Nowadays, when the bathhouse is becoming an increasingly safe and comfortable space, you can find numerous turnkey projects that provide for the combination of a residential building with a steam room. Some owners of small summer cottages are even interested in a residential bathhouse - so that they can come on the weekend, take a steam bath and then spend the night in this room. The project may include a bathhouse with an adjacent living room or a second floor where you can stay overnight. Each such project can gather many fans, as well as many opponents.
Let's try to figure out what arguments the parties give in favor of their point of view, and how valid these arguments are. The main argument of opponents of combining a bathhouse with a residential building is that the high humidity, which is invariably present in the bathhouse, will certainly lead to premature wear and tear of the house and damage to its wooden structures.
A rather controversial statement, especially taking into account the capabilities of modern waterproofing materials. A well-built hydrobarrier system in all places where a steam room or shower room is adjacent to residential premises can, if not completely remove the factor of high humidity, then at least reduce it to a minimum. All modern designs provide excellent levels of waterproofing.
Bathhouse in the house: advantages
There are many of them, and you can most likely guess about them:
- A bathhouse in the house provides unlimited opportunities to visit it . That is, you can steam at least every day. There is no need to go out in cold weather, especially when it is raining heavily or a frosty wind is blowing, to heat the log house in the yard. Also, many people are afraid that after such a visit to the steam room and going outside to get home, they can catch a bad cold. After all, the body is steamed and sharply cooled, and not everyone has a strong immune system.
- A bathhouse in the house helps to significantly save money on its construction, because there is no need to build a separate log house, which then needs to be equipped. It usually doesn't come cheap. You can find out how much a particular project will cost on the website of some construction company that builds turnkey bathhouses. But we can definitely say that a separate log house, fully equipped in the price list, is always many times more expensive than an extension to the house.
- Also, a bathhouse in the house can solve the problem of lack of space. After all, not everyone has a large plot of land near their house.
- You can always control the bathhouse in your home, since it is known that no matter what kind of steam room there is, there is still a risk of fire. And it can arise at the moment when you left your outdoor bathhouse in the house to, for example, take a towel and essential oils.
- Of course, it is also worth noting that a bathhouse in the house is a creative solution that will show you, as the owner, from a very advantageous perspective. After all, only a person with extraordinary thinking can bring such an interesting project to life.
- Again, a bathhouse that will be installed in the house will help you save on utilities. After all, there is no need to bring additional light to a separate building, connect water there, etc.
- Also, you don’t have to worry about a separate bathroom or bathtub. After all, everything can be done by simply walking through the house to the right room.
- During the heating of the bathhouse, the heat will spread throughout the entire house, which cannot be said about the steam room on the street.
Listing the advantages, a person involuntarily begins to imagine himself in such a bathhouse, which can either be attached to the house or arranged somewhere in a free zone. But the information will not be complete without mentioning the shortcomings. After all, they exist too.
Why do people install saunas in their apartments?
First of all, those who have a steam room in their bathroom can visit it at any convenient time, for this they do not need to look for a company or go to the other end of the city. Installing it in your own bathroom will certainly entail some costs, but they will be much less than what you would have to spend on installing it, for example, in a country house. Thanks to its lightweight, compact design, connecting it is quite simple, and you can carry out the preparatory work yourself. The preparation process involves obtaining the appropriate permits. Other difficulties that you will have to face include strengthening the home electrical wiring, installing a powerful ventilation system, and you will also have to say goodbye to some part of the usable space.
Bathhouse in the house: cons
The presence of a steam room in the house will provide greater humidity . What is bad is if the house is not particularly dry; many things in it are made of wood, which will dry out. Excess moisture is the cause of fungus, mold, and lung problems.
But all this, of course, can be solved with the help of good materials that will insulate the bathhouse. Moreover, such insulation should be around the entire perimeter from floor to ceiling.
Of course, the second and most important thing is the possibility of a fire . Baths have always been considered one of the most dangerous places in this regard. The risk of a fire at home is high.
But again, here modern builders can suggest an excellent solution. Firstly, you can install an electric stove. Then there will be no risk of fire. Secondly, wood often burns, and modern houses are increasingly made of brick and metal components. Thirdly, if you monitor the firebox, nothing will happen. Also, all wooden elements must be impregnated with special fire-resistant impregnations. They will protect from fire and from rotting in high humidity conditions.
It is also worth noting that the bathhouse should be built on the first floor, where there is also a basement. The second floor is not suitable for a steam room. It is also worth considering the fact whether the sewerage system can cope with the additional volume of water, since this delicate issue is often acute in country houses.
It should be noted that an outdoor bathhouse makes it possible to build an artificial pond nearby if there is no natural reservoir.
It is important to calculate everything correctly here. If your house is made primarily of wood, you doubt whether the wiring will hold up and whether the electricity bill will be high if an electric modern stove-heater is installed, then it is better to abandon the idea of a combined bathhouse.
If there are no concerns in this regard, but you do not know how the project can be implemented, then it is better not to make your own drawings, but to turn to specialists. Only competent calculation of materials, location of the stove, steam room can give the desired effect.
Are there any contraindications for the steam room?
Doctors definitely do not recommend Russian baths and Finnish saunas for hypertensive patients and people predisposed to hypertension. Asthma sufferers should be very careful when visiting wet steam rooms. In one case or another, it is better to consult a doctor before building a bathhouse, otherwise it will be a shame to aggravate a chronic disease instead of a healing effect.
However, there are practically no people for whom all baths are contraindicated. If a Finnish bath is prohibited, then you can certainly take treatments in a Turkish hammam, or stop at the intermediate stage - a Russian steam room.
What location on the site is best suited for building a bathhouse?
A separate bathhouse should be located no closer than 6 m from other buildings. The same amount needs to be retreated from the border with the neighboring site. For a Russian bath and sauna, a place near an artificial pond, if there is one on the site, is perfect.
A separate building is provided mainly for a bathhouse with a wood-burning stove. This is done for fire safety purposes. If an electric heater is used, the bathhouse can be located in the annex or in the cottage itself.
To reduce the cost of organizing drainage, it is recommended to locate the bathhouse on a hill, if possible. It should be fenced off from neighboring properties by a solid fence or outbuildings. To save money, a free-standing bathhouse can be combined with a summer kitchen or workshop.
It is better to make a sauna within the walls of a cottage, since its wooden lining dries quickly and therefore lasts longer. As for the orientation of the bathhouse to the cardinal directions, there are no justified preferences, except that the northern entrance may be more covered with snow in winter.
What should the windows and doors be like in a steam room?
It is better not to make a window in a modern steam room at all. In earlier times, windows provided light in the bathhouse and served as ventilation. But now, when there is electric lighting, and ventilation is provided by supply and exhaust openings, you can avoid the window, thereby reducing heat loss in the room. If, however, a window is provided for aesthetic or other reasons, then it should be as thermally insulated as possible - a double-glazed window with internal tempered glass. The frame of the double-glazed window is made of linden.
The doors to the steam room must have a tight shutter and must open outward. Under no circumstances should any internal constipation be provided! In saunas, the doors can be double-glazed (possibly decorative), but in baths and hammams, where the humidity is so high that the glass will constantly fog up, glazing the doors is pointless.
Fire safety
The second important argument of opponents of combining a residential building with a bathhouse can be considered the issue of fire safety. Indeed, previously the bathhouse was considered a rather fire-hazardous object. Fortunately, progress does not stand still, and today a bathhouse can be perfectly heated without sources of open fire. This can be electric heating or a gas boiler - exactly the same as how many residential buildings are heated.
But even if a traditional stove is used as a heat source for a bath, a professional design involving modern thermal insulation materials and a well-designed combustion product removal system make its use in the home absolutely safe. Of course, it would be better to refrain from using homemade welded furnaces, which are much cheaper.
In general, it is best to entrust the construction of such turnkey structures to competent professionals, because errors in the design and construction process can cost the owner of the house too much.
Poorly constructed ventilation in such a house can lead to increased humidity or a burning smell; poor waterproofing can lead to damage to wooden structural elements. In addition, a number of problems may arise with obtaining the necessary construction permits from supervisory authorities, without which the project is unlikely to be implemented.
How is a steam room insulated?
Since the temperature in the steam room is high, mineral wool or foam glass should be used as a thermal insulation material. The walls of the steam room are insulated from the inside, protecting the fibrous insulation with foil. Glassine should not be used in a multi-layer structure, because it gives off the smell of bitumen.
The sauna ceiling must be well insulated, so two layers of insulation are thrown on top of it.
It is important to lay the foil not close to the lining, but with a gap, which is necessary for ventilation of the wooden paneling, as well as to ensure the reflection of thermal radiation.
Which stove is better for a dry-air steam room, brick or metal?
A brick wood-burning stove, in addition to requiring advance kindling, 5-6 hours before the bath procedure, will also cost a tidy sum. Of course, experienced steamers say that such stoves produce the softest steam, but a professionally built brick heater can cost half a million, a million, or even one and a half million rubles.
A steel wood-burning stove is much cheaper, but then an electric one is better, which also allows you to automate the process. As for the quality of steam, here we are talking less about the method of producing it, and more about the conditions, in particular, the specific gravity of the stones and their temperature. Wood-burning stoves heat the stones more strongly, therefore, “soft” steam, which is finely dispersed hot moisture, is easier to obtain than in electric stoves, where the temperature of the stones and their mass are lower. In turn, the quality of steam also depends on the experience of the person who supplies water to the stones. The easiest way for a beginner to get good steam is with a wood stove.
What types of wood are used for interior trim and shelves?
The wood in the steam room should not contain a lot of resin. In addition, it must have a low density and be resistant to rotting. Species such as linden, alder, Canadian cedar, mahogany and abashi meet these requirements. However, it must be taken into account that each wood has its own smell and color. For example, not everyone likes the smell of exotic abasha, although many find it pleasant. This wood is indispensable for shelves because it has an extremely low heat capacity.
Based on the properties of wood and its cost, it is optimal to use linden and cedar for cladding walls and ceilings, and abashi for shelves. Alder changes its color several times during use, so if you need a permanent color, then you should not use it. Today, more than half of the baths are lined with cedar and linden.
How is steam room ventilation arranged?
First of all, it is worth noting that forced ventilation of steam rooms is not permitted by SNiPs, with the exception of those in which a large number of people are steaming at the same time, and after which the steam room must be quickly ventilated. This applies only to public baths, but not to home baths.
When calculating the ventilation system for a steam room, two air exchanges should be taken as a minimum (in Finnish practice, the air combinator is at least six volumes per hour). If you look at SNiPs, they equate steam rooms with showers, where 10-fold air exchange is considered the minimum, and they also require forced exhaust to be installed there.
In a dry-air steam room, the hood should be placed at a height of 50-60 cm from the floor and on the opposite wall to the supply ventilation hole, as the Finns do. They place the influent above the stove so that the air is immediately heated.
There is an opinion that the natural draft of a stove can replace ventilation exhaust, and it must be said that this is not unfounded. Why make a separate exhaust hole if the furnace vent allows for the necessary air exchange?
