Alder Sauna Wood

Alder Sauna Wood for Sale in Ireland

European alder, Alnus glutinosa, earned its place in Nordic saunas for practical reasons. It is effectively resin free, so unlike pine or spruce it won’t weep sticky pitch or spit hot droplets as the room comes up to temperature. That is the single most important reason it is chosen for surfaces people sit against undressed.

Alder also carries heat poorly, so bench backs and wall cladding warm gently rather than scorching, and its fine, even grain planes to a smooth surface that resists splintering. The warm honey to russet tone deepens with every session.

Alder sauna products and sizes

Everything you need to line and seat a sauna in one species:

• Tongue and groove cladding for walls and ceilings, at 89 x 15 mm. The profile self aligns as you fix it.
• Bench boards in three widths. The 70 x 27 mm board is a narrow slat for backrests and smaller benches, 89 x 27 mm balances comfort against the number of boards to fix, and 120 x 27 mm gives the widest, most comfortable seat with the fewest pieces.
• Corner trims to finish corners neatly: a 28 x 28 mm trim for external corners and a 24 x 24 mm trim for internal ones.
• A glass sauna door in a laminated alder frame, a complete unit with handle and hinges.

The calculator on each product page turns your wall area or bench length into a board count. Choose the length on the product page; longer boards mean fewer joints on a long bench or wall.

Alder vs other sauna timber

Alder is the choice for anything you touch. For a slatted feature wall, see Ayous sauna cladding or Thermo Spruce sauna cladding. To shop by job instead of species, see sauna cladding, sauna bench boards and sauna accessories.

Fitting alder in a sauna

Alder is easy to work, and a few habits keep it looking right:

• Let the boards acclimatise in the room for a day or two before fixing.
• Fix cladding through the tongue with stainless steel pins or clips, because ordinary nails corrode and leave rust marks.
• Keep a ventilated cavity behind the cladding and a small gap at floor and ceiling.
• Fix bench boards from underneath with stainless steel screws, with a gap of around 5 mm between boards.

Looking after alder

Alder walls and ceilings last longest when sealed against moisture and grime. Most customers finish them with Saunawood Protection Wax, a tinted, water based coating that resists mould in the corners where condensation lingers. Keep wax off the benches, wipe surfaces with a damp cloth and mild soap, and ventilate the room so the timber dries between sessions.

See the full sauna timber range.