Duffield Timber supplies Western Red Cedar V-groove cladding (DTC2) to Yorkshire Sauna, the York-based maker of handcrafted outdoor saunas, for the cladding and interiors of its sauna huts. Both businesses are based in North Yorkshire.
Yorkshire Sauna (formerly The Yorkshire Hut Company) designs and builds outdoor saunas at its workshop in York. Alongside fully custom builds, it makes three core models, Pipi, Ronja and Astrid, each insulated with British sheep’s wool and fitted with Harvia or HUUM heaters.
Duffield Timber supplies the Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) used to clad the saunas, machined to our V Groove cladding profile (DTC2) at 18 x 94mm, 86mm cover. Each joint forms a crisp V-shaped groove, giving the walls a fine linear rhythm inside and out. Yorkshire Sauna builds in York and our mill is at Melmerby, near Ripon, so the timber has only a short journey from our yard to their workshop.
Our Western Red Cedar is sourced from coastal Canada in a No. 2 Clears & Better grade, with minimal knots. It is classified Durability Class 2 (durable) under BS EN 350 and is naturally resistant to decay, giving untreated cladding a service life of at least 35 years.
Those properties suit a sauna, where the timber is heated, cooled and exposed to steam every time it’s used. Western Red Cedar is dimensionally stable, so boards are less prone to movement through those cycles. At around 370kg/m³ (dry) it is also a low-density softwood, and lighter timber conducts heat less readily than denser species, which is one reason cedar is widely used for sauna interiors. As it warms, it releases the cedar aroma that is part of the sauna experience.
As well as its core models, Yorkshire Sauna builds custom designs, including this customised Pipi beside a lake, below.
It’s a pleasure to supply timber to another North Yorkshire business and to see it built into saunas made to last. Planning a project of your own? Explore our Western Red Cedar cladding and sawn timber, and get in touch with our team if you have any questions.
