Brand ReviewSeptember 20267 min read
Redwood Outdoors review: the thermowood barrels and cabins, compared
Five outdoor saunas in heat-treated Canadian hemlock between $5,899 and $8,699, every one a self-assembly kit with a Harvia on the options list. Which shape fits which yard, and what the price leaves for you to do.
Redwood Outdoors is the brand behind a lot of the barrel saunas sold online in North America, and the lineup has grown well past the barrel. Five outdoor rooms now run from a two-person Duo at $5,899 to an eight-person Garden at $8,699, all built from thermally modified Canadian hemlock, all shipped as kits you assemble, all wired for a Harvia. The range is narrow in price and wide in shape, so the question is rarely whether Redwood is worth it. It is which footprint your yard and your guest list call for, and whether a weekend with a mallet is a price you are willing to pay.
Prefer clear cedar, delivered and installed? Our full Nootka guide
What thermowood is, and why Redwood builds with it
Every Redwood sauna is heat-treated Canadian hemlock, which the industry calls thermowood. The lumber goes through a high-heat, low-oxygen kiln before milling, and the process drives out moisture and the sugars that feed rot. What comes out is darker, lighter in weight, and far more dimensionally stable than ordinary kiln-dried hemlock: it swells and shrinks less with the seasons, it resists decay without chemical treatment, and it takes stain evenly. The trade is hardness. Thermowood dents more easily than clear cedar and it smells of toast rather than forest. Nootka builds its barrels from inch-and-a-half Western Red Cedar and charges accordingly; Redwood's hemlock is the reason a six-person barrel can list at $6,299. Both are sound choices, and the hemlock is the reason the price lands where it does.
The barrel: six people for $6,299
The classic Redwood shape is a 71-inch by 72¾-inch barrel that seats four comfortably and six on paper, at $6,299. It is the model that made the brand, and it is the one that shows up in backyards across the continent because the price sits a couple of thousand below anything comparable in cedar. The heater is a configurable add-on rather than a bundled part: you choose between a Harvia KIP, the Harvia Spirit with Wi-Fi, or Redwood's own 9 kW Homecraft, and the choice moves the total by several hundred dollars. Our barrel versus cube piece covers why the round shape heats quickly and why it costs you the ability to stretch out.
The cabins: Vista, Cabin and Garden
Three rectangular rooms cover everyone the barrel does not. The Vista is the six-person cabin at $6,899, paired with Harvia options up to 8 kW, and it is the one to price against the barrel if you want full-height walls and two proper bench levels for the same number of people. The Cabin is the compact four-seater at $7,299, with a gravity venting system and a footprint that fits a smaller yard without shrinking the benches. The Garden is the big one: 90 by 90 inches, six to eight people across two bench levels, a tempered-glass panoramic window along one wall, FSC-certified hemlock, and Harvia heaters up to 10.5 kW, at $8,699. Over 55 square feet of interior means it wants a reinforced pad, so read the delivery guide before you order it. Between the three, the Vista is the value and the Garden is the room you buy when the sauna is the point of the backyard.
The Duo: two people, no compromise on the wiring
The Duo is Redwood's two-person outdoor room at $5,899, a 62¾ by 50¾ inch cube in the same thermowood, and it is the page on our site that Redwood buyers click most. Its size invites a question the spec sheet answers firmly: every heater option is hardwired 240V, with no 120V plug-in version at any price. That is the right call for a room this size, since a plug-in heater would never reach a proper temperature outdoors in winter, and it means the electrician is part of the budget even for the smallest model. Our permits and wiring guide covers what the 240V run costs and who has to do it.
What the kit price leaves out
Three costs sit outside the sticker on every model. The heater, as above, is chosen and paid for separately. The electrical is a dedicated 240V circuit installed to code, which runs from a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousand depending on how far the sauna sits from the panel. And the assembly is yours: the kit arrives as freight on a pallet, and a barrel goes together in a day or two with two people and a rubber mallet, while the cabins take longer. Redwood offers a $250 coupon to buyers who come through a partner link, which covers a fair share of the electrician, and the saunas are HSA and FSA eligible through Truemed, a route our HSA guide walks through. If you would rather the sauna arrived built and plugged in, that service is what Nootka charges its premium for.
Who should buy a Redwood
Buy a Redwood if you want a real hot-rock sauna outdoors, you are comfortable building it, and the difference between hemlock and cedar matters less to you than a few thousand dollars does. The six-person barrel is the default answer; the Vista is the same money for a room you can stand up in; the Garden is for people who host. Skip it if you have no interest in assembly, or if you want the wood itself to be the luxury, in which case the Nootka review is the one to read next. And if what you are after is the cold half of the ritual, Redwood's Alaskan tub is the same thermowood build turned into a 130-gallon plunge, reviewed in our cold plunge roundup.
Common questions
- What is thermowood, and is it as good as cedar for a sauna?
- Thermowood is lumber that has been heat-treated in a low-oxygen kiln, which drives out moisture and sugars so the wood resists rot and moves less with the seasons, without chemical treatment. Redwood uses thermally modified Canadian hemlock. It is more stable and cheaper than clear cedar, and it dents more easily and lacks cedar's scent. For the price difference, most buyers find it a fair trade.
- Do Redwood Outdoors saunas come assembled?
- No. Every model ships as a self-assembly kit on a freight pallet. A barrel goes together in a day or two with two people; the cabins and the Garden take longer. If you want delivery and installation, Nootka offers it in several Canadian cities.
- Which heater comes with a Redwood sauna?
- None by default. The heater is a configurable add-on, with a choice of Harvia KIP, Harvia Spirit with Wi-Fi control, or Redwood's own 9 kW Homecraft on most models. The Vista takes Harvia options up to 8 kW and the Garden up to 10.5 kW. Price the heater with the room, since it moves the total by several hundred dollars.
- What electrical does a Redwood sauna need?
- A hardwired 240V circuit on every model, including the two-person Duo, installed by a licensed electrician. There is no 120V plug-in option. Budget for the run from your panel to the sauna's location before you pick the spot.
- Which Redwood sauna is best for a family?
- The six-person barrel at $6,299 if the budget is firm and you like the shape. The Vista at $6,899 for the same capacity in a room with full-height walls. The Garden at $8,699 if you regularly have six or more in at once and want the panoramic window; plan a reinforced pad for it.
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