The wood-fired Tuli we built in Plymouth
The Plymouth build is our Tuli model with an IKI wood-fired stove. The Tuli is 8x12 and seats six to eight, which makes it the size most suburban back yards can take. This one pairs a traditional wood fire with a modern exterior.
Wood-fired in a suburb takes a little thought. You need a dry place to keep firewood, and you should think about where the smoke goes when the wind is toward the neighbors. Plenty of people still want the fire, and this build shows it can be done on a Plymouth lot. If you would rather skip the fire, the same Tuli can be built with an IKI electric heater.
Cul-de-sac lots and the route to the back yard
Plymouth has hundreds of cul-de-sacs, and they make for a particular kind of lot: narrow at the street, wide at the back. That is good news for the sauna, since the open ground is behind the house where you want it. It is harder on delivery, because the gap between houses is at its tightest right where a finished building has to pass.
Add a fence or an air conditioner beside the house, and the route needs real measuring. We do that on the site visit. Some Plymouth neighborhoods also have an association, so check your covenants for anything on detached buildings before you choose a model.
Near Medicine Lake, Parkers Lake and Plymouth's smaller lakes
Medicine Lake is the big water in Plymouth, with French Regional Park on its shore. Parkers Lake, Bass Lake, Schmidt Lake and Pike Lake are smaller. A sauna with a lake view is a fine thing to plan for, but shoreland rules can limit how close a building sits to the water. Ask the city about your lot before you plan the view.
Which sauna fits a Plymouth lot
The 8x12 Tuli is the model we have already built in Plymouth and the one most lots here can take. For a smaller yard, the 6x8 Kota seats four to six. If you host bigger groups and have the room, the 8x16 Superior seats eight or more, and a Custom build covers anything the standard models do not.
More on how we build them: custom outdoor saunas. What they cost: pricing.
Delivery and site prep in Plymouth
Your sauna arrives finished, so a level pad and a measured route from the street come first. On a cul-de-sac lot we pay close attention to the side yard width. For an electric heater, we coordinate with your electrician on power to the pad. We look at access during the site visit and plan the set around it.
Plymouth's Planning Division can tell you how a detached sauna is treated on your lot and whether shoreland rules apply near your lake. If your neighborhood has an association, ask it as well.
We can also handle the site work: the gravel pad or piers, the electrical trench and hookup, and building on site where a finished sauna will not fit through. The full rundown is on our site work, delivery and installation page.
Around Plymouth
- Medicine Lake
- Parkers Lake
- Bass Lake
- Schmidt Lake
- Pike Lake
- Gleason Lake
- Lake Camelot
- Turtle Lake
A build in Plymouth
Questions from Plymouth
Saunas in Plymouth, answered
Have you built a sauna in Plymouth?
Yes. We built a Tuli, our 8x12 model for six to eight bathers, with an IKI wood-fired stove in a Plymouth back yard. It is on our projects page with photos. If you want to sit in a Tuli before deciding, you can book a session at Nordic Escape in St. Michael, which uses one with an IKI electric heater.
Is a wood-fired sauna a problem with neighbors this close in Plymouth?
It can work, and our Plymouth build is wood-fired. Think about where the chimney sits relative to the neighbors and where you will keep dry wood. Ask the city if you have questions about wood smoke rules. If that sounds like more than you want to manage, an IKI electric heater gives you the same room with heat on a switch.
Can you get a sauna into a pie-shaped cul-de-sac lot in Plymouth?
Often, yes, but it has to be measured. Cul-de-sac lots are narrow between the houses, and that gap is the route to the back yard. On the site visit we measure the side yard and note anything in the way, such as a fence or an air conditioner. Then we plan the delivery around what is there.
Can a sauna sit close to the water on Medicine Lake?
That is a question for the city. Lake lots can fall under shoreland rules that control how close a building sits to the water, and we do not quote those. Call Plymouth's Planning Division with your address. Once you know where a building is allowed, we place the sauna and its window to make the most of the lake.
Nearby
We also build for Maple Grove, Medina, Minnetonka, Orono and Wayzata. See everywhere we work, or the project map.