Over 200 square meters of deck, an outdoor sauna, and fire pits: "We made a dream come true that rewards us every summer"
Heli and Tommi Anttila from Oulu, Finland, transformed their yard into a spacious pool deck. A wood-burning sauna completes this versatile outdoor living space.
The Anttilas, a blended family, fell for a single-family house built in 2009 and moved in nearly two years ago. Located in Oulu, Finland, the house was in great condition. However, the yard and deck still needed a finishing touch, leading to a major renovation.
“Our family likes to spend time outside, and we want our yard to offer many ways to unwind. But we don’t want big flowerbeds, a vegetable garden, or anything else that’s too high-maintenance,” Heli Anttila says.
Yard before the renovation:
The backyard already had a deck, a pool, a hot tub, and a large lawn. Once Heli and Tommi Anttila started brainstorming, their ideas grew quickly, and they brought in the award-winning landscape designer Heidi Hannus.
“We told Heidi to design the kind of yard she’d want for herself. We didn’t place any restrictions. Of course, we had already ordered the outdoor sauna, and she worked around that,” Heli says.
Hiring a designer turned out to be a smart and worthwhile move.
“We avoided a lot of mistakes and ended up with a one-of-a-kind result,” Heli emphasizes.
“I never would have thought to build the deck functions on so many levels. The end result is fantastic. It’s always worth having a solid plan,” Tommi adds.
It was quite a job, but with careful planning, the renovation moved along quickly.
“Because this project seemed like a lot to handle on our own, I initially asked various companies for bids. We didn’t get a single decent offer, so I decided we’d just do everything ourselves,” says Tommi, who has built a house before.
Work began in late autumn 2021, when the outdoor sauna’s foundation was built in November. In February, the sauna building was placed on screw piles. The base for the main deck was dug out in two phases, in April and May.
Tommi’s father Eino Anttila lent a crucial helping hand.
“Eino and I urged him to just do it and not worry too much, but Tommi, as an engineer, wanted to think everything through. That might be why we haven’t had any missteps,” Heli says with a laugh.
Tommi planned and thought over everything in advance. He also considered the steps ahead and how the entire project would go.
“I calculated how wide each panel was and how many full panels I would need for each section. By using uniform dimensions, we avoided unnecessary trimming and made the job easier. That was especially noticeable with the fire pit bench backrests,” Tommi says.
Doing all the work themselves also kept the renovation costs manageable.
“This project taught us that with a professional’s plan, you can accomplish things you never even imagined. Careful planning of each phase also saves a lot of time when it’s time to build.”
The first step of the renovation was preparations for the outdoor sauna, and it turned out to be the most challenging part of the job.
“The permit process in Oulu was tedious. The city made us build a separate sauna drain that we wouldn’t have needed just a few kilometers away in the next town over, Kempele. We sent dozens of emails back and forth,” Tommi says.
There were no issues with the sauna’s assembly. The prefabricated sauna from New Sauna arrived and was placed on the screw piles. The family got the wood-burning stove they wanted, and the dressing room plus a small lounge with a fireplace can serve as a guest space.
Once the ground thawed, the renovation continued from the sauna to the fire pit. The excavator went down to the base sand, then came insulation, 30 centimeters (12 inches) of crushed stone, another layer of sand, and finally shingles—small, rounded natural stones.
Tommi originally planned just to finish the fire pit along with a small deck in front of the sauna so no one would have to step into dirt after a steam. But as their enthusiasm grew, the project kept going into late winter.
“We had the excavator come back so we could keep going. Then we dug out the rest of the deck area,” Tommi explains.
Piles were sunk every 40–50 centimeters (16–20 inches) under the deck area. Concrete slabs and a pressure-treated wooden frame rest on packed sand. For the deck boards, they chose spruce from Organowood, which doesn’t warp and is otherwise maintenance-free.
“The supplier’s original calculation said we’d need 1.6 kilometers or 1 mile of paneling, which seemed impossible. I first ordered 500 meters (547 yards) to see how far it would go, then another 300 (328 yards),” Tommi says.
A third reorder fell through, but it opened the door for a creative solution.
“We ended up with 500 meters of wall paneling instead. Luckily, we figured out how to use it for the wall behind the hot tub, which had previously been light-colored render,” Tommi says.
They commissioned a custom graphite-gray steel lotus ornament for that paneled wall.
“Without it, that wall would look empty and dull,” Heli says.
In total, they used 1,400 meters (1,532 yards) of deck boards for the 220-square-meter area (2,368-square-foot).
Originally, the renovation included a glazed summer kitchen, but that idea was dropped.
“While we worked, we realized we didn’t want a glass box in the middle of the yard. The fire pit turned out to be perfect for grilling and can host a good group,” Heli explains.
Now, instead of a summer kitchen, there’s an airy pergola with seating and light curtains.
The teens in the family especially enjoy the swimming pool, which has proven surprisingly easy to maintain.
“The pool vacuum handles the cleaning. We add water as it evaporates, a pH tablet if it gets cloudy, and chlorine tablets as needed,” Tommi says.
This coming summer, the family plans a few more finishing touches: They want to add slatted panels to the pergola roof, install an outdoor shower near the sauna, and create storage for firewood. They also intend to cover one of the deck walls with dark slate tiles.
“Even though the project was huge and demanded many hours of work, we achieved our dream, which rewards us every summer. After finishing the deck, we started thinking about our next step—so we launched our own company, which had also been a dream of ours,” Tommi says.
