Home sauna in the bathroom
Relaxing after a hard day and treating ailments in a bathhouse is an old tradition. It was the baths that saved the Russian people from plague epidemics, which repeatedly mowed the population of Europe. The peoples who were established were constantly alive, bathing in baths or saunas.
Now many people want to have a bathhouse in their city apartment. But only owners of private houses can afford such a luxury. Due to the high humidity in a small room, it is impossible to provide waterproofing and ventilation that can cope with a lot of hot steam. But you can install a sauna in the bathroom.
1. Finnish bath
From the Russian bath, the Finnish is characterized by drier air. This is achieved by not putting water on the stones for heating, which evaporates and forms a lot of steam. In the sauna you need to go outside and get water or grab it with yourself and spray on the stones to get steam. When the Russians got into baths in Finland, out of habit they did not take water with them and steamed dry.
In Finland, in addition to public baths, cities have saunas in every apartment building, and work on Saturday and Sunday. Each tenant can use them in their homes. Since the 80s, the construction of personal saunas has been activated. At the moment, every second apartment is equipped with its own small sauna. Therefore, Finnish finished cabins and stoves are most popular on sale.
Most often, a cabin for 1 or 2 places is equipped in the bathroom. It is not allowed to install such equipment in living rooms. But if you have the opportunity to redevelop the apartment, then you can have a steam room for up to 8 places and host friends and relatives.
2. Ready-made cabs for installation
Stores offer a wide selection of ready-made booths with all equipment or separately stoves and sprinklers. You can choose the appropriate design. Then you just need to mount everything together.
The most practical option when the outer skin of the sauna touches the three main walls of the bathroom. This is possible in rooms with an area of at least 10 m2 oblong shape. If the bath is small, then it is great to accommodate a corner sauna for 2 people. It will occupy approximately the same space as a shower cabin.
3. The device of the sauna
The home sauna consists of the wooden cabin itself. Benches and sunbeds inside the steam room. Equipment in the form of a special stove and sprayer. Hydro and thermal insulation that keeps heat inside and protects the apartment from steam and moisture outside the sauna.
Equipment for ventilating the air inside the steam room and ventilating if necessary. The control panel and the system for supplying and connecting electrical wires.
4. Installation of the walls of the sauna
The cabin itself consists of two wooden cladding. The outer coating is preferably made from coniferous wood. The most suitable is the Scandinavian spruce with its golden color and a pattern of many knots. And the northern pine with its inherent pinkish tint and unique ring pattern, almost without knots. The most familiar option for our places is alder. The wood is dense, light brown with a pinkish tint and a very beautiful pattern.
For interior decoration, tree species that do not emit tar at high temperatures are suitable. In addition, they must be resistant to moisture and heat. The leader in this list is aspen. The most affordable wood, never rots, but only gets harder and harder from water. It is light beige and creates an atmosphere of warmth and comfort.
Linden is also suitable for interior decoration, since it does not contain resins that can evaporate and cause a fire at high temperatures.Hemlock is much more expensive, with an original pattern of parallel lines in brown-pink. Abashi's most decorative African oak is the best kept warm. The material is expensive, but its dark specks on a light background and physical characteristics are worth it.
If you decide to make a sauna yourself, then remember that the planking should be directed horizontally. Do not mix different types of wood. With the vertical arrangement of the boards, special gaps and calculations for ventilation must be done. Between the wooden parts of the wall it is necessary to arrange the insulation. These are foil, mineral wool and plastic film. This order is respected from the inside of the wall.
5. Ventilation
For ventilation, it is necessary to maintain the size of the sauna. It should have a height of 2.2 meters. If you have a higher ceiling, you can use the space to create a mezzanine. The inner part of the boards is beaten with gaps of 1-2 centimeters below and above. This provides a natural air movement.
In addition, the oven has its own fan to mix the internal atmosphere and equalize the temperature.
6. Equipment for the sauna
The furnace is a heating element and the space around it, paved with stones. Maximum heating temperature 130ABOUT. For a home sauna in the bathroom, you need to take a certified certified stove, which has a temperature controller and a timer. Homemade equipment you will not be allowed to install a fire service. Around the heater, make a fence of wooden hoops or a grill. This will protect you from accidental contact.
It is practically impossible to place a wood or charcoal stove in a city apartment. This requires at least bulky equipment for the hood and a lot of space.
The oven must have a switch and regulators outside. All wires must be tucked into a sleeve that can prevent from overheating and moisture. The most suitable option for a small sauna is a 2-3 kW electric furnace with a temperature controller and a timer that automatically turns it off after 8 hours of operation. The maximum heating temperature in the range of 100-130ABOUTFROM.
7. Interior design
In a small sauna, only benches in the steam room are made. Sunbeds can be made in the bath starting from 4 places when located in a line. In addition to the seats, backs are needed so that the body does not touch the wall, and air circulates normally.
8. The door
For safety, the door should have glass or even be completely transparent of refractory material. From a decorative point of view, such a door looks much more comfortable and beautiful.
9. Registration of permission
Before installing a sauna in your bathroom, you will need to obtain permission from some services. These are Sanitary and Epidemiological Station, Fire Service, Housing and Communal Services and Architecture. It is possible that additional permits will be needed, but this is set at the level of local authorities and has different lists, depending on the place of residence.
10. Places for a sauna, except for a bathroom
The sauna can be installed in any room, except for the living room, near the exit of pipes. It can be a kitchen, an entrance hall and even a loggia. The main thing is that there is water and low tide behind the wall. Only for such an installation you need to do two layers of thermal insulation and additional ventilation. 5-8 temperature increaseABOUTC and humidity in the bathroom are perfectly acceptable. But other rooms are not suitable for this.
11. Alternative baths
When the sauna is located in the bathroom, the oven can also be used to create steam, resulting in a steam room as in a Russian bath.
Recently, Turkish baths have appeared in apartments. A small room is faced with ceramic tiles. Ideally marble. The temperature in the steam room is much lower.
Infrared saunas do not heat the air, but the human body itself using ceramic emitters. If you like to take a steam bath in the evening after work to relieve fatigue or even heal, then you should install a sauna at home.Even in a small bathroom, you can find a place by removing the bulky bathtub and placing a shower. Stay healthy.