Our latest project took us to a beautiful, remote waterfront property on Shuswap Lake. With no road access, we transported this custom-built sauna, storage shed, and a small excavator by barge, preparing for a very unique installation!
Check out all the details and a ton of photos showcasing the project below 📸
Project Details:
Location: Shuswap Lake
Products: MODE Sauna & Storage Shed
Special Requirements: Water-Access
Contractors:
Schafer Industries Excavation & Earthworks
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Shuswap Marine Freight
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Product Details:
MODE Sauna
Size: 8' x 12'
Heater: HUUM Hive 13 Wood Stove
Cedar Finishing: Local Western Red Cedar Tight Knot T&G (inside and out)
Flooring: Standard Rubber Floor
Add-Ons: Built-in Outdoor Shower + ProLock Metal Roofing & Siding
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Storage Shed
Size: 8' x 12'
Exterior Finishing: ProLock Roofing + Siding
Flooring: 3/4" Plywood
How It Started:
Our client has a beautiful property on Shuswap Lake with a Backcountry Hut tucked into the forest's edge overlooking the water. The property takes approximately an hour to reach by speedboat. From the large sandy beach on the shoreline of his property, you can spot the beautiful Hut tucked away in the treeline through the peek-a-boo spaces in the branches.
Our client and his wife spend a lot of time at their cabin and wanted to upgrade their second-home experience, so they reached out to us to inquire about adding a sauna to their property.
I jumped on a few calls with the client, but ultimately decided it would be best for me to do a site visit before making the final decision. He was concerned that it might not be possible to install the sauna for a myriad of reasons.
So, we scheduled a day for me to meet him at the marina in Sicamous, where we would make the one-hour boat trip to the property to get a better idea of what it would take to complete this installation.
After a long day exploring the area, I assured our client that we would be able to install the sauna where he was hoping to have it go. We decided that once we finished building the sauna, myself and a machine operator would come out to his property for a three-day weekend to prepare the area and install the sauna.
When we started talking logistics and planning the details of the trip, our client mentioned that he had been thinking about also building a shed on his property. He initially planned to do it himself, which would require paying a barge to carry over all of the materials, and then many hours of labor for him to do it himself.
Given that we would already be hiring a barge to carry the sauna over, and that we could provide the finished shed much quicker than he could build one, my client asked if we were willing to add a shed to his order and deliver and place it on the same weekend as the sauna. This made the most sense for everyone, saving money on a second barge trip for my client and a whole lot of his time that would have been spent building.
We said yes, and the plans were laid.
The Build:
The new units were built with the aesthetics of the property in mind, and designed to match the Backcountry Hut that was already on the property for a seamless integration. We matched the exterior for both the sauna and shed with the Hut, using Black ProLock Hidden Fastener Metal Siding. The siding not only matched the hut, but also blended into the forest without taking away from the natural beauty of the property.
The shed is both beautiful and efficient, and perfectly suited to the property with the matching exterior and the clean and spacious inside.
But, for the sake of this blog, I'm going to get into more details about the sauna because the features are a bit more exciting to talk about...
For the sauna, we used potlights for a soft and ambient lighting inside and outside, just bright enough to illuminate the space and surrounding walking area with a warm light.
We used a Local Western Red Cedar Tight Knot Tongue and Groove for the sauna's interior and exterior, making some slight modifications to the exterior wall to match Greg's Backcountry Hut. The interior walls of the sauna are smooth cedar, but the exterior cedar was done with knotty rough cut cedar, matching the hut's entranceway style perfectly.
We chose a HUUM Hive 17 Woodstove for the sauna, a slightly larger wood-burning stove for the size, but one that is designed to maximize the efficiency of wood use and retain heat longer. The large rock volume allows the sauna to retain and emit heat more effectively, making this the perfect year-round sauna!
Built into the ceiling outside the sauna door is a rainfall showerhead, the perfect way to cool down in between sauna rounds.
The storage shed is sleek, spacious and modern. It's built to withstand the elements and to keep all the contents securely stored while the owners are away!
While the building process for the sauna and storage shed was fairly standard, the delivery and installation was unique...
The Installation:
Coming into the project, the client had some concerns about whether or not we would be able to get the sauna and shed into the places he wanted them because of the obstacles we would need to overcome.
To add to his concern, the barge driver was only able to complete a two-day round trip, so instead of having three days to do the installation, we were only going to have two.
On the morning of the project, we had a small team prepared to kickstart the project, and met at the marina at 6:30 AM. Our lead hand, Josef, brought the sauna and shed on his trailer to the marina and was there to help with the loading process, but he wouldn't be making the trip to the property with us. It was just our client, our machine operator Evan, myself, and my partner heading to complete the installation.
The loading and unloading of the barge was the first obstacle to address. We needed to fit both units and an excavator on the barge, with enough room to maneuver the machine around to properly unload the units when we arrived at the property.
We had the sauna, shed, and excavator loaded in 15 minutes! It couldn't have gone any smoother. It was a great start to the day.
We said goodbye to Josef and gave a final wave to our barge driver, Nick, as he started the three-hour journey to the property. We headed to meet the client on the dock, where he was picking us up in his speedboat (one-hour ride instead of three!) so we could get a head start and make our plan of attack for the day.
When we arrived at the property, we spent some time doing a walk-around, where our client showed Evan where he wanted each of the units, and we discussed the different obstacles that would need to be removed in order to successfully complete the job.
Some of the obstacles to overcome included removing a few trees and some large stumps, creating two separate access ways—one for the shed and one for the sauna—and clearing a lot of debris and a partial old stairway that was in the way of the access point to moving the sauna in.
Two hours later, the barge came into view and docked shortly after.
The unloading required extra consideration because we had to take into account the effect that the sand would have on the machine's capabilities to pull and maneuver the sauna and shed.
We had decided to go with a 40 excavator, because we were worried anything bigger wouldn't fit on the barge, or be able to work in some of the tight spaces required. And now it was time to put the excavator to the test, and see what it was capable of with Evan at the helm!
Evan got right to it, and once again, had the units unloaded from the barge within 15 minutes!
It felt great to have the loading and unloading processes go so smoothly. With that out of the way, Evan went straight to work clearing.
Getting the sauna pad prepared and into place was the first job. Evan began preparing an access road to the sauna's final location, and had it built a mere 1.5 hours later. By noon, Evan was removing the last large tree stump from the sauna pad!
Another half an hour spent packing and leveling the pad, and it was time for Evan to head back to the beach to maneuver the sauna up the hill and to its now-ready new location.
Thanks to Evan's expert machine operating, we had no trouble getting the sauna up the hill and securely in place.
At this point, we were ahead of schedule, and Evan got a head start on preparing the area for the shed installation. He went to work clearing stumps, trees, and disassembling the old rickety stairs to create an access way to the shed's new location.
By the first evening, the sauna was fully installed and ready to go, and Evan had made quick work of clearing an access way from the beach up to the new pad for the shed!
The next morning, it was back to work finishing the last of clearing debris and leveling the new pad for the shed. By early afternoon, there was a brand new driveable path and a brand new leveled pad for the shed.
We went back to the beach and chained up the shed, preparing it to be moved to its new location. Within 30 minutes, Evan had carefully pulled it up the hill and into its new place.
SUCCESS!
The sauna and shed were in their new homes, fitting in beautifully with the surrounding property.
Evan spent the rest of the afternoon helping my client finish up a few other small things in his yard that were easier done with an excavator, and then graded the beach and surrounding area to leave no tracks.
It was a wonderful weekend, and we are so excited for our client and his wife to enjoy spending more time at the cabin and using their new sauna and shed!
Check out all the photos below!!
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Whether it's a custom-crafted cabin or a serene sauna retreat, we're here to make it happen.
Let’s bring your vision to life—contact us to get started on your dream project today! ✨🏡🔥
Call or Text: 1-250-295-9082
Email: orders@elkridgecabinco.com
Check out the Install Photos:
Check out the Finished Photos:
