How to build a sauna? Many, without hesitation, will respond, that from a beam or a log. Indeed, this material has been tested for centuries, but it has a number of features that must be borne in mind before construction. Firstly, quality wood is now expensive, and to save on its quality, it means to condemn yourself to permanent cracks. Secondly, construction is expensive because of the need for a monolithic foundation for a heavy structure. Thirdly, it will take a year to wait until the bath will shrink, and only after that to take up the finishing work. To steam it will be possible not soon. Is there an alternative? Yes, this is a frame sauna, which you can build with your own hands.
Advantages of
frame structure The skeleton bath has several advantages over built of timber or logs.
- Construction will cost cheaper, approximately, 2 times. Savings will be almost everything, from pouring the foundation to acquiring materials.
- In addition to material, there is a time and labor saving. Bath in the wireframe technology in the warm season can be built in a few weeks. To involve a professional team is also not necessary: you can manage 1-2 assistants.
- The frame structure does not give such shrinkage as wooden. It can be done and used immediately, rather than waiting 1-1.5 years.
- Correctly insulated frame bath is, in fact, a thermos, as the coefficient of thermal conductivity in modern heaters is 5-6 times lower than that of wood. The heat in it remains long, and the cracks through which the wind can blow out, no. An additional advantage - modern materials used for plating, do not burn, therefore, the probability of a fire is lower.
- Thanks to its excellent thermal insulation, it warms up faster, in just 2-3 hours. Wooden requires twice as much heating time. This entails significant savings in firewood, especially if you estimate their number in a year.
- The frame can be sheathed inside and outside with a large amount of materials, so that the bath can be given a unique appearance or, on the contrary, it can be harmoniously combined in other buildings on the site.
Bath plan
For the construction of a skeleton bath it is important to make an accurate plan, as this will allow more rational use of materials and avoid mistakes.
- Before making it, you need to decide whether the steam room is built-in or separate, how many people it should be designed for. From the dimensions of the steam room will depend on all other proportions of the structure.
- Preliminary it is necessary to take into account the location of the furnace and its type, since under it a separate foundation must be poured, in the case of brick , or reinforce the floor frame, in the case of metal or cast iron.
- Take into account the connection to the bath. Decide whether to connect it to the sewerage on the site. If there is no water supply, then you need to think about the place for the tank.
- To plan auxiliary rooms, as their area and quantity will affect the thermal insulation of the steam room.
- Pre-select the roofing material, as its type will affect the thickness and number of rafters.
After all these questions are answered, you can make a plan. Usually the frame sauna consists of a vestibule, a dressing room, a washing room and a steam room. If the area allows, you can equip a rest room. When designing, you need to take into account that to keep the heat, all the doors should open into the premises. You can use the ready-made standard layout, which is available on the Internet, or you can purchase professionally developed in construction companies.
Preparatory work and foundation
The type of foundation under the frame house is chosen taking into account several factors: the soil on the plot, the number of floors in the building and the total weight of the building, which depends on the material chosen for the roof and beams of the frame. For a building with a roof made of corrugated board and a frame made of a bar on a ground with a weak punching, they are limited to a pile or columnar foundation, for example, using plastic or asbestos-cement pipes.
Materials
For the construction of a skeleton bath will not require a very extensive list of materials.
1. You can use a bar or special metal profile to assemble the frame. The design of the bar is more popular, it weighs less and is easier to assemble. The most optimal - a section of 5 * 10 cm for intermediate supports and 10 * 10 for corner posts and two belts of straps. The number is calculated according to the drawing. Board thickness of 2-3 cm and a width of 10-15 cm for the inner skin and ceiling cover.
2. The frame is sheathed with OSB or DSP, preferably moisture resistant. With the cladding material it is worthwhile to decide on the design, since the frame supports are located at a distance of one plate from each other, so that the joint falls on the beam. SCEs are preferred because they require the same material for work with wood, while the DSP is cut only by the Bulgarian.
3. As a heater use mineral wool( URSA 100 mm or equivalent), fiberglass or expanded polystyrene. The latter can be used only for those rooms where there is no strong heating( a dressing room, rest room), as it emits harmful substances when the temperature rises. The thickness of the insulation must match the thickness of the beam used for the frame.
4. In addition to the insulation, steam and waterproofing are required. It is not recommended to use roofing felt, as it begins to smell specifically when heated. The ruberoid is used only for laying between the foundation and the lower strapping and external waterproofing.
5. The material for the inner skin is better to choose a natural - wooden lining, it will create the effect of a steam bath in a bath of natural wood - read more here.
6. Outside the frame sauna can be trimmed with block-house, lining, stone or bricked.
7. Bricks or metal sheets to protect the wall and floor near the furnace from sparks.
8. Fasteners( corners, plates), wood screws, nails.
Construction of the frame
The frame is erected after the foundation has completely solidified. It is laid ruberoid and lag for the rough floor, and then proceed to assemble the lower belt strapping. Previously, the bar should be treated with an antiseptic and an antipyretic. On how horizontal the lower strapping will be, the evenness of the walls depends, so it is necessary to constantly use the level when laying beams and laying from thin boards or roofing. Between the bar is fastened with metal plates, and to the foundation is fixed by anchor bolts. The correct assembly of the lower strapping can be checked by comparing both diagonals, they should be equal.
Walls, external and internal, are easier to build from frames that are assembled on the ground. The corners and sides of each frame are carefully measured. The details are fastened "in half a tree" and fixed with nails or screws and corners and plates of metal. In the logs, grooves are made for the installation of intermediate beams. The distance between the beams is affected by the width of the material, which will be sheathed by the frame. For example, for OSB sheets with a width of 120 cm, the gap between the beams will be 60 cm. Additional racks are mounted under the windows and near the doorways. Frames are attached to the lower strap and are connected to each other. On top of collecting another belt strapping, and on top of it laying boards for overlapping.
Warm walls
The wall "pie" for the frame bath is as follows:
- lining,
- lining,
- vapor barrier,
- insulation lining,
- waterproofing,
- carcass exterior,
- wall lining.
After the construction of the frame, the inner covering is made of boards 2-3 cm thick. The preferred breeds are linden, aspen, larch, they are not rotted and do not deform under the influence of moisture. The boards are nailed with two nails to vertical beams. As a finishing material, wooden lining is most often used, which, among other advantages, reinforces the structure.
Behind the vapor barrier is a heater. It should completely fill the space between the beams and be equal to them in thickness, so the thermal insulation will be ensured at the proper level. Next to the beams is attached waterproofing, for which a special film is used. Let us also accept ruberoid, since with well-insulated walls, heating from the steam room will not affect it.
Then carry out its plating from the outside. Sheets of DSP or OSB are fixed to beams. If the project is drawn up correctly, there are no problems at this stage. Outside, the bath can be sewed with lining, siding, block house or planks to give it a traditional look.
Roof and floor
The roof can be of any design, but traditionally they build gable with rafter system. When building a bath, it is desirable to provide good ventilation of the roof. If the vertical racks are located every 60 cm, then the frame can easily withstand such a load. The insulation of the ceiling is also fixed with special attention, the space between the ceilings is filled with mineral wool, claydite or sawdust. Like walls, the ceiling must be protected by a layer of vapor barrier.
In the frame sauna the floor is made using the same technology as in the wooden one, according to this description.
Important note
Although modern materials are not very flammable, a lot of wood is used in the bath. It is necessary to take into account the requirements of fire safety: the wall at which the furnace will be located should be laid out of a brick, they also need to lay out a platform around it or close the adjacent walls and floor with metal sheets.
