto the benches and walls where the oils will accumulate over time After each use, leave the
door fully open for the wood to dry out Duck boards can be lifted up to air out if necessary
Under normal conditions, a slight wash of the floor and benches several times a year will maintain its cleanliness The cedar
benches can be washed with a mild solution of liquid cleaner and water to remove any buildup and perspiration stains from the
wood Never use ammonia or harsh cleaners as they can turn the wood gray
Good care should be taken of the wooden bucket and ladle They should be stored upside down to promote drying
The peridotite sauna rocks may need to be replaced in 6 to 10 years depending on severity and frequency of use In many cases,
the rocks could last up to 15 years
Do NOT use commercial wood sealers from local lumberyards or hardware stores These are not designed to withstand the sauna
temperatures or humidity!
Contact your local dealer or Dundalk LeisureCraft directly if you have questions or concerns regarding your product