If you pay attention to the design features of the Slavic baths of past centuries, it can be noted that during the construction was not paid much attention to floor insulation. This part of the building had a leaking base of loosely laid floorboards, through the slits of which sewage was carried out. At the same time, the visitors of the steam room had to put up with the cold surface of the floor, because then the builders did not know how to warm this part of the building.
The choice of material for insulation
Before making the floor insulation in the bath, it is necessary to consider the features and characteristics of the materials presented by the modern market. For example, universal foamed polystyrene is excellent for thermal insulation of wooden or concrete substrates. But mainly this super-light and hard material, which has a polymer alloy of small closed granules, is used to warm wooden floors. The same can be said about such material as polystyrene, the price of which is 128 rubles. per sheet.
Foamed polystyrene does not absorb moisture, which can penetrate the boardwalk. The material is easy to process with a regular clerical knife, and the waste is minimal. Before insulating the floor in the bath, you can consider the features of glass and mineral wool, which are used for thermal insulation of concrete floors. If fibrous cotton wool is included in the design of the wooden system, then reinforced waterproofing, covered by the insulation layer, will be necessary. Otherwise, the fibers will absorb moisture intensively, and the insulating properties will decrease. This can not be said about a material such as polystyrene, the price of which is reasonably reasonable.
The use of expanded clay
Expanded clay is used by analogy with mineral wool. Despite the fact that these materials have a large difference in structure, their thermal characteristics are similar. They need enhanced waterproofing when arranging a wooden floor. In order to provide a 10-degree angle for drainage, expanded clay is poured using guides, and then it is wetted with a weak cement mortar. An alternative option is to fill the insulation layer with a cement screed.
Alternatives
If you still do not know which floors in the bath will be equipped, then you can choose boiler slag for insulation, which is covered with a 30-cm layer. Foam concrete can be laid with a layer of up to 25 centimeters, and a half-panel up to 10 cm. The final thickness of the insulation layer will depend on weather conditions in the region where the bath is built.
Perlite, which is a sandy dusty insulation, is no less common today, it acquires a porous structure when solidified. In fact, with its help you can create a lightweight layer of thermal insulation, which will be located between the upper and lower screed in the concrete floor.
Recommendations for warming a wooden floor
The most suitable time for arranging the thermal insulation system is the construction period, but if you decide to install non-leaking wooden floors, then you can also insulate them after removing the finishing floor. The most suitable insulation for a wooden floor will be a material with closed cells that do not allow moisture to pass through. As it can be expanded polystyrene. If you intend to use a heater with a fibrous or open cellular structure, the insulation layer will absorb moisture, which will require installation of waterproofing. The use of ecocotton wool foamed polymers has become a new method of improving the thermal properties. It almost does not increase the weight of the structure and excellently retains heat.
Methodology
If you are building a bathhouse, it will be necessary to make wood floors warm, only in this way the operation of the steam room will be as comfortable as possible. To the lower edge of the beams along the entire length you need to nail the cranial bars, which are necessary for installing the subfloor. On the cranial beam, you can install low-grade boards, which are pre-cut to size. This will allow you to get the first layer of the cranial floor, on top of which waterproofing is laid, it will become an indispensable element of the wooden structure.
Experts advise using a waterproofing membrane for this , which has a protective function against the penetration of steam. It should be covered so that it was possible to capture all the beams around the perimeter. The material is hardened to the protruding structural elements by a stapler, after which you can seal the joints with a vapor barrier tape. If you need a warm bath, then at the next stage, the second row of the cranial floor, as well as thermally insulating material, are laid on top of the vapor barrier layer. Depending on the type of thermal insulation, protection against steam or moisture is laid.
The membrane, which is quite expensive, can be replaced by a layer of roofing material, which is glued with bituminous mastic in the seam area. Around the drain pipe, fill the empty space with foam. In conclusion, lay the floorboards, trim off the excess vapor barrier material. At the last stage, the baseboard is installed. A 3-cm ventilation gap should be left under the floorboards to dry the wood.
Concrete floor insulation
If you will be warming the floor in the bath, then waterproofing should be applied to the concrete slabs of the lower floors or the draft floor layer, which was poured on the ground. Replace the roll material can be coated with mastic, which is applied in 3 layers. Some craftsmen combine roll insulation. Next, laying mats made of mineral wool, expanded clay or extruded polystyrene foam. The thickness of the interlayer will determine the thermotechnical qualities of the material. A reinforcing mesh is installed over the insulation on plastic or made from a mixture of alabaster with cement supports. A screed is poured on top, further actions for finishing will depend on the wishes of the owner.
Installation and insulation of leaking floors
Floors in the bathhouse with drains can also be insulated. But in order to properly equip them, you need to get acquainted with the methodology of the work. At the same time, the steam room can be used all year round, as the floor in it will be comfortable to operate. As practice shows, installation work on installing a leaking insulated floor is the most difficult to implement. Among other things, in the process of preparation to acquire a considerable amount of materials. Such floors under the bathhouse begin to be equipped even at the stage of construction of the foundation.
The drain pipe must be laid through the underground part of the base, and it is important to ensure a 30-degree slope. He will lead into a cesspool or go into the central sewage system. The pipe is buried in the soil below the freezing line of the soil by 100 millimeters. The cesspool can be equipped with brick, which is laid at intervals of 50 millimeters. Instead, concrete rings are often used in which holes are drilled or punched to drain water into the ground. However, the easiest option is to use car tires. The size of the pit should be calculated taking into account how intensively the bath will be used. Before digging in the ditch where the pipe is located, claydite should be poured into it, which will become a heater, not allowing the pipe to freeze in the winter.
Specialist recommendations
If you are thinking about how to insulate the floor in the bath, then at the next stage you can fill the soil with a trench and gently compact the soil. Further work should be carried out underground. In the place where the drain will be located and where the drain pipe is held, a pit is formed. It needs to be bricked and plastered. The pipe is laid in one of its walls, and then sprinkled with soil. Along the perimeter of the floor in the underground space around the pit, you need to make a backfill of sand and gravel, which will form a slope for the drain on the subfloor. The layer is well compacted, for this it needs to be moistened with water.
At this stage, you can start warming the floor in the bath. A layer should be applied to the gravel mixture, which consists of concrete mortar and polystyrene crumbs. As an alternative solution, you can lay the entire surface with expanded polystyrene plates using sheets whose thickness is from 30 to 50 millimeters. In this case, it is necessary to observe the bias. Next, waterproofing the joints of the walls, and after the floor is formed. Roll material is laid on its surface, which rises to the wall by 500 millimeters.
Final work
The floor insulation in the bathhouse at this stage can be considered completed, the next step will be the laying of the reinforcing mesh according to the technology described above. Next, a concrete screed with a thickness of 50 millimeters is poured.