Summer bath with your own hands

2024 Author: Arianna Cook | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:23

If you plan to use the bath only in the summer, its construction will be inexpensive. For such a building, solid insulation is not required, and the sun's heat will perfectly cope with heating the water for washing. You will learn about the construction of such a bath from our material. Content:

Features of summer baths
Bath made of polycarbonate
Bath made of boards

Summer baths are usually built in summer cottages. For seasonal operation, it makes no sense to build a capital structure. Lightweight frame buildings made of boards, plywood, polycarbonate and other materials do their job well. Log cabins used as a summer version of the bath do not need insulation, with the exception of the steam room.

Features of summer baths

Summer baths can be used both for washing and for taking full-fledged bath procedures and are built using frame-panel technology.

In the first case, solar energy serves as a heat source, which allows you to create a greenhouse effect in the bath and heat the water for washing. There is no stove in such a structure, so it will not be possible to steam with a broom here. The walls and roof of such baths are made of materials that store heat, for example, cellular polycarbonate. Thanks to this, a comfortable temperature is maintained in the sauna premises for carrying out hygiene measures even in cloudy weather.

Another option for a summer bath is a lightweight construction with a metal stove, an anteroom, a steam room and a washing section. It is not much different from the traditional Russian bath, therefore it has a healing effect.

Any materials that are used for the construction of summer baths using frame-panel technology have their own advantages and disadvantages. Unlike log baths, frame buildings do not shrink - this is their important advantage. You do not need to wait 1 year to start finishing work and put the bath into operation.

Another plus - for a lightweight plank bathhouse, a massive strip foundation is not needed. Here you can use brick, block or concrete posts as supports. This will provide significant savings in funds allocated for construction.

With a thorough insulation of a summer frame bath, it can be used all year round, and its price, including labor costs, will be much less than a similar building made of bricks, logs and other massive materials.

The timber and boards used in the frame-panel technology of erecting buildings are a useful natural material, but certain disadvantages are inherent in it, such as a predisposition to rotting, bugs, cracking, deformations, etc.

You can build such a summer bath with your own hands, having one assistant and the necessary tools. We will analyze construction technologies using examples of frame buildings assembled from cellular polycarbonate and from boards.

DIY polycarbonate summer bath

Summer bath for washing made of polycarbonate

The roof and cladding of such a bath allows you to use the energy of the sun to heat the water. Since the temperature in the premises of the building depends directly on insolation, its front wall should be oriented towards the south side and not have obstacles shading it. In summer, the roof made of polycarbonate, in addition to storing heat, also gives light.

For construction, you will need: edged board 50x100 mm, floorboard 50x150 mm, logs for the frame, OSB plate, t. 9 mm, cellular polycarbonate, t. 6 mm, polystyrene, etc.4 mm, cement, sand and brick for the foundation, self-tapping screws 3, 5x40 mm and washers with spacers for attaching polycarbonate sheets.

The work is done in this order:

With the help of a cord and pegs, the construction site is marked. Foundation posts are installed at each corner of the sections.
Each of them is covered with roofing material waterproofing. Then, on the foundation, a strapping is made from a timber impregnated with an antiseptic.
On the harness with a tie-in into the timber, racks with a length of 2.5 m from a board of 50x100 mm are installed. Their verticality is checked by the building level.
Rafters are stacked with a step of 600 mm. This will not allow the polycarbonate sheets to deform under any snow load.
Polycarbonate sheets are cut to the size of the roof and screwed to the rafters with self-tapping screws. When installing, be sure to use washers with soft gaskets. The material is laid so that the stiffeners are perpendicular to the cornice. The ends of the roof are equipped with plugs to protect against dust and moisture.
Outside, the frame is sheathed with OSB (oriented strand board).
The walls of the bath are sheathed with polycarbonate. The outer side of its sheets is the one that has UV protection.
The inner surfaces of the sauna section are sheathed with polycarbonate. The second layer will provide opacity to the walls and keep the privacy of the interior space. An opening is made in the floor for the drainage outlet, which is supplied with a conventional washing mesh. The dressing room is sheathed with an OSB plate, and the partition between it and the "steam room" can be made of polycarbonate.
The walls on the outside are treated with a water-repellent compound, doors are hung and prefabricated window blocks are installed.

Hot water must be brought into such a bath or pumped in with a pump, since there is no stove in such a building. But on a hot day, the water is perfectly heated from the sun. The drainage can be organized into a pit with high-quality drainage.

Construction of a summer bath from boards

For the construction of baths using frame-panel technology, it is possible to use not only boards, but also plywood, as well as OSB boards. In addition to them, various heaters, steam and waterproofing materials are included in the multilayer structure of walls, ceilings, floors and roofs.

Consider the features of the materials that are used to build a summer bath:

For the manufacture of the frame, boards with a section of 50x100 mm or more or dried timber are used.
The outer cladding is made of pine or larch planks.
Internal cladding requires wood with a low thermal conductivity, such as linden or aspen.
Vapor barrier materials should not emit odor and harmful substances when heated. Therefore, it is not recommended to use roofing material and roofing felt in steam rooms. You can stop your choice on modern membranes. Foil films are most effective. They combine vapor barrier and heat reflecting properties.
Thermal insulation materials are used to maintain a comfortable temperature in the bath and do not interfere with its air exchange. Basalt wool is most often used in the form of rolls or slabs. It is non-flammable and non-toxic.

The construction of a bath from boards is carried out in the following order:

The basement piping of the bath is being carried out, which serves as the basis for its frame. In this case, a beam of 150x150 mm or boards of 50x100 mm are used, laid in 2-3 rows on the edge. Before installation, the material is treated with an antiseptic. When used for strapping boards, it is easier to connect them in the corners and make grooves in the structure for fastening the vertical frame elements.
After assembling the lower trim, it is placed on a columnar foundation and leveled in a strictly horizontal position. Waterproofing gaskets of roofing material should be located between the harness and the upper surface of the posts. The corners of the wooden structure must necessarily rest on the foundation pillars.
After installation, fastening and arrangement of the grooves of the lower strapping, the frame racks are placed. The step between them is taken at 600 mm in accordance with the width of the insulation plates. In the process of this work, it is necessary to determine the location of the door and window openings. First, the posts and corner posts framing them are installed, and then all the intermediate vertical elements. Some of them should be planned to be placed at the junctions of walls with internal partitions.
Temporary fastenings of the racks are carried out with jibs connecting the vertical frame elements with the lower strapping. The correctness of the installation is checked by the level.
The free ends of the racks are connected by an upper strapping made of a 50 mm thick board laid flat.
All work on the construction of the frame of the summer bath from the boards must be performed carefully, drawing right angles, as well as maintaining the correct levels of its elements vertically and horizontally.
After assembling the frame, its outer sheathing with boards is performed. To give the structure rigidity, it is carried out in the horizontal direction. The boards do not need to be fastened end-to-end, since when they dry out, gaps will inevitably appear between them. Waterproofing must be installed under the sheathing.
The next stage of work is the installation of insulation. It is located in the space between the posts and does not require fastening when it fits snugly against them.
Then a vapor barrier layer of the film is laid on top of the insulation. For its fastening, thin slats and a stapler are used. The joint of the canvases is overlapped and glued with tape. Accidental damage to the film must also be sealed. To drain the condensate, the bottom edge of the film should be wound 10-15 cm below the floor-to-wall joint to avoid moisture ingress on the wooden structural elements.
The inner lining of the bath is carried out in the vertical direction. A ventilation gap must be left between its back and the vapor barrier. For its device, thin slats stuffed onto the frame racks can serve.
The ceiling of a summer bath is made in the same way, with the difference that the thickness of the insulation for it is taken 2 times greater.