Probably everyone who at least once took a steam bath in a bathhouse or sauna was visited by the thought: “But can you make yourself the same at home?” In general, building a sauna is a good idea, but in order to bring it to life, you need to carefully consider all the nuances. In today's article, we will reveal to you the secrets thanks to which you will learn how to make a sauna with your own hands.
What will we build from?
First of all, you need to decide what kind of material you will use to build walls and lay the foundation. In general, a do-it-yourself sauna can be built of wood or brick. Also, the foam block is widely used in the construction of baths. Some enthusiasts are starting a sauna with a swimming pool. Agree, it’s not bad, especially for owners of private houses. If you do not have certain skills in bricklaying, then the most optimal option for building a bath is still a tree. Walls and a ceiling are built from it. The base should be made concrete.
Determine the costs
So you need a sauna in the house. With your own hands you can build not only a steam room - a palace! It would be a desire. And, accordingly, money. For the total cost of the project directly depends on the dimensions of the room. So, for example, a bathhouse measuring 3x3 meters will cost about 7-8 thousand dollars. Well, for the construction of 6-meter penates will have to lay out at least 20 thousand "green". As you can see, a bathhouse (sauna) is a very expensive pleasure. However, we will try to invest in 7 thousand dollars.
How to save on construction?
Below we list the main factors affecting the cost of building a sauna:
- Material for the walls (log or beam).
- Type of log (rounded or not) or timber (can be profiled and glued).
- Bath area (here you should calculate based on the number of visitors).
- The choice of finishing and facade building materials (cladding, roofing, and so on).
- Hiring a manpower to build a structure. Here you can go in two ways - to hire several professional workers and pay everyone $ 500 each, or do everything yourself. The latter option should be considered only if there is at least minimal experience in this field of activity.
- It is worth paying attention to the time factor, namely: how long will the sauna be built? With your own hands (that is, only you do it), such a structure can be expelled in six months, and if you take into account that you also need to go to work, the process can drag on for all 12 months. In the variant with hired workers, this period is reduced to three weeks (maximum - a month).
Registration of relevant documents: is it necessary?
Before you start building a sauna on your site, you will need to solve the legal side of the issue. And here it is necessary to note one important detail. According to the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation (Article 51 “Issuance of building permits”, clause 17), in order to build a bathhouse (this structure refers to auxiliary use facilities), it is not necessary to have an appropriate permit. Therefore, if someone tells you about the need to draw up such documents and even more so requires money from you, you should know that this person either does not know the aforementioned code, or simply a fraudster. So we build a sauna with our own hands without any fears!
The only thing you need to do after the construction of the bath is to turn to the BTI and go through the state registration of the newly constructed facility on your site.
Where will the bathhouse be located?
So, the question arose before you: "How to build such an object as a sauna on your own?" Do-it-yourself construction begins with the preparation of a building site. It must be chosen, guided by the following factors and rules:
1. The location of the building should be away from wells and boreholes, at a distance of at least 20 meters. At the same time, the site on which the bathhouse is being built must be removed from residential buildings and other buildings by at least 20 m.
2. At least 2.5 m must be separated from the neighboring site, provided that the bathhouse does not cause any inconvenience to the neighbors. In this case, it is necessary to coordinate the construction with the neighbors in advance and issue a written consent in order to avoid controversial issues later.
3. Choose a place to build in such a way that it is on a hill. So you save yourself the need to lay a special drainage from the sauna, that is, the water will leave in a natural way. Experts also recommend placing windows on the west side, and doors on the south side.
The layout of the sauna
Before you start buying construction materials, you need to make a small drawing - a diagram of future construction (i.e., a plan by which a sauna will be built with your own hands).
The most common option is to build a 4x4 meter space. In this case, a dressing room (1.7x3.7 m), a washing compartment (2x2 m) and a steam room (2x1.7 m) are designed.
DIY sauna: choose a stove
At this point, I would like to dwell in more detail. It’s quite possible to install an oven for a sauna with your own hands, but before you begin this work, you need to decide what type it will be. There are several types of bath stoves:
- Classic brick.
- Gas stoves.
- Electric.
Connoisseurs of a real Russian bath know that the “right” stove, which is optimal for our purpose, cannot be purchased in a store. It must be folded of bricks. Moreover, it is being built on the spot, it is somehow impossible to install it otherwise. Often the average weight of such a furnace is about 1000 kilograms. For this reason, the foundation for the sauna must be concrete.
When the bath is kindled, the stones can heat up to a temperature of 500-600 degrees Celsius, however, the room will not overheat. Fans of the Russian bath believe that only at such a temperature is formed a truly healthy body vapor.
At the moment, almost everyone is given the opportunity to use high-tech thermal insulation materials when laying the heater. Thanks to this, the loss of heat coming from hot stones is significantly reduced. By the way, it will also take less time to melt the sauna. In the presence of heat-insulating materials, the whole process will take about 4 hours, while under normal conditions it takes as much as 8 hours. The temperature of the walls will range from 40 to 60 degrees Celsius, and even and “velvet” heat will come from the stove itself. Under such conditions, air will not be burned in the bath, and accordingly, it will be easy for a person to breathe.
However, not everything is as good as it seems at first glance. Kamenka also has its drawbacks. The main one is the impossibility of its construction without the help of the hand of a master. And if during the construction of walls and foundations you could do without hired workers, then only a real specialist who knows a lot about this business can build a brick heater. Like it or not, you will not be able to build such a sauna stove with your own hands - you will have to hire workers and bear additional costs. But it's worth it!
Where to place the firebox?
Since the brick stove works on wood, it is necessary to determine in advance exactly where the stove will be located. It can be installed both in the adjacent room, and directly in the steam room itself. Many owners choose the first option. Yes, driving to a steam room in a separate tunnel is not a cheap pleasure, but using such a stove is very convenient. A firebox door can be made of glass and decorated as a fireplace. Thus, you will have the opportunity to enjoy not only the view, but also the warmth of a live fire, even in the relaxation room.
Electrical analogues
Such furnaces are equipped with a special control unit (less often with a remote control). Thanks to the presence of this device, you will be able to remotely set the required heating temperature and the heating period. Moreover, electrical devices have an automatic on / off function, that is, a bath can be heated in a clearly defined period of time.
This type of equipment also does not need to install a chimney, which also significantly saves time and cost of construction work. Note that the price of electrical devices can be different. The cheapest options can be purchased for 5-5.5 thousand rubles. However, it is necessary to clarify the power of this furnace - it should be sufficient to quickly warm the bath room. As a rule, this parameter is calculated based on the area of the sauna - 1 kW of energy is required per 1 m 2 . That is, in our case, a bath with a size of 4x4 meters requires a device with a capacity of at least 16 kilowatts.
What progress has come to!
Some models of electric furnaces are equipped with a built-in steam generator. Thanks to this device, the ratio of temperature and humidity can be optimized. In the case of stone analogues, this possibility is excluded.
Gas devices
This is perhaps the least common type of stove. Their principle of operation is to use the energy of main or balloon gas. The only plus of such devices over all other analogues is the lack of need for logging and minimal absorption of gas (the operation of such equipment is the most economical in comparison with the others).
The best option would be to purchase the so-called combined furnaces. These devices can operate on two types of fuel - gas and wood. However, their cost is 20-30% more than that of conventional gas furnaces.
Room decoration
The interior decoration (with your own hands) of the sauna is the type of construction work that needs special attention. As a rule, this process is performed in a certain sequence:
- Floor.
- Ceiling.
- Walls.
Let's start with the floor. Many bath lovers recommend using natural wood or timber as a flooring. However, it is necessary to note the fact that with each new use of the sauna, any tree will absorb an incredible amount of moisture. If no measures are taken in time, then soon an unpleasant smell of rot will form in the steam room. Therefore, in order to avoid such consequences, experts recommend covering the floor with ceramic (clinker) tiles. In this case, the concrete base is pre-poured. In order for the sauna (built with its own hands) not to accumulate moisture everywhere, the slope of the base surface should be 1: 100 towards the pit. So in the steam room will not form one continuous puddle in the center.
How do you do your own mini-sauna? Everything else (walls and ceiling) can be safely finished with wood, without fear of any unpleasant consequences. Unlike the floor, these areas are practically not exposed to such a strong influence of moisture, and therefore you can forget about various odors and fungi.
So, we found out how to make a sauna in the house with our own hands. Finally, a little advice: the construction of the bath is best to begin in May-June, then, with a successful set of circumstances, already in the fall you can steam up plenty.