Commercial Saunas for Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana
Sauna Craft builds commercial saunas for gyms, clinics, hotels, and athletic programs in Northwest Indiana and the Chicago area. Our shop is at 15697 Lin Rd in Fortville, Indiana. Measured without traffic, Merrillville is about 2 hours 35 minutes away, Valparaiso, Crown Point, and Gary about 2 hours 45 minutes, and Hammond just under 3 hours. Downtown Chicago is about 3 hours 15 minutes, a little past the three-hour range we use for commercial work, so we look at city projects case by case. In this market we take commercial projects only. Call or text Jason Guilliam at 317-626-5669.
Facilities we build for in the region
- Gyms and health clubs in Merrillville, Crown Point, Schererville, Munster, and Valparaiso
- Physical therapy, chiropractic, and sports medicine clinics across Lake and Porter counties
- Hotels and event venues along the I-65 and I-80/94 corridors
- Recovery studios and spas pairing heat with cold plunges
- Athletic and club programs that need a team-sized room
- Chicago south suburbs and city projects, reviewed one at a time
Indiana side or Illinois side: which rules apply
A project in Lake or Porter County is an Indiana commercial job under the Indiana Building Code, and a Class 1 commercial structure in Indiana needs a state design release before construction starts. On the Illinois side, public facilities must also meet the Illinois Accessibility Code, and projects inside the City of Chicago fall under the Chicago Building Code, whose accessibility rules are in chapter 14B-11. In every case the architect and general contractor of record handle the permit. We give them the sauna information, and we’ll ask early which jurisdiction we’re in, because it changes the paperwork.
What we supply for the submittals stays the same: finished room dimensions and ceiling height, the heater model and electrical requirements, clearances, the ventilation plan, and the locations of the heater, controls, and lighting. Your electrician runs the dedicated circuit, and the fire protection contractor gets the heater details for sprinkler head selection.
ADA section 612 in practice
Federal rules sit underneath the state and city codes. Section 612 of the 2010 ADA Standards calls for at least one bench meeting section 903 where a sauna has seating, a turning space inside the room (a 60-inch circle or a T-shaped space), and a door that doesn’t swing into the bench’s clear floor space. A readily removable bench may sit in the turning space. We build to the layout your architect has approved.
Travel and logistics
The route is north on I-65 from Indianapolis. Northwest Indiana sites are reached without tolls; going farther toward Chicago usually means the Indiana Toll Road or the Chicago Skyway, plus city traffic that can add an hour. For that reason we plan Chicagoland jobs as one build window with everything decided in advance: measurements, drawings, the heater, and access to the room, including dock or door widths and elevator size. Components are planned at our Fortville shop. Most custom saunas take one to two weeks from the agreed start date, depending on the room.
Trailer saunas and wood-burning heat
For a mobile recovery business or an outdoor venue, we build trailer saunas at our Fortville shop. You supply the trailer and bring it to us; we build the sauna on it and you tow it home. Our horse trailer conversion is titled, weighs about 3,500 lb finished, and runs on a Harvia Cilindro 16 wood-burning stove. A trailer can also take a propane or electric heater. Wood-burning saunas are outdoor or trailer builds only. See mobile and trailer saunas and wood-burning saunas.
Commercial work you can review
Our gym reference is Indy City Barbell, a downtown Indianapolis gym sauna with a commercial-duty Harvia heater and under-bench LEDs, built around gym hours. The team reference is the hybrid room at the Colts practice facility, and the community reference is the 10 by 10 ft cedar room at YMCA Kokomo. We don’t have a Chicagoland project to show yet.
Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana commercial sauna FAQ
Do you build commercial saunas in Chicago itself?
Downtown Chicago is about 3 hours 15 minutes from our Fortville shop without traffic, a little past the three-hour range we use for commercial work. Call with the address and scope and we’ll tell you honestly whether it fits our schedule. Northwest Indiana is inside the range.
Do you build home saunas in Northwest Indiana?
No. In Northwest Indiana and the Chicago area we take commercial projects only.
Which building code applies to our sauna?
Indiana sites in Lake and Porter counties follow the Indiana Building Code and the state design release process. Illinois public facilities also follow the Illinois Accessibility Code, and Chicago projects follow the Chicago Building Code. The architect and general contractor of record handle the permit; we provide the sauna information.
Can you work under our general contractor?
Yes. We work as the sauna trade under the general contractor of record and provide the heater specs, electrical requirements, clearances, and ventilation plan for the submittals.
Can we get a trailer sauna for events?
Yes. You bring the trailer to our Fortville shop and we build the sauna on it, with a wood-burning Harvia Cilindro 16 or a propane or electric heater.
Start a commercial sauna conversation
Call or text Jason at 317-626-5669 or email saunacraftco@gmail.com. Send photos of the space, rough dimensions and ceiling height, the type of heat you want, the site address, and where the sauna falls in your schedule. You can also use the contact form. If you want a rough idea of what a room’s size, wood and heater choices add up to before you call, try the sauna cost estimate tool, then call us to turn it into a commercial scope for your facility.
Other commercial markets we cover: Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, Ohio, South Bend and Michiana, Champaign-Urbana. All of them run from our Fortville shop; see the regional commercial sauna builder page for the full list and drive times.
State overviews: commercial saunas in Illinois and Indiana.