Restorations

Imagine sitting in your outdoor sauna and looking through a stained glass window as the sun rises over the horizon.

My client, Paul, wanted to include a 5½-foot circular stained glass window with a steel frame in a sauna he was building. He loved the idea of spending peaceful mornings surrounded by beautiful stained glass while he sweated himself silly.

Paul contacted me to see if I could repair and restore the reclaimed window for his project. When I learned that it would be installed in a sauna, I was intrigued but also had concerns. I began thinking about possible problems, including thermal stress, cracked glass, moisture damage, and how well the window would hold up over time in an environment with extreme temperature changes.

Thermal stress can cause glass to crack or even shatter when temperatures change too quickly. For example, taking a piece of glass from a garage that is below 20°F directly into a house heated at 70°F can put stress on the glass. When I considered Upper Midwest winters can reach -20°F and sauna temperatures are between 120°F and 150°F, I worried the window might not survive those conditions.

Despite my initial misgivings, the finished sauna is stunning.

This stained glass window looks like a rockhound’s treasure — glowing with shades of green malachite, purple agate, golden citrine, and red jasper. Its Victorian-style design, textured glass and rich colors bring a calm, elegant warmth to any room. But it was hard to see anything but the damage when it came to us.