Modern users are increasingly choosing a glass sauna door for personal use. This option is not too expensive, looks modern and stylish.
At the same time, installing a sauna door with your own hands is not too difficult. If you know the technology, you can carry out the installation yourself, without the help of specialists.
If you choose a good quality door, it will not only become a real decoration for your sauna, but will also perform a number of other functions.
At svitsaun.com.ua/vce-dlya-caun-i-ban/dveri you will find a large selection of sauna doors at an affordable price. The variety of designs of the presented models will give you the opportunity to choose exactly the door you want.
So, why a glass door? This option has its supporters, as well as its opponents. There are several undoubted advantages of glass sauna doors.
- Glass does not change its structure when exposed to high temperature or steam. That is, the glass door will last much longer.
- Glass does not release any chemicals into the air even when heated.
- Installing glass doors is quite simple and accessible even to a non-professional.
- A glass door for a sauna or steam room will cost you less than a wooden one.
- The glass can be transparent or decorated at your discretion - this is another plus that will allow you to decorate your sauna in an unusual and stylish way.
With such a set of advantages, how can there be disadvantages? Opponents of glass doors in a sauna call the main disadvantage of such structures their rather high fragility. A glass door remains undamaged by steam and hot air, but is rarely able to withstand mechanical stress.
However, this drawback can often be easily neutralized by using a special protective film, which is applied to the glass immediately before installing the door.
The right choice plays an important role in the quality of the chosen door and its service life. Pay attention, first of all, to the thickness of the glass. Thick glass can withstand high temperatures without cracking.
In addition, pay attention to the strength and reliability of the fittings. It should not heat up and should tightly connect the door frame to the jamb.
As for the decor, if you wish, you can tint the door yourself. It is better not to rely on the features of the door decor.
Do-it-yourself sauna door installation
If your goal is, then you can also install the door without involving specialists. This will allow you to save significantly.
Door installation begins with marking. Perhaps this is one of the most important stages of work, on which it depends whether the door will function normally.
We measure the door and add about fifteen centimeters to the result obtained. This additional distance is necessary to secure the guides.
Before connecting the marking points together, check them with a level. The lines must be strictly horizontal so that distortions do not result.
When you are sure that the line will be straight, you can connect the marking points to each other using a construction pencil. The gap between the door and the opening should be at least five centimeters; it is better not to install the door end-to-end.
The glass door should be as stable as possible when installed. Therefore, during installation we use not one, but two guides, bottom and top. This makes it possible to install the glass without distortions, evenly and reliably.
Installation is carried out strictly along the drawn line; it is better to remove the gutter in relation to the wall so that nothing interferes with the movement of the door. Please note that glass is most susceptible to mechanical damage, so all movements must be clear and careful.
First, we mark the installation and attach the guides. The guides are attached to the wooden base using ordinary self-tapping screws.
Sliding glass doors for saunas operate using a carriage. We also assemble them and attach them to the guides. Do not press too hard to avoid damaging the mechanism.
To ensure that the glass sheet stands as stable as possible, brackets are installed at the points where it connects with the rollers. The number of rollers, the number of staples you should use.
Now you can install the glass sheet. You need to start from the top guide. You need to carefully insert the canvas and secure it with bolts. It is necessary to adjust the door immediately; this will not be possible in the future.
The glass is then installed in the lower guide. The installed canvas is checked again using a level. If there are no distortions, you can attach the fittings. This completes the installation of the glass sauna door.
If you have any questions, ask them on our website. Our specialists will help you understand the features of sauna construction.
For a long time, wood has been considered a traditional material for bathhouses. However, this does not mean at all that today it is prohibited to use other materials for arranging a steam room. A fairly striking example of this is the use of glass for a bathhouse, in particular for arranging a door. We invite you to familiarize yourself with this topic in more detail and study all the nuances of choosing the right glass doors.
Using glass for a bath - fashion or practicality?
Doors made from glass appeared much later than wooden ones. However, this did not stop them from becoming popular and in demand. The production of glass for doors is based on the use of heat-resistant and extremely durable material. Ease of operation, as well as a long useful service life, have become the main advantages of glass doors for a bathhouse. Next, we will present some arguments that glass for a bath is the most practical and correct choice:
The only drawback of bath glass is its relatively high cost. The cheapest and simplest option will cost you approximately 15,000-17,000 rubles. Higher quality products will cost an order of magnitude higher. However, its high cost is justified by numerous positive features, which you have already been able to familiarize yourself with.
Please note that the arrangement of a glass bath door can also be made of hardened material, which during its manufacturing process is subject to strong heating, after which the product is instantly cooled through an air mass. Thus, its heat resistance increases and also ensures safety during operation. Note that tempered glass for a bathhouse does not pose any danger to a person even in a broken state, since the fragments scatter at obtuse angles, unlike ordinary glass. The color of tempered glass is bronze. You should also not forget that such doors practically do not allow air to pass through, which is why it becomes necessary to leave a gap directly between the flooring and the door. In order to ensure good thermal insulation, it is recommended to use a seal around the perimeter of the door frame.
Glass bath door fittings
When purchasing a glass bath door, you should pay special attention to the fittings. The main requirement is the safety and practicality of the product. Under no circumstances should the handles burn; the canopies should provide the most convenient and reliable fastening of the glass directly to the frame.
Silicone seals must provide excellent tightness. It is thanks to the seals that the glass fits tightly to the door frame. In addition, the latching mechanism is also an important point in this matter. The most acceptable option is the use of a magnetic type mechanism, since it is this mechanism that never jams and ensures uninterrupted operation of the structure.
Important! It is recommended to give preference exclusively to tinted glass or with a pattern. Do not buy pure white material, since it is the presence of a pattern or shading that will avoid a collision with the glass door.
As a rule, the door frame is constructed using aluminum, which is distinguished by its practicality and ease of installation. However, there may be options made from glued profiled aspen. In order to increase the level of moisture resistance, it must be pre-impregnated and then varnished .
This option is also good, but it is recommended to give preference to metal, since an aluminum box is much more durable and reliable.
We buy glass for a bath door
When choosing a retail outlet where to purchase the best glass for a bath, you should pay attention to companies that have extensive experience in the building materials market. In addition, additional bonuses in choosing a glass supplier can include positive consumer reviews, as well as loyalty and affordable pricing policies. The most suitable option is a material that has undergone special hardening. A product that is manufactured using this technology results in excellent impact resistance and reliability. As a rule, the thickness of such material reaches 10 mm, so the impact of pops or shocks is safe for the integrity of the glass structure.
If you decide to purchase glass for a bathhouse, then it is strongly recommended that you make the right choice by first studying the features and characteristics of each individual material. This is the only way you can protect yourself from purchasing low-quality products.
A sauna is a place in constant contact with water. Therefore, the requirements for the installation of bathhouse and sauna doors and building materials are increased. In particular, protection from heat, moisture and all the consequences associated with this is very important. A detailed description of the sauna will allow you to install it correctly and remain satisfied with the result for a long time.
Choosing a door to a sauna or bathhouse involves purchasing the right type of wood and subsequent coating.
You can learn more about this from master finishers. To properly install glass doors to a sauna, you will need the following:
- canvas with glass inserts or entirely made of heat-resistant, impact-resistant glass;
- door frame components;
- fittings – iron hinges and wooden handles;
- platbands;
- stainless steel fasteners;
- insulation and moisture-repellent material.
The actual installation of a glass door to a sauna is not too different from the process of installing interior options. Special equipment you will need:
- screwdriver;
- hammer;
- glass cutter;
- hacksaw;
- level and pencil with a square.
What are the disadvantages of glass doors for saunas and baths:
- Heating glass increases the risk of burns
Glass has good thermal conductivity, so the glass sauna door quickly heats up to the temperature in the steam room, which can lead to a burn if it touches it with open parts of the body. In order to avoid touching the surface of the door with your hands, wooden, non-heating linden handles are installed. Linden wood heats up less than other tree species.
- The presence of glass in the door increases the risk of injury if it is accidentally damaged.
As a rule, glass doors for a bathhouse are made of special tempered or laminated heat-resistant glass, which is quite difficult to break, but the risk of injury still remains.
Glass door process
If the proposed door model differs from the leaf with glass inserts in that it is a completely transparent surface, the peculiarity of the work is as follows: the leaf is adjusted to the size of the doorway, taking into account the thickness of the door frame, that is, 3-5 cm less than the total width. Stores offer a wide selection of glass doors with ready-made hinges, so you don’t have to mess around when installing the main structure.
If the owner decided to do everything himself, then he will have to work with a glass cutter. It is worth considering that the texture of the canvas will differ from simple glass and will require a lot of effort for cutting, because the material for the door to a sauna or bathhouse has increased strength.
Having cut out the door leaf, you need to drill holes for the hinges and secure the “mother” on it with small fasteners, and the “father” on the vertical frame guide. You need to decide in which direction the doors will open right away in order to place the parts of the door hinges on identical sides.
After this, the box is installed and assembled. Its material is usually wood, but plastic is not forbidden. It is important that the door to the sauna or bathhouse is mounted with a threshold, so the frame consists of 4 parts, and not 3, like interior ones. There is no threshold only in the rooms separating the washing compartments. To make the box perfectly level, work is carried out using a level, and during the process the canvas is regularly hung on the hinges to check for alignment or distortion.
When the box is installed, the space between it and the wall is filled with foam, as it has better moisture resistance. The pieces should be compacted carefully and not allowed to protrude out. If this does happen, the excess is cut off.
In order to give the doors a finished look, the areas with filler are covered with additional strips. They are either screwed onto self-tapping screws during installation, or nailed with small nails. As a rule, they do not make locks on glass doors - only decorative locks. Their selection in construction accessories stores is rich.
But wooden doors to the bathhouse still break all records for popularity. Firstly, their installation is faster due to the strength of the structure, secondly, this is a traditional option, and thirdly, the price of wooden panels is lower than that of glass. But since the glass in the sauna looks very attractive, the owners still want to install it. There is a solution - you can combine business with pleasure and use bath door models with glass inserts.
Wooden doors with glass inserts are not painted or varnished. It’s worth taking this into account when purchasing and immediately purchasing what you need, without additional finishing.
A door to a sauna with glass inserts, hollow inside, can be insulated in an interesting way by removing it from its grooves and filling the internal space with soft insulation: mineral wool, polystyrene foam, etc. The material can be compacted using a wooden shovel handle. After this, the glass inserts are mounted back, having previously coated the grooves with silicone. After hardening and cutting off excess silicone, the glass will not move and will not rattle.
The canvas is cut using a hacksaw to the desired size.
The tool must be very sharp, with fine teeth, so as not to damage the appearance of the structure. The door to the bathhouse must have a threshold, so when sawing, you need to take into account its height.
After this, mark the places for the hinges on the canvas and the vertical guide of the box. Usually it is 20-30 cm from the edges. The loops are screwed to both sides and the workpiece is tried on.
Now it’s time to install the door frame. Before inserting it, you need to drill holes for the dowels in the doorway. If the structure of the bathhouse is also wooden, this need not be done. The box is assembled using a level, a screwdriver and self-tapping screws for this purpose. First comes the installation of the three parts of the box, and then the threshold. You can and should use spacer wedges: they will help fix the door in the desired condition to assess compliance with the level.
After installing the door frame, hang the leaf and nail the trims, having previously filled the voids between the wall and the wooden guides with insulation - foam plastic. Handles on sauna doors should only be wooden; you can get burned on other materials, since the sauna temperature is more than 100 degrees. As for glass inserts, for better operation of such a door, the glass is sealed using silicone sealant. This way it will vibrate less and last longer.
The traditional material for a bathhouse is wood, but this does not mean that other materials cannot be used. It is even possible if their characteristics are not inferior to or superior to wood. A fairly striking example of a worthy replacement is glass doors for a bathhouse or sauna. When using glass doors in a steam room, there are practically no negative aspects.
There are three main disadvantages:
- Great price (it's justified).
- Thermal conductivity is higher than that of wood, but special doors for baths and saunas use tempered glass, which not only withstands high temperatures, but also has reduced thermal conductivity. It is impossible to get burned by touching such doors.
- Fragility. This problem is partially solved by tempering: the treated glass is not so fragile, and when it breaks, it breaks into many fragments without sharp edges. Also, to increase strength in the manufacture of glass doors to the bathhouse, glass with a thickness of at least 8 mm is used. Both hardening and thickness affect the cost, so good glass doors cost a lot, but they are not easy to break.
Glass doors to the steam room with a pattern
These are, perhaps, all the shortcomings. But there are plenty of advantages:
- Through the glass door you can see people in the steam room. From a safety point of view, this is great: you can come to the rescue in a timely manner if you suddenly feel sick.
- It becomes lighter in the steam room and this light is dim, diffused, pleasant to the eye and conducive to relaxation.
- The service life of a glass door to a bathhouse made of tempered glass is almost unlimited, unless it is broken.
- Cleaning glass doors in a bathhouse is much easier than cleaning wooden ones. Any detergent is suitable.
- There is no threat to the glass doors in the steam room; there is simply no room for them to multiply on a timely cleaned glass surface.
- No deformation under any operating conditions: neither temperature, nor humidity, nor their changes and differences in any way affect the dimensions of the glass door leaf.
- Modern glass doors for a sauna or bathhouse are beautiful.
With all the advantages of glass doors, not everyone recommends installing them in a bathhouse. This is due to the fact that it is important to retain steam in the steam room of a Russian bath. To do this, make a high threshold - at least 10 cm, and a door leaf that fits tightly to the jamb. In a sauna, on the contrary, they often make a gap under the door leaf to ensure air flow. Therefore, you can safely install glass doors in the sauna.
For lovers of high quality, we can recommend products from the Finnish company Harvia. We have already told you earlier, but in addition to stoves, the company produces a large assortment of glass doors for saunas and baths.
Glass doors for baths and saunas from the Finnish company Harvia. Glass color (from left to right): bronze, gray, white, satin (matte)
Having read the reviews of those who have a glass door installed in a Russian bathhouse, we came to the conclusion: it is also possible to install glass doors in a bathhouse. And this will not interfere with retaining steam at all. The doors should open outward “from the steam room” (to the right or left, as is convenient), and they can be installed so that it is possible to fill a threshold on the side of the steam room, which perfectly retains all the moisture inside. Good glass doors are made in such a way that they practically do not allow steam to pass through at the points of contact with the frame (the kit includes a seal that is inserted into the frame). So they install a glass door in the bathhouse and don’t complain.
Glass door from ALDO (Russia). Dimensions along the box are 690x1890mm, dimensions along the opening are 270x1901mm. Price about 9500 rubles
According to reviews from bath attendants, some use the glass door to determine the humidity in the steam room - they say it “works” no worse than a hygrometer, some are pleased with the ease of care, but everyone unanimously claims that they have no regrets. And the main advantage of a glass door to a Russian bath is that it does not react to changes in humidity: it does not swell or shrink, because any wooden door either swells or shrinks. Because of this, it is difficult to open/close, which is not good, or large cracks appear through which the same steam escapes and heat loss increases. Everyone who has installed glass doors in their bathhouse or sauna definitely advises, in addition to the quality of the glass, to pay attention to the fittings.
When choosing a glass door for a bathhouse or sauna, try to find a model with three or more canopies. The thickness of the glass for a door to a sauna or bathhouse must be at least 7 mm, and such a monolith weighs a lot. And two hinges often don’t hold up and break. Even if there are two holders, pay attention to the possibility of replacing them or installing additional ones. Hinges for a glass door to a sauna must be made of stainless steel or any material that is not subject to corrosion.
It is worth paying attention to the latch. Glass sauna doors, which cost less, often have a ball latch installed. The disadvantage of ball latches is that they often jam and can cause unpleasant moments at the most inopportune moment (you were about to jump out of the steam room and tip it over yourself, but the door does not open). The most ideal option for a steam room door is magnetic latches made of three or four elements. They are always operational.
Glass door DoorWood (Russia) “Bronze-Banka” with magnetic latch. Three chrome hinges. Price about 6.5 thousand rubles
Door fittings also include handles. Wooden handles are usually installed on glass doors to a sauna or bathhouse. When purchasing, make sure that they are comfortable and located at the desired height. For greater comfort and reliability, special silicone gaskets are often placed between the handles and the glass door - this is not an unnecessary precaution.
Types of glass doors for steam rooms
Today, the construction market offers a fairly wide selection of similar products, so you can choose any glass doors for a steam room - the size, color of glass, type and presence of decorative elements can solve a design problem of any complexity. Thus, in the assortment of many manufacturers you will find doors made of tempered glass in transparent, matte, mirrored or decorated versions of different colors (gray, green, “bronze”). Even if you don’t find a ready-made model suitable for your idea in terms of size or decor, they will make it for you to order.
In terms of structural elements, the glass door to the steam room can be pendulum or hinged. Pendulum products open both inward and outward, and can be used for steam rooms. They are installed with mounting in the floor and ceiling with the obligatory mounting of the closer. A swing door made of glass opens only in one direction (in the case of a steam room, only outward) and is mounted in the door frame using hinges.
Installing a glass door in a sauna or bathhouse
There is one fundamental difference in installing a door in a sauna or bathhouse:
in the sauna there is no threshold in the steam room, and the gap between the door leaf and the floor does not close. In a bathhouse, a threshold is desirable - it will help retain moisture in the steam room. This should be taken into account when choosing a glass door and determining its size.
Glass sauna doors can have a metal or wooden frame. The steel frame is installed before finishing the walls, the wooden frame – after. This is their main difference.
If you decide to install it yourself, you will need an assistant - the canvas weighs a lot (a square meter of 7 mm thick canvas is about 25 kilograms) and it will be difficult to hold it alone without installation experience.
Advice
: when disassembling the packaging, place wooden planks from it next to it: it is convenient to lay the glass sheet on them and you will not need to solve the problem of how to lift it from the floor later.
In order to detach the glass from the frame, you need to loosen the fastening screws on the hinges and bend them on the opposite side. After this, the glass can be lifted and placed on wooden slats.
During installation, you can change the direction of door opening - left or right - by changing the location of the jamb. Having chosen the direction of opening the door, install the box in the opening. Use wedges to secure. Be sure to check that the installation is vertical. This determines how easy it is to open/close the door and how long it will last.
Once positioned, lightly tighten the screws at the top of the box on the side where the hinges are located and check again that they are vertical. Repeat the procedure with the fasteners on the other side. Once you have finally installed the box, tighten the screws as tightly as possible. The box is installed.
The next step will be installing the glass. It needs to be inserted into the loops and tightened. At this stage, an assistant is simply necessary: one holds the glass, the other tightens the fastener.
It is easy to check whether the door is installed correctly or not: you need to close the doors and check the gaps. If everything is done correctly, the gaps are the same, and the canvas fits tightly to the seal. Now you can install the latch and handle. The installation of a glass door in a sauna or bathhouse is completed.
Having some skill, installing doors will not be difficult, otherwise it is better to entrust the installation of a glass door to professionals: buying a new one will be much more expensive...
A professional can install a glass door alone. The video below shows how a middle-aged Finn installs a door to a sauna.
You can install glass doors not only in a bathhouse or sauna. They will fit perfectly into: modern technologies make it possible to apply a variety of designs of varying complexity and themes. The rules for choosing a glass door and installing it in a hammam are no different.
Advice:
It is better to install either a frosted glass door or one with a pattern in the steam room. There were cases when they simply did not notice the transparent one and “opened” it with their heads