On the same day I moved into my house in February a health emergency was declared in WA, and approximately three weeks later the first Stay Home/Stay Healthy order was issued. During the lockdown I have been finishing some of the details in the house.
I built the sauna bench out of the materials I salvaged from my old sauna (Photo 1).
I decided not to grind, polish, and seal the concrete floor, as is ordinarily done. Even “green” sealants contain industrial chemicals, and choosing the wrong one could ruin the house for me. Instead I waxed the floor using BioShield, which is a dilute carnuba wax that is completely odorless after it dries. I will need to reapply this from time to time but overall I am very happy with this choice, having tested and rejected five other carnuba or beeswax formulas before settling on this one. The floor can be ground, polished, and sealed later if I become less reactive or if a future owner wants to do that. (Photo 2)
Picking a baseboard was also an extended process. I had planned to use fir after finding a tolerable wood sealant, but eventually realized that the plaster walls were too uneven for a wooden baseboard because there are too many tiny gaps that will collect dust. Instead I chose a vinyl wall base. (Also Photo 2) It had to offfgas outside for four weeks before I began installing it but that was not a problem because it took a while to find a low-VOC adhesive that was compatible with masonry, drywall, metal, and vinyl. I am not yet finished with this task. I paused to order a caulk gun with a more powerful thrust ratio. I have to wear a mask, goggles, and gloves when working with the Chemlink caulk but it turns out my arthritic hands present a bigger challenge than working with the materials.
