home Baths, saunas

Tying a bath from a bar with your own hands. Do-it-yourself log bath - chic water treatments and a great mood are guaranteed! Laying timber - the traditional way on the dowels

A log bath is an additional building on the site, which is not as easy to build as it might seem at first glance. If you have professional construction skills, special knowledge and experience, the preparation and implementation of the project will really not take much time. However, it is quite dangerous for a beginner to undertake such a thing: the design may not last long. In any case, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the features of the projects and their implementation.

Preparation for construction

Before building small bath, preparatory work must be done.

Choosing a location

Any structure, regardless of the area and purpose, should be planned, following certain norms and rules. The place for the bath must be chosen taking into account a number of requirements.

The building must not:

Being too close to a residential building.
Harm the communication system.
Crush the area closest to it.

It is necessary to take into account the distance to other structures in order to avoid problems with civil servants and neighbors. The rules of SNiP regulate at what distance it is necessary to build a bathhouse from other structures. According to the rules established by the state, from the bathhouse to other structures and buildings there should be:

3 meters - to a residential building;
4 meters to medium trees, and 5 meters to large ones;
1 meter to other shrubs;
4 meters from buildings where animals are kept.

The choice of material for the walls

Yes, a bath can be built from any materials. But it is advisable not to use the same brick, polystyrene concrete and foam block. They get too hot and then take a long time to cool down. In such structures, strong humidity is created, and when aired, the room dries very quickly.

Bricks and blocks, if desired, can be used, but they must be multi-layered for such variable thermal conditions.

The best option is a beam. It does not require any cladding. In addition, it is the tree that gives useful and healthy steam when heated.

Drawing up project documentation

Creating a bath project consists of:

Outline sketches and drawings.
Drawing up a work schedule.
Budget calculation.

With a drawing, you can:

make the correct orientation to the cardinal points;
plan doors and windows;
wire correctly.

When drawing up a project, it is necessary to take into account climatic conditions and the location of the object:

It is desirable to place windows from the west and south.
Put the doors on the side of the house.
If possible, it is better to build a bath on some hill. Thanks to this, storm water will bypass it.

On our website you can find contacts of construction companies that offer the service of building a bath from profiled timber. You can directly communicate with representatives by visiting the exhibition of houses "Low-Rise Country".

Obtaining permission from administrative authorities

If you build a bathhouse without approving it in the relevant structures, it can be demolished due to any complaints from neighbors.

Therefore, it is necessary that the project be approved. To do this, it must include:

Floor plan, even if the bath consists of one floor. The plan should include detailed drawings, sections and explication.
Approximate estimate for materials.
Foundation type with drawings.
Written consent of all the nearest neighbors for the construction of a bath.

Obtaining a permit is a mandatory procedure.

Bath layout

In order for the project to be complete and allow you to get permission from the administrative authorities the first time, you need to know the design of the bath well. This will help you make the right drawings.

Baths consist of 4 parts:

Dressing room.
Shower.
Steam room.
Tambour.

Typical layout of a bath with a vestibule

Tambour

After entering, a person enters the vestibule. The tambour is at the same time a hallway and protection of the dressing room from cold air. It is sometimes used as a locker room. The size is chosen by the future owner.

dressing room

Behind the vestibule is a dressing room. This is the room where people relax. Because of this, it should be made comfortable, convenient, and most importantly - spacious. This room is also used as a place for cooling, so the presence of a window is necessary.

Important! Many make the floor slippery. This is a gross mistake. After leaving the steam room, the feet may be wet, which will directly lead to injury.

shower room

steam room

At the very end of the bath is a steam room. The main thing to consider is that the doors should not go to the vestibule! This error will constantly lower the temperature in the steam room, which will reduce its efficiency.

Stages of building a bath

Below is a step-by-step answer to the question of how to build a bath from a bar.

Foundation

The construction of a bath from a bar begins with the construction of a foundation. The strength of the structure will depend on the quality and reliability of the foundation. Therefore, it is necessary to take this stage with all responsibility.

In addition to the material, when choosing the type of foundation, one should take into account the type of soil and the relief of the earth.
Given that timber structures are not heavy, in order to equip the base with even terrain, a strip foundation will be an excellent choice.
If the relief difference is more than one meter, it is better to choose bored piles.

If it is decided that a bath from a bar with strip foundation, you need to get started as follows. The first step is to transfer the finished plan to the area. The theodolite will help with this. In the absence of this building device, it is proposed to use pegs and cords. They can also be used to draw straight lines.

As soon as the markup is ready, the construction of the foundation begins. First of all, trenches are dug. Their depth is determined by the type of soil and the depth of freezing in this area. If the soil is heaving, the trench should be 17-20 cm more than the maximum freezing depth. Depending on the climatic zone, the latter indicator may vary.

A layer of sand is poured into the finished trenches, the minimum thickness of which is 13-15 cm. Next, wooden formwork should be installed. Apart from wooden shield, for this use any sheet materials:

slates;
boards;
plywood, etc.

Then you should lay a layer of waterproofing for the foundation. To stiffen the structure, the foundation can be reinforced using a frame of 14 mm rods, which are connected with wires. After that, a concrete mixture is prepared to fill the trench. After 4 days, the formwork is removed.

Selection and purchase of timber

Further steps directly depend on the raw materials from which you need to build a bath from a bar. It is only required to prepare in advance a high-quality tree, necessary for the construction of walls in the bath.

Timber is one of the most popular and best building materials for a bath:

It gives minimal shrinkage.
Does not require fitting.
Mounted on a small foundation.

But at the same time, its quality directly depends on the selected raw material. Therefore, at the stage of purchasing material, you need to be extremely careful.

When the site is located in a temperate climate zone, it is not recommended to use logs that are less than 20 cm thick. Otherwise, the walls will be too small and thin. Therefore, heat will be retained inside very poorly.

Small logs are often used in an attempt to save money, but this is a cancerous mistake. This will only increase the costs, because, it will be necessary to sheathe everything with thermal insulation materials.

Important! Need to find and buy good timber. Do not spend money on defective material. If there are cracks, axial deformities or lesions, discard and look elsewhere.

During the purchase, you should pay attention to the thickness of the trunks. If possible, it is better to buy those logs, the difference in thickness between the ends of which does not exceed 3 cm. Timber is cut along the length of the bath. In most cases, the dimensions of bath complexes are 6x6 or 6x3.

Laying rows

The first row is called the lining crown. It is advisable for him to use the thickest logs and put them on the foundation base. Prior to this, it is necessary to lay waterproofing. After that, the bottom trim is assembled. Logs are made on it in order to further collect the floor.
Then comes the horseshoe crown. A window row is laid on it, and then a window row. How many rows will be calculated even during the creation of the plan. The height of the building depends on this factor.
At the last stage, when all the crowns are already installed, the log house is left for a while. It should sag and take its final form. Best time for this procedure - up to 700 days.

The most important stage in the construction of a bath is the laying of a mortgage crown:

Bars 20x20 are great for the first row.
Necessarily - all the bars should be cut so that their length is the same.

Important! Even a little accuracy cannot be allowed. In most cases, "in the paw" is chosen as the type of connection.

When laying a bath on lining, and not on a foundation foundation, it is advisable to build a temporary roof over the building.

You need to spend a lot of effort for the ideal arrangement of rows and the most even laying. After the end of the first row, the remaining space between the base and the materials is filled with foam. There is no need to fix the first screw - the overall stability is guaranteed by the weight of the structure.

As soon as the process of assembling the log house is completed, window and door frames are installed.

Installation process: additional factors

Be sure to lay the waterproofing between the base and the first row of timber. The surface is covered with bitumen, then a layer of roofing material is applied. As soon as the first layer cools down, the second and roofing material are applied.

Mortgage rows should always be treated with antiseptics:

Particular attention should be paid to the surface adjacent to the base.
Machine oil is excellent as an impregnation.

Most professionals use this particular oil, because it is inexpensive and is sold almost everywhere.

Lack of contact with the foundation.
Improvements in ventilation.
Protect trees from mold and mildew.

All of the above will increase the shelf life of the tree.

Roofing, screed and fine finishing - the final stage

Lay the floor.
Make a small decoration inside.
Decorate the roof.

The roof is very easy to make. You should choose between single and double. Their main difference is in the slope. The gable is made of 2 planes, which together form a ridge.
Single-sided - this is one canvas. It is chosen for garages, sheds and other non-residential structures.

It is with the installation of lags that the flooring begins. Boards are laid on the logs. It is desirable to make them from pine or larch. Definitely need a floorboard!

Further work directly depends on which floor is being built. In baths, non-leaking or leaking floors are made. When choosing the second option, the boards are simply placed as close to each other as possible, slightly increasing the angle. At an angle, water flows into a gutter or siphon.

Further finishing is completely a matter of taste of the owner. Timber is an interesting and design advantageous material that does not require much effort in the design after construction. Leaving it in its original form, it will be possible to create the atmosphere of a classic Russian bath.

Video description

Interesting bath interior design ideas - in this video:

Bath in the country or on the site country house is no longer a dream, but a necessity. The owners of private housing construction develop a construction project in such a way that it includes all the necessary buildings - a garage, a barn, a bathhouse, a pavilion. Therefore, the construction of a bath from a bar in Lately rapidly developing and popularizing. But since the land plots are mostly small, the owners choose smaller bath projects, for example, a bath 100 x 100 (bar section) 3 x 3 m in size with a ceiling height of 2 m. Even in such a small building, both a steam room and a shower room will fit and a rest room. All operations must be regulated by SNiP 31-02-2001. In larger projects, a bathhouse is built from a 150 x 150 bar with additional rooms that improve the comfort and functionality of using the building.

Small-sized log bath - we select building materials

You will need

building materials	Units of measure and quantity	Picture
Portland cement brand M 400	150-160 kg
Bar with a section of 150 x 150 mm	3.5-4.0 m 3
Edged board 50 x 100 mm	0.3-0.4 m 3
Rail with a section of 20 x 50 mm	25-26 running meters
clapboard	0.5-0.6 m 3
Edged board 25 mm	0.3-0.4 m 3
Refractory fireclay brick	500-550 units
Andulin roofing	10-11 m2
concrete blocks	30-35 units

It is also necessary to prepare in advance insulation, nails, electrical wiring and its components, self-tapping screws of various lengths and diameters, corners for assembling a truss structure, fittings, plastic or wooden windows and entrance, as well as internal doors. In addition, if you plan to connect the water supply to the bath, then you need to think about the organization of sewage. For ours, do-it-yourself plumbing and sewerage were not developed.

Video instruction

How to lay timber and raise the walls of the bath:

Procurement of building materials, cost and estimate:

We build a log bath on our own - steps from the base to roofing works:

Any construction of a bath from a bar can be divided into specific stages:

Foundation pouring.
The erection of a timber frame.
Installation of rafters and roofs.
Plank flooring.
Installation of windows and doors.
Laying of electrical wiring, installation of lamps and installation of other electrical equipment.
decoration internal walls, finishing works on external walls.

Stage 1. Foundation pouring

The best option to build a bath from a bar with your own hands is a concrete base.

The Tool You'll Need

Trench tool.
Wooden stakes or fittings, cord, tape measure, level.
Building material for the assembly of formwork.
Reinforcing bars and knitting wire for concrete reinforcement.
Factory concrete or concrete mixer, shovel, mortar container, cement, crushed stone, water, sand.
waterproofing materials.

The site should be leveled and the perimeter of the foundation should be marked with pegs and a cord. If we are building a bath from a small beam, then the foundation will be shallow, and a trench for it can be dug with a shovel. Trench depth - up to 50 cm.

Stage 2. Strapping and walls of a log bath

Construction operations	How to do
Foundation layout	We mark the contours of the base in dimensions of 3 x 3 m. For internal partition foundation is not poured. Stakes are driven into the corners, a cord is pulled.
Reinforcement	The armoframe is knitted from rods with a diameter of 12-14 mm, a knitting wire with a diameter of 2-3 mm is used to connect the longitudinal and transverse rods. The distance from the frame to any surfaces of the trench is 5-7 cm.
Pouring concrete	It is not necessary to collect the formwork on clay soil - you can pour the solution into the trench immediately. It takes 14 days for the solution to harden.
Pillar base for oven	Economy projects of baths from profiled timber include a stove that will be built between the steam room and the relaxation room so that heat enters two rooms at once. The base for the stove is buried to the level of soil freezing, the sand cushion under the foundation is 20-30 cm thick. In addition to sand insulation, foam sheets 2-3 cm thick can be used. The foam plastic prevents the soil from swelling, and the foundation will be motionless.
Foundation waterproofing	The top of the base must be protected from moisture. To do this, the concrete surface is covered with two layers of roofing material or thick polyethylene.

The bars will be connected as follows: the ends - in half a tree, the corners - in the paw.

It is recommended to impregnate the first two rows of beams with antiseptics and flame retardants, and then lay them on a roofing material laid in two or three layers. The lower beam should have markings for windows and doors of a bathhouse that has not yet been built. The corner joints of the beam are additionally fastened, it is possible with dowels or corners. When building a 3 x 3 m bath, intermediate dowels are not needed.
Next, floor beams are laid for flooring. The distance between the beams is 1.3-1.5 m.
The gaps between the timber are insulated with tow, flax, jute or more modern heat-insulating materials, such as tape.
If, nevertheless, it became necessary to install intermediate dowels, then they are fixed after 1 m. Dowels can be wooden or metal. At the corners of windows and doors, pins are fastened at a distance of 0.2 m from the edge of the opening.
After a set of walls, the ceiling is mounted. Beams for it are mounted in two rows from the top edge of the wall, the approximate height of the ceiling that a do-it-yourself beam bath will have is 2 m.
The two remaining rows of wall beams are laid on the ceiling beams. These two rows should be fixed especially firmly, since the last beam will serve as a power plate in the rafter system.
Before arranging the roof, you need to make at least a temporary ceiling - it can be covered with any boards, since at the end of the roofing work they will be removed, and the permanent ceiling will be equipped.

The main problem when building a bath from a bar with your own hands is to bring the frame of the bath under the roof so that the rest of the work can be carried out not in the rain and wind, but in a protected room.

Stage 3. Roof

Arrangement schemes are for single or gable roofs. If we are building a bath from a beam with our own hands of small sizes (three by three meters), then a shed sloping version of the roof is better suited.

Under a shed roof, the ceiling is immediately made permanent, insulated with foam. The characteristics of the heat insulator are shown in the table below:

Styrofoam board brand	Density,	Compressive strength at 10% deformation, ≥ MPa	Bending strength, ≥ MPa	Thermal conductivity of dry foam at 25±5 0 С, ≤ W/(m K)	Styrofoam moisture content, ≤ %,	Burning time, ≤ seconds	Moisture absorption per day, ≤ %	Service life, years (minimum - maximum)
PSB - S 15	10-11	0 , 05	0: 07	0,037	1	3	1	20-50
PSB - S 25	15-16	0,1	0,18	0,035	1	3	1	20-50
PSB - S 25 F	16-17	0,12	0 , 2	0,037	1	3	1	20-50
PSB - S 35	25-27	0,16	0 , 25	0,033	1	3	1	20-50
PSB - S 50	35-37	0,16	0 , 3	0,041	1	3	1	20-50

The ceiling is insulated step by step as follows:

From below, boards up to 20 mm thick are attached to the beams.
Styrofoam is attached to the boards.
Boards are also laid on top of the beams.

During the construction of a gable roof, a temporary ceiling can be equipped, and the permanent structure can be insulated later. Recruit walls, build truss system and laying the roof is necessary before the onset of frost. During the winter, the building will sit down, the moisture content of the materials will stop at a constant level.

Video instruction

Insulation of the ceiling with foam:

Stage 4. Flooring

If you use profiled timber bath projects, floor logs may not be installed. The beams are laid in increments of 1 m, they are laid edged board 30-40 mm thick. It is recommended to make a slope on the floor towards the water flow of 2-3 0. Sewerage can not be equipped, because:

A shallow foundation will allow runoff to quickly soak into the ground.
A small log house made of timber with your own hands is the minimum water consumption.

Video instruction

How to put boards on the floor of the bath:

Stage 5. Laying electrical wiring

After calculating the total power of all electrical appliances, you need to add a margin of 2-3 kW.
The electric cable is divided into categories according to the cross section of the cores. For example, 0.5 mm 2 can withstand ≈ 2.5 kW of load. It is better to buy proven licensed products, since a fake can have a large variation in terms of power and cross section. For complete peace of mind, it is better to buy a cable with a margin for these parameters, for example, with a cross section of not 0.75 mm 2, but 1 mm 2.
Be sure to equip a common ground - high humidity and high temperatures pose a danger to the operation of the bath. Grounding is done simply and quickly: you need to drive a steel rod with a diameter of 16-20 mm into the ground, the immersion depth is 1 m. A bolt is welded onto the rod, and a ground cable is connected to it.
All electrical cables in the bath must be protected by a metal casing - corrugated or solid. The casing will help to avoid fire, and will also serve as protection against rodents.
Before laying the cable, draw up a small guide for yourself in the form of a diagram or layout plan for sockets, lighting fixtures, and other electrical equipment.
After that, markings are drawn on the walls, holes for fastenings are drilled, wiring is mounted.

Stage 6. More about windows and doors

It is not easy to make doors and windows for a bath yourself - you will need a woodworking machine, experience working on it, drawings of structures with exact dimensions. It is easier to purchase factory products, and PVC windows will also be appropriate in the bath. Doors can be wooden, MDF or PVC. Installation steps for structures:

Both door and window openings are leveled - filed, planed, etc.
Before installing the products, it is necessary to assemble special plank boxes for them - you will need boards 5 x 15 cm. The frames are assembled on nails, inserting it into the opening, you need to leave a gap of 30-40 mm from above - the log house may begin to shrink.
In the openings of doors or windows, plank boxes are also fastened to nails or self-tapping screws. The upper slot is insulated with mounting foam or traditional heat-insulating materials.

Video instruction

How to install windows in a wooden bath:

Stage 7. Set of frame and fastening of lining strips

Lining is traditionally used to decorate the walls of the steam room and the shower room. For the recreation area, it is allowed to work with any building materials - plywood, OSB, fiberboard, chipboard, plastic or MDF. It’s more difficult to work with clapboard, so let’s take a closer look at this step:

For the supporting frame, you will need rails with a section of 20 x 50 mm.
First, the extreme rails are attached to the wall, a cord is pulled between them, the frame rails are attached to it in increments of 400-500 mm.
The difference in height between the ceiling and the floor surface in the corners of the bath is removed. The discrepancies are leveled by adjusting the lining strips from below and above. Between the lining strips and the floor, the ceiling must be left with gaps of 10-20 mm in size. Subsequently, the gaps will close the plinth. Ceiling plinths should be attached to the lining, and not to the ceiling boards, otherwise, when the bath shrinks, the lining may bend.
Nails 150 mm long are suitable for mounting the strips; they are driven into the grooves of the strips.

For outdoor decoration, any building materials are suitable. If you are building a cheap and small bath, then using expensive cladding does not make sense. Window and door openings, as well as openings internal doors must be covered with platbands. The presence on the market of cheap and beautiful materials allows you to choose any finish.

Video instruction

Internal thermal insulation of the bath, interior decoration and wall protection:

What can you build a sauna on suburban area? There are enough materials for this today, ranging from natural wood to brickwork. You can hire a construction company that will build everything quickly and efficiently, but only a do-it-yourself log bath will constantly remind you of your successes.

A wooden frame today is not only a tribute to fashion, but also great way spend time in a healing atmosphere natural materials. Where else, if not in the bath, you will have the opportunity to completely relax from the work week and get a boost of energy from wood of various species.

Never worked as a carpenter and vaguely understand this business? It doesn't matter, assembling a bath from a bar with your own hands will become a forgotten children's designer for you, where all the details are strictly marked in their places. You can really save on this without resorting to specialists for help.

Material preparation

Before you assemble a bath from a bar with your own hands, you must responsibly approach the acquisition of the necessary building materials. The durability of the bath-sauna directly depends on the quality of the wood, so you should not rush in this matter.

Another thing is when you buy a ready-made kit for a building, where each log is preliminarily inspected by a specialist. In this case, you should not hesitate, as there is a warranty period for the material.

Material selection

Decided to be independent? It doesn’t matter either, but keep in mind that the wood for the bath must be prepared in the cold season. The very same processing of a sawn tree can be carried out no earlier than a month after it was cut down. Only such a beam will not give you trouble in the future.

If you are preparing it yourself, use the tips:

clean the trunk from the bark;
leave strips with bark 150 mm wide at both ends of the trunk, this will be a guarantee that it will not crack;
store finished logs in stacks or bundles at a distance of 200 mm from the ground;
leave a gap of 50-100 mm between the trunks.

rejection

This stage will enable long-term operation of the bath. You must remove damaged and bad logs, and select good ones for work.

In doing so, pay attention to:

Cracks. They should not be in prepared logs. You can spoil the building even the most insignificant, which, under the influence of natural causes, can lead to rotting of the wood.
Light blue. On the surface of the beam, it can appear when the processes of decay have begun inside, so it cannot be used to build a log cabin.

Wormholes and damage to wood by bugs. Such a bar is not used in the construction of a sauna bath.

The bath should be built from the most even and smooth timber. Otherwise, you will have problems when laying the crowns, which will significantly delay the construction time.

And what, you say, to do with defective material? It definitely does not need to be fired for firewood. It can be used as rails, doorways and other small details. Everything that really can no longer be used anywhere must be burned so that the infection does not pass to high-quality wood.

What breeds can be used

Other features of the material are also important, heat and waterproofing, so northern coniferous wood for the construction of a bath is the best fit.

Foundation

A do-it-yourself bath from a beam can be built directly on the foundation, which is the advantage of such a project. In this case, the work time is reduced. Most often, two common methods of building a foundation are used.

Tape

A trench is dug along the perimeter of the future bath with a depth just below the freezing of the layers in this area.
Formwork is installed in it, leaving at least 500 mm above the ground for the base. This way you can protect the lower crowns from excess moisture.
Two layers are poured at the bottom of the trench - sand and gravel, each 100 mm high.

For the strength of the foundation, it must be reinforced.
Fill the formwork with concrete mortar.

The laying of the first crowns of the log house begins after 3 weeks, when the concrete has completely hardened.

Columnar

Dig pits along the perimeter of the future structure with such a depth that the lower part of the brick pillar is below the freezing point of the soil in this place, and with a diameter of 0.25 m in increments of up to 2 m. They must be at all angles and where the walls intersect with each other .
At the bottom of the pits, make a "cushion" of concrete.

If the pillars are poured out of concrete, they must be reinforced. The price of this base for a bath will be significantly lower than the tape one.

After installation, any type of foundation. Why use molten bitumen and roofing material. First, bitumen is poured onto the surface, then roofing material is laid, as soon as the bitumen hardens, repeat the operation.

Mortgage crown

Place thin wooden slats around the perimeter of the base - their thickness is up to 15 mm, the installation step is 250-300 mm. Fill the free space between them with building foam or insulation.

Tip: check the level of the waterproofing layer construction tools, calculation "by eye" is not allowed.

Choose the thickest bars for the first row, which will bear the entire weight of the log house. It is desirable that their cross section be 200 mm by 200 mm, the rest of the crowns can be assembled from a bar with a cross section of 150x150 mm.
Do not fix the lower crown, which you lay directly on the foundation, it will be held by the weight of the structure. It will also make it easier to replace it when needed, without disassembling the bath.

Tip: do not tightly assemble the log cabin of the bath, it will shrink and compact naturally.

The bars of the lower crown are connected to each other by end cuts. If you purchased ready-made material, they fit exactly together. When making them yourself, make sure that they clearly match the template. Before connecting the bars, the cuts are laid with interventional insulation.

Tip: the lower crown on all sides must be treated with an antiseptic.

Walls

Subsequent crowns are assembled in the same way, fastened together with wooden dowels. They are a wooden stick with rounded edges. They are inserted in advance drilled holes in adjacent bars with a step of 1-1.5 m.

Lay each crown that does not rot and is not afraid of moisture. Do not fasten the last two beams, as after shrinking the bath, they will need to be removed to install the ceiling beams.

Openings for windows and doors

Boxes for windows and doors are installed after the construction of the walls. To do this, during the period of their construction, leave a small gap in the crowns where they will be located. Finally cut the openings with a chainsaw after the shrinkage of the structure is complete.

Final stage

The assembled log bath with your own hands requires shrinkage, so you need to properly prepare the log house for this procedure. Lay boards 40-50 mm thick on the upper bars and cover them with slate or roofing material.

After such a "wintering", you can proceed to the final stage - the installation of the roof and internal arrangement.

Output

The proposed article told how to make a bath from a bar with your own hands, while spending a minimum of effort. You learned how to choose a material, what to look for when culling, which bar is better and why.

Also provided detailed instructions assembling a log bath on your own. In the video presented in this article, you will find additional information on this topic.

Building a bath is what most summer residents and owners think about country houses when arranging household territory. As building material many prefer natural wood, in particular, many pay attention to timber. It will be discussed further.

Wooden beam has a number of advantages:

Good value for money;
Ease of installation. Even an inexperienced builder will be able to independently and without much difficulty build a small bathhouse on his site;
The beam gives minimal shrinkage, compared with similar building materials;

This article will consider step-by-step instruction building a bath from a bar with your own hands, as well as tips on choosing a quality material, foundation and much more.

First stage: design and selection of materials

As with the construction of any other building, for a bath it is necessary to create a drawing, a sketch, a plan - call it what you want. To draw up a plan, it is better to contact special design agencies, they will help you create an individual project just for you, taking into account all the features of your site, and also give some advice and recommendations.

On the this stage it is necessary to study the soil on which it is planned construction works. The choice and technology of foundation construction depends on the result of the analysis. IN ready plan all points must be presented: the number of rooms, the total area, the thickness of the walls, the appearance, the main building and facing material, the location of the furnace must also be chosen in advance, since a separate foundation must be provided for it.

*Important! The total area of the bath depends mainly on the expected number of people who will use it. On average, for each person it is necessary to provide additional 4 square meters.

For any bath project, the following premises are characteristic:

dressing room;
Veranda (optional)
washing;
The steam room or sauna itself;
Restroom;

If only two or three people will use the bath, then some rooms can be connected to increase free space, as well as expand their functionality. For example, a washing room can be presented in the form of a shower and located in one of the corners of the rest room. Or even a shower can be located outside the building, on the site.

The service life of the bath directly depends on the quality of the material from which it is built.

What you need to know and what you should pay attention to when choosing a bar:

Procurement period. Ideally, timber should be harvested in winter from December to March.
tracking period. After purchase, the material must be cleaned of bark, if you harvest it yourself, leaving it only at the edges, and stored in a dry place out of direct sunlight for one month. Only after that the tree is subject to processing and installation.
Appearance and general condition of raw materials. When buying, carefully inspect each bar. It should be free from rot, fungus (small blue spots called blue stain) and wormholes (traces of insect infestation). The timber should have an ideal geometric shape, smooth edges. The absence of even the smallest cracks is an indicator High Quality, because moisture can accumulate in them, and a wet tree will begin to collapse very quickly.
Variety. There are four main varieties: "Extra", "A", "B" and "C". They differ in quality and price. The "Extra" variety is the most expensive, but the price is fully justified. It is unlikely that you will find any defects on the bars of this grade. Grade "A" is not much worse than its "big brother", cheaper, but almost identical in quality. The other two varieties are mainly used for exterior finish and the construction of minor buildings such as a barn, a chicken coop, and so on.
The type of tree. For the construction of a bath, it is better not to use coniferous bars, because when heated, this tree can “cry”, increasing the chance of ignition due to the resin, and it can also burn it when it comes into contact with the skin. Experts advise using hardwoods, namely linden, larch, oak. If desired, you can make a steam room from linden, since such a room heats up faster, does not burn the skin and respiratory tract, and the dressing room and other rooms are made of larch. True, linden has some peculiarity - it is less resistant to external influences (temperature, moisture), but cheaper.
Dimensions. A bar 4 or 6 meters long is considered standard, all other options are considered non-standard and cost more, so it will be easier to build a 3x3, 4x4 square bath and so on.
Storage method. In addition to what was said above, there are a number of requirements for the method of storing the material. Usually, wooden bars are kept in packs or stacks, observing the intervals: between each other - 50 mm, between rows 100 mm and from the ground at a height of 200 mm.

In addition to the main building material, you will also need:

Cement brand M400;
Sawn timber;
Boards and slats;
Lining for finishing (external and internal);
Refractory and red ceramic bricks for kilns;
roofing material, most often shingles.
Nails, screws;
Galvanized corners for fastening;
Reinforcing bars to create a foundation reinforcement belt;
insulation blocks;
cement blocks;
Cable, sockets, lighting fixtures and so on.

It is better to take all materials with a small margin, since no one is immune from accidental damage, and, in any case, they can be used on the farm.

In terms of its aesthetics, quality and durability, a bath made of wooden beam it is not much different from that built from rounded logs, but the process of its construction is much easier, faster and does not require a special level of skill. And the log cabin itself can be safely called a truly Russian building - after all, in Russia, absolutely all houses were built without a single nail, but very soundly and for centuries. So, we are building a bath from a bar - with a portal site

And for starters, an introductory video:

The most crucial stage in the construction of a do-it-yourself log bath is the choice of the wood itself. After all, it will directly depend on performance characteristics steam room. The first thing you need to pay attention to before buying is the complete absence of cracks in the finished logs. After all, even the smallest, insignificant of them will certainly give a defect during shrinkage, constantly expanding in the future and even becoming the cause of wood decay later.

Secondly, there should not be any light blue spots on the surface of the bars - this is evidence that the process of decay is already in full swing inside, possibly provoked by fungi - it is no longer possible to build a bathhouse or a house from such material. Also, a beam for building a bath is considered defective if wormholes or traces of eating by bugs are visible on it.

But a good, high-quality timber will look smooth and perfectly even. If any distortions or defects are visible, all this will affect when laying the crowns, and the construction of a bath from a bar will stretch for an indefinite period.

The beam is profiled and solid. The profiled one has spikes and crown grooves along the entire length, which are additionally ground. Such elements are easier to connect to each other. And the most important plus is that precipitation and moisture can hardly penetrate into such walls. But among the shortcomings, we highlight the fact that this material has poor endurance and low fire-fighting properties. will have to be processed additionally with propylene. Used for construction and solid timber. But it usually does not look very aesthetically pleasing and you will need to cover it with siding or a block house.

But how much timber is needed for a bath and how to calculate it? It all depends on the project. Any experienced craftsman will be able to estimate by eye required amount material, and if you conclude a contract for the delivery of wood with some supplier, he will calculate everything on his own, and will bring only the strictly necessary number of elements - no more, no less.

And, if it so happened that among the brought beams one or two turned out to be defective, they do not need to be used for firewood - they can be sawn and good parts used for the manufacture of smaller building elements: rails, door and window frames, and even floorboards. But the rejected material will definitely need to be burned - in order to prevent infection of high-quality wood. That is why, even at the stage of the contract with the company, how much timber is needed for a bathhouse according to the selected project, it is better to overpay a little and order “spare” ones - those that can later be trimmed and replaced if damaged (two or three will be enough).

How to prepare and process the timber yourself?

But how to build a bath from a bar if it is not possible to order the material itself? In this case, you can prepare it yourself. It is better to do this in the cold season.

As soon as the tree is cut down, it is advisable to let it lie down for at least a month, after which all the logs need to be well examined and sorted out: you can leave only the highest quality ones for the construction of the bath, and it is better to reject the damaged and bad ones.

Now you can start processing the future building material. So, for starters, the log needs to be cleaned of bark, and so that it does not crack, it must be left on both sides - about 15 cm wide. After such procedures, you can put the logs in storage: at least 20 cm from the ground, carefully folding them in bundles or stacks, be sure to keep a distance of 5 to 10 cm between them.

By the way, it is advisable to fold two or three lower crowns of the bath from a hardwood beam, and all subsequent ones from pine, spruce or cedar. This is due to the fact that larch always retains its properties well, even in an intensely humid environment, and is much less prone to decay, becoming harder and harder with time. But building the entire bath from this material is a very expensive pleasure, but everyone can already afford the first three such crowns. Yes, and the pine and spruce walls of the bath are still a little better in terms of hydro- and heat-insulating properties.

How to draft a future bath?

It is easier and more logical to choose a ready-made one. But first, decide how exactly your bath will look like and what structural elements are required in it.

Bath with an attic

So, one of the most popular options is a bath with mansard roof and attached veranda. From above, a summer bedroom is equipped, where it will be convenient to spend the night after bath procedures or leave friends for the night, and the veranda is a wonderful place for evening herbal tea.

Bath with a terrace

If you plan to build a barbecue in the yard, then build a bathhouse with an open wide terrace. On it, by the way, you can put the oven itself. And over time, make an artificial pond in front of the bath.

Bath with a veranda

A simple bath with a wide veranda is one of the simplest buildings. At the same time, it is better to glaze the veranda in order to make a summer bedroom, a kitchen or put a billiard table in it. Options - a lot!

Bath with a porch

If you are an adherent of a real Russian steam room, build it with a traditional wide porch:

It is not only beautiful, but also practical. A table, a samovar and the fragrance of nature around - what else do you need?

Bath with a veranda and a wide roof

There is a big advantage in such a bath made of timber - both the veranda is covered, and the attic has a huge usable area, make at least two bedrooms, and the foundation turned out to be compact.

Have you chosen a project? Then we turn to the intricacies of building a bath from a bar!

Construction of the foundation for a log bath

A strong and massive do-it-yourself log bath can be erected on one of two types of foundation: strip and columnar.

To make a tape, formwork must be built around the entire perimeter and poured with concrete - exactly to the depth of soil freezing. In this case, the height of the foundation itself should be at least half a meter above the ground: this is the only way to protect the lower crowns of beams from excessive dampness. But inside the perimeter of the foundation, it will be necessary to pour strips of crushed stone or sand. And after two or three weeks, as soon as the concrete hardens, you can begin to lay the first rows of the log house.

To do columnar foundation under the log cabin of the bath, you will have to put up brick pillars around the perimeter, corners and future places of the internal bearing walls. Under each of the pillars you need to make a concrete "cushion" to avoid their subsidence. The distance between such supports should be 1.5 m, and in rare cases - 2 m.

But, whatever the foundation is chosen, it must be strengthened with reinforcement - for strength and fastening of the crowns. And, of course, ensure reliable waterproofing between the base and the first crown. To do this, a layer of molten bitumen is applied to the horizontal surface of the foundation, which is covered with a continuous layer of roofing material. And after hardening it, the whole procedure must be done again.

Laying the first crowns of the future bath

So, assembling a bath from a bar is quite simple - whether it is according to a marked project, or improvised. The main thing is not to be lazy to use the building level and not to rush to fix the crowns.

The first thing to do before starting the construction of the walls of the bath is to check the horizontal surface of the beam for evenness. But not by eye - for this you need a level. And the correctness of the entire design of the bath depends on how the first crown turns out to be ideal in this plan.

To choose the bars for the first row of the log house, you need the thickest of all the subsequent ones, because it is on them that all the weight of both the walls and the roof will fall. That's why experienced craftsmen it is usually advised to select for this the first burs with a section of 20x20 cm, and all subsequent ones - 15x15 cm. Only the length of the bars should be the same.

The very laying of the first crowns of the log house should begin with the placement of thin wooden slats along the entire base of the foundation (only they must first be treated with an antiseptic). The thickness of the rails should be no more than 15 mm, and the distance between them should be approximately 25-30 cm. Why is this necessary? So that the lower rows of bars are well protected from dampness and decay, which will significantly increase the service life of the entire bath, and it is desirable to fill the space between the slats with mounting foam or insulation.

It is not necessary to lay the log house of the bath too tightly - in the future the whole structure will shrink by itself. The lower beam, which is placed on the foundation, does not need any fixing - the pressure of the upper rows will provide it with the necessary strength. Yes, and it will be much easier to replace the entire first row once, because you won’t have to disassemble the entire bath.

In addition, the bars of the very first row must be processed from all sides (especially carefully the part that is adjacent to the foundation). You can use a modern antiseptic for this, or you can take traditional engine oil.

Wall construction methods

Before you make a bath out of a bar, it is important to firmly understand the following: such walls are built in a strictly established manner. So, first the crowns are laid, aligned and fastened together with wooden dowels or metal pins. They must be driven into specially made holes, the diameter of which ideally matches the diameter of the mounting pins themselves. And holes are drilled at a distance of 1-1.5 m, and the drill even passes through the upper beam, and half of what lies below. After that, the lower beam is removed, pins with a length equal to the height of two beams are driven into the holes, and a layer of insulation is laid. And the top bar is put in place.

This is how all the crowns are laid, up to the top two. By the way, the top does not need to be fastened. Because at the last stage of the construction of the bath, they will have to be temporarily removed to install the ceiling beams.

In addition to this method, there are several more how to fasten the bars together.

So, if nails are still used, then only without hats - those that sink in wood, submerged. After all, ordinary ones rust and spoil the wood.

It is possible to fasten the beam between and wooden dowels - square bars 18x18 mm, the length of which varies depending on the size of the bursa, but cannot be more than 25 cm. And the dowels themselves should be staggered. By the way, you need to drill the burs through and through.

And, finally, it is good to fasten the bars with the “Force” spring assembly, which looks like a screw with a compression spring built into it. Thanks to this fastening system, there will be no gaps between the parts - after all, the bars will press against each other with all their might. Although this method is expensive, cracks and deformations of the entire structure can be happily avoided.

If you decide to build a solid bath house, then be sure to get an accurate professional project, because the work ahead is not easy:

caulking slots

The interventional insulation can be moss, tow and jute - they all equally cope with their heat-insulating functions. But it is most convenient to work with jute, which is unwound gradually, while laying on top of the bars, and attached to them with the most common nails with a stapler.

Caulking after applying jute is not necessary. But if tow or moss was used, then at the end of the shrinkage period of the bath, it is necessary to caulk absolutely all the cracks between the crowns - for this purpose, a hammer, caulk and a wooden spatula will be used. The process itself looks like this: tow is clogged in the gap after shrinkage.

roof construction

So, now let's move on to the construction of the roof. The easiest option is to build a gable roof, under which to organize an insulated attic with good ventilation. But, usually in the bath there is always not enough extra space to organize a guest room, bedroom, billiard room or home cinema in it - why waste valuable meters?

It is only important to insulate it correctly:

Installation of door and window openings

About where the doors and windows will be located in the bath, you need to take care in advance. To do this, even during the construction of walls in the right places, you need to leave a small gap, and after the log house gives the final shrinkage, the planned openings are made with a chainsaw in the planned places:

Natural shrinkage and interior work

The final stage in the construction of a bath from a bar is the preparation of a log house for a six-month period of shrinkage. To do this, as soon as all the work is completed, a row of boards, 40-50 mm thick, is laid on the upper crowns, and it is covered with slate or roofing material. So the bath should overwinter. And only at the end of the shrinkage period, you can begin to carry out finishing work.

That's all! Now it remains only to protect the lower bars of the bath from dampness, creating a high-quality blind area around:

And you can start working on the inside: