In a nutshell: *save your money and don't bother with the so-called moisture preventing paints *use foam against the basement wall--extruded polystyrene, expanded polystyrene, isocyanurate. If your budget is big, closed cell spray foam by a professional applicator. *light steel or wood framing on top of a strip of extruded polystyrene. *depending on your climate, add more board between the studs or use fibrous insulation. At the rim, cut foamboards and use between the joists, caulk and foam to make airtight. NO FIBERGLASS. No vapour barrier needed. For further details, see the linked material below. Best of luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Building Science Corp. on Basements

A sauna inside a house is not a problem. They are quite common throughout Nordic countries when people do not have room for an outside sauna. Likewise a steam room can be built inside so long as adequate ventilation is provided. That said, easy access to outside from the sauna is a significant benefit so what you've mentioned sounds good. Most sauna people will say that the best sauna is one that is it's own little hut (ideally next to a lake). Next best is attached to a house with an exterior entrance, and last is one inside a house (though preferably near an entrance for easy access to outside). A healthful sauna session typically involves time in the sauna, time outside (regardless of temp but below 40°f is best and about 20°f is about ideal), repeat 2 or 3 times. More: https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(18)30275-1/fulltext. So an exterior exit near your sauna is a good idea. Personally I would avoid FIR. There are no known health negatives but the health benefits appear non-existent vs those known for traditional sauna. Personally I also find them far less enjoyable than regular sauna and actually have no desire to use one again. ------- Our new one: Due to city code limitations we are not able to do a separate sauna hut so we're doing the next best thing. Our sauna will be located underneath our conservatory. It's attached to the house but the only entrance is from outside (in to the changing room and then in to the hot room). You can see it here: http://bamasotan.us/2018/08/heat-tube-and-other-stuff/. In the drone photo a ways down the page it's the cement structure on the far right with the door in the cement wall. The conservatory will be on top. It's a short walk outside (on heated bluestone pavers) from the house to the sauna so can easily be done when attired appropriately for sauna. Good luck with whatever you do and post updates back here.

Buying the Right Basement Door There are many products in the market and before choosing the best, you need to consider the following factors: Available Space The door you purchase should perfectly fit the space available. It is important to use a professional contractor to take the measurements to avoid a costly blunder. There are also custom doors that can fit any space you decide to cover. Security The fact that basement entry doors provide access to the outdoors means they can easily be used by burglars to access the main house. As such, look for a door that comes with security features including a sturdy lock and durable materials. The lock should be able to sustain any forceful entry to protect both the occupants and the property inside. Weather Resistance A basement door is exposed to extreme weather elements, making it susceptible to damage. When shopping for your door, make sure the material is weatherproofed to protect against wind, UV light, rain and hailstorm damage. The door should also be well insulated on the edges to avoid water leakage into the basement. Style There are multiple designs and door shapes to choose from and your choice will come down to your taste. Bulkhead doors are the most popular although you can opt for a standing door depending on how frequently the basement will be accessed. You can talk to your contractor to find the best type of door to suit your basement. Aesthetics A beautiful door will enhance the appeal of your property and add value. Go for door designs and colors that blend with the rest of the exterior façade to create more appeal. Fitting a basement entry door should be done by an expert to guarantee quality installation. If you already have a door that needs repair, these experts also have the tools to get the job done.

We had the stair designer come by today, and it was a great meeting. I think the last time he was here we caught him on a bad day but this time he was really helpful, taking the time to answer all my questions and walk me through the design logic behind various aspects of his drawing. It helped that I came prepared with a better understanding of stair ergonomics and code thanks to those who have taken the time to share their thoughts with me on this thread. The end result is that we have made some minor tweaks and improvements to the plan, I'm getting what I want out of it, and I understand exactly why each of the various choices have been made. Key highlights: 1. We are doing away with the top 20" landing which @res2architect and @3onthetree objected to, and converting upper stairs to four equal 11.25" deep steps. The stairs will begin right when you open the door from the kitchen, but that door opens in to the kitchen (i.e. does not swing over the stairs) and in any case we plan to remove it in a few years once we're done the toddler phase and just have an open doorway there. I thought the point about the odd stride pattern from kitchen to backyard was an important one, especially as that's where we'll come in and out of the backyard, often carrying dishes and food to bbq and so on. The upper portion of the stairs are also the piece that guests will use the most so it will be good to minimize the quirks there. 2. We are going to have the stair railings built to be removable -- @Sandra Guistwhite sort of what you were suggesting (thanks, that was thoughtful). Not hinged or anything, just something that can be unbolted and taken off if we ever need to bring a sofa through or replace the washing machine, or if we really need much wider access to the under-stairs area for a project. 3. We are going to place the bottom newel post on the second step up from the lower landing and begin the handrail there to allow slightly better access to the under-stair area. This (and only this) part of the design is in fact a deviation from contemporary Ontario building code but since we don't have an inspector coming in we can get away with it, and I can see from some googling that it's a pretty common design that doesn't seem particularly risky. In fact, I only realized today this is how our other main staircase is designed, and my parent's staircase is the same, so I presume it was the norm in a previous era. At the end of it all, I think we'll have stairs which would alarm many Houzzers who are accustomed to a different type of housing stock and set of codes, but which will be relatively safe and work well for our needs and our quirky space. The stair designer told me today that he's done several sets of stairs in our immediate neighbourhood and designs like this are very often necessary. It turns out lots of people are putting in winder steps in high end contemporary renovations around here out of necessity. I do want to thank everyone who took the time to think about this and share their comments, even if the main thrust of many of them was "wow, you are/ your house is insane". I'll be sure to come back and post a photo when it's all done so you can see how it's turned out, even if it does end up horrifying some of you. I have a thick skin and can take it, and I do feel confident we're proceeding with the plan that's right for us and our house. I'm excited to see this come together!