When the floor finish is impermeable moisture can t get through it so the subfloor just gets wetter and wetter all summer the wet subfloor wets the bottom of wood.
Sauna wood rotting floor prevention.
Our winters are mild by minnesota standards but.
Wood attacked by white rot lacks the cubical checking appearance of brown rotted wood.
White rot fungi attack the cellulose and lignin in wood eventually giving the wood an off white appearance.
Shelf fungi bracket fungi and mushrooms are all forms of white rot fungi.
Dry rot involves less water but the destructive fungi that cause dry rot still need some moisture to do their wood fiber eating thing.
Sauna heaters and wood burning stoves are very efficient so the area below the sauna stove will heat up the concrete patio stone.
Here s an email exchange that may offer some guidance.
Read more a great idea for your sauna floor.
It has been known to ignite the wooden sauna floor about 8 hours later.
A word on building your own sauna and dealing with the sauna floor.
Flooring cupping or buckling occurs and a subfloor moisture problem worsens when there is impermeable flooring like vinyl laminate or a typical polyurethane finish on wood.
Never install a wood burning rock heater on top of a concrete patio slab that is on top of the wood floor.
Soft rot fungi decompose wood more slowly than brown rot fungi and white rot fungi but thrive in temperatures too hot and too cold for the other types to survive between 0 and 110.
I live in surrey bc.
The homeowner had recently completed some plumbing upgrades which took care of the water source for the rot but the floor damage was already done.