It is quite difficult to imagine a country site without a bathhouse, which can become the hallmark of almost any country house. You can choose one of the many existing technologies, but building a bath from gas silicate blocks allows you to carry out work in a short time, getting a high-quality building.
Opinion about the material
Among the advantages of the material, it is worth highlighting the cost, which is reduced due to the lack of the need for drying and the use of inexpensive raw materials. According to users, the walls are thermally insulated, have sound-absorbing properties and allow saving on heating of the dressing room and rest room. Home craftsmen emphasize that the material is lightweight, so that one person can cope with the work, and the foundation can be lightened. The blocks are large, so the speed of construction will be high.
As practice shows, products are easy to process, so you will be able to cope with them even with a hand tool. The material is not combustible, which ensures a high level of fire safety. Before building a bath of gas silicate blocks, it should be borne in mind that the products have some disadvantages. Consumers note high hygroscopicity among them. The material absorbs moisture well, therefore, waterproofing work remains to be done. Above ground level, the base should rise 1.5 meters or more. After completion of the work, the walls will need to be finished, for example, covered with plaster.
Foundation construction
Before you begin, you need to decide which foundation you will be laying. The base may be lightweight, so a columnar tape or shallowly recessed tape structure is suitable. The latter option is preferable, but its use is possible on rocky, clay or sandy soils. If the territory has marshy soil, which is characterized by permafrost, then you should use the technology of building a column-strip foundation.
Work on the column base
If the construction of the bath from gas silicate blocks is planned to be carried out on a column-tape base, then in the locations of the supports it is necessary to dig holes. Their depth will be determined individually, it is only important to exclude the temperature and seasonal movements of the pillars. At the next stage, a sand cushion is laid, the thickness of which should not exceed 15 centimeters. The preparation should be poured with water and compacted, lay the reinforcement cage, and then pour concrete over everything. Next, wooden formwork is laid between the pillars around the perimeter and in those places where the internal partitions will be located. Then reinforcement and concrete pouring are carried out.
The technology of the construction of the strip foundation
The construction of a bath from gas silicate blocks is often carried out on a strip foundation, which is the most problem-free. Along the perimeter and in those places where the internal walls are supposed to be located, it is necessary to dig trenches, at the bottom of which a sand cushion of the same thickness is laid as in the case described above. Around the trench is a wooden formwork. A reinforcing cage is laid inside, and then you can start pouring concrete, which is made independently or ordered at the factory. It is important that the foundation surface is horizontal, while the laying of the first row is accompanied by the consumption of a smaller amount of mortar, which will positively affect the thermal insulation and strength of the building.
Features of masonry walls
The design of the bath of gas silicate blocks can be ordered from professionals or borrowed from the article. It will allow you to imagine how the building will look in the future. After completing the construction of the foundation and gaining strength, you can proceed with the installation of the first row of blocks, which is the most important step in laying walls. In the process, you should use a rubber mallet and a building level, the last of which will allow you to get a perfectly flat surface. Masonry should start from the corners using cement mortar. The material must be moistened with water before starting work. The blocks of the next row should be offset by 15 centimeters relative to the blocks of the first row.
The following rows are laid on building glue, which will allow for thinner and more accurate seams. If you decide to build a bathhouse of gas silicate blocks, you should reinforce the walls, and you need to do this every 4 rows of masonry. Grooves are cut out in the products, into which the fittings fit. The uppermost row, as well as the rows above the door and window openings, should also be strengthened with rods. When organizing openings, it is necessary to use custom-sized blocks. When installing them, temporary supports are used. After the walls are erected, they should be left for some time to gain strength.
Specialist wall recommendations
When the construction of the bath from gas silicate blocks is underway, the foundation must be separated from the future walls with two layers of waterproofing from roofing material. If you use blocks whose dimensions are 200x300x600 millimeters, you can lay them on the edge, and you get a wall with a thickness of 200 millimeters. And for laying the first row, you should use a cement mortar, which is mixed in a proportion of three to one (the ratio is true for sand and cement).
A 5-mm layer of the solution should be applied to the roofing felt with a trowel, and a block should be placed on top. If there is a need to cut blocks, then you can use an angle grinder with diamond discs on concrete. With the help of a chainsaw, cutting products is also quite fast. After the walls reach a height of 2.25 meters, you can proceed with the construction of the gables. In this case, the same technology should be used, and the height in the ridge will be 1.9 meters.
Warming and waterproofing
Baths of gas silicate blocks, photos of which are presented in the article, need heat and waterproofing. From the inside, the walls are covered with wooden slats, on which the insulation is laid. A foil film is covered on top, and the joints are glued with construction tape. Further, finishing work is performed. For the steam room, for example, you can use the lining, for the shower - tile. The dressing room is finished with any materials. After waterproofing the walls, you can apply any material you like.
Vapor barrier
The vapor barrier function can be performed by foil and Metaspan film. On the slats should be filled with "Metaspan", which fits with a margin of 20 centimeters. After that, foil is used in the same way. Such vapor barrier will exclude access of moisture and steam to the insulation, and will also serve as a continuation of thermal insulation.
Exterior wall decoration of gas silicate blocks
Baths made of gas silicate blocks, reviews of which may allow you to make the right choice, are finished with plaster on the outside. Do not purchase cement-based mortars. This is due to the fact that aerated concrete will take moisture from the composition. To begin with, surface preparation is carried out, which involves cleaning from excess solution and dust. After the wall is primed, and then covered with a stucco mixture. The layer should be strengthened with a fiberglass mesh, which is fixed to the wall with ordinary screws.
Construction cost
Bathrooms from turnkey gas silicate blocks are built today by professional companies. If we are talking about an area within 20 square meters, then the estimated cost of construction will be 250 thousand rubles.