If you want to get “in one bottle” body hygiene and a natural health resort, build a sauna from a rounded log! Let's talk about how to choose the material for its construction, plan the work and put the log house, starting with the foundation and ending with the roof. Content:
- Seat selection
- Bath design
- Selection of logs
- Foundation device
- Walling
- Roof construction
- Interior decoration
The ancient tradition of building baths in Russian villages has always been held in high esteem by people. The craftsmanship of making log cabins has been honed for centuries, and today it is a real art. From our article you will learn how to build a bath from a rounded log. So, let's go!
Choosing a place for a rounded log bath
A wooden bathhouse as an element of landscape design will undoubtedly add significance to your garden plot. A good solution would be its location near a pool, river or lake.
Stay away from the noisy road when choosing a place to build. Surrounded by trees and green spaces, your sauna will look much better. The entrance to such a house is usually made from the south, the snow on this side melts faster.
If you wish, you can turn the "house" into a full-fledged summer cottage. The completion of the second floor will make it possible to create rooms in the bathhouse suitable for an overnight stay. Sleep in log walls is healthier and stronger than in the bustle of city apartments. The second floor can replace an attic room, but it requires a special roof.
Designing a wooden bath from rounded logs
Bath design is an important step in making your dreams come true. To get started, just imagine the architectural appearance of your future building. The main thoughts and diagrams can even be sketched on paper.
The next step will be to study typical projects of rounded log baths presented in the network by log house manufacturers. Order the project that is more to your liking. Further, a typical project can be taken as a basis and finalized together with the designer, taking into account your ideas about the future construction. Finally, you can order your own unique project with the most fantastic solutions!
In the form of construction documentation, you will receive working drawings of your bath, a bill of materials, an estimate of the upcoming costs and even an economic justification for the plan. After that, you can safely proceed to the selection of materials and the beginning of construction.
Selection of logs for the construction of a bath
Let's start with the selection of material. Three criteria are important here:
- Log diameter;
- Processing quality;
- The quality of the wood.
The diameter of the logs for a log house depends on its purpose. Logs with a diameter of 20-22 cm are quite suitable for a bath or a summer house. This wall thickness is sufficient to maintain optimal humidity in the bath and balance the temperatures of the outside and inside air. Logs with a diameter of 24–26 cm are used to erect the walls of houses with permanent residence. Large and powerful "elite" buildings have log walls more than 28 cm thick.
The strength of the future building depends on the processing and quality of the logs. Spruce, pine, larch or cedar are used for making logs. For the construction of a bathhouse, coniferous wood of the North is recommended. It is more resistant to temperature and humidity changes, and also has a high density. A pine log house is a completely practical and inexpensive option.
When buying wood for a bath, pay attention to the quality of its processing. Successfully cut sapwood reveals the smooth and beautiful texture of the tree, it is immediately noticeable.
A log with quality wood is characterized by the following indicators:
- An even darkish shade of the core of the log takes? its diameter.
- There are no blue spots on the cut, its surface is hard.
- A sanded log has a yellow tint.
- The knots in the trunk sit without gaps. Otherwise, this is a sign of a rotten core.
After completing the above measures, you can start laying the foundation of our bath.
The device of the foundation for a bath made of rounded logs
A wooden blockhouse is lightweight compared to brick or concrete walls. Therefore, a strip foundation, buried below the freezing point of the soil, is quite suitable for him. The level of soil freezing is individual for each region, but on average, the lower elevation of the foundation is from 0.5-1, 2 m. To manufacture the support structure, you will need concrete of a grade not lower than M200, knitted metal frames made of reinforcement with a diameter of 12 mm and formwork installed according to the project from boards 250 mm wide.
For weak categories of soils with a design resistance of up to 75 kPa, a pile foundation with a reinforced concrete grillage is used.
The foundation for a bath from a rounded log with your own hands is done in 3-4 days. This is one of the few stages of work where you can do without the help of professionals. A log house is installed on the finished concrete base.
Erection of the walls of a bath from rounded logs
Features of the construction of walls for a bath from a rounded log:
- We start assembling the walls with waterproofing the foundation and installing 50x150 mm backing boards on it, which are attached to the concrete with anchor bolts. These boards are an additional barrier to moisture, which is emitted by the surface of the base, and are made from larch.
- On them, row by row, we lay the wreaths of the log house. We place thermal insulation in the longitudinal grooves between the logs. Linen jute linen is used as it. It is attached to the frame with staples and resists blowing through the joints of the logs.
- The vertical stability of the walls is ensured by driving wooden dowels. They squeeze individual logs together. The dowel holes alternate in a checkerboard pattern along the entire height and length of the wall. Their depth is 2–3 crowns of logs, and the pitch is 800–1200 mm. The diameter of the pins reaches 25 mm. They should be made from hardwood beech, birch or oak. Around wall openings, dowels are attached more often.
- The assembly of the walls after the installation of each crown must be controlled by checking the coincidence of their diagonals and using all the capabilities of the building level.
- To protect the door and window frames of the log house from destruction during its shrinkage, the wall openings are framed with casing bars, leaving a gap of 3% of the opening height above them, filled with insulation. The special fastening of the "casing" to the frame allows it to move in the vertical direction when the wooden structure shrinks. Casing bars prevent the crowns from twisting. A window or door frame is attached to them.
- The overlap of the basement is carried out along wooden beams, which are supported by a base board. The step of the beams is up to 800 mm, their cross section is 150x100 mm, impregnation with an antiseptic is required.
- Then a 50x50 cranial block is attached to them, on which a rough floor is mounted from a 25x150 mm edged board. The floor beams of the first floor are fixed by inserting them into the corresponding rims of the wall.
- The loss of space in the attic floor due to roof slopes can be minimized. For this, several crowns are raised above the ceiling.
Our construction of a rounded log bath does not end with the completion of the installation of the frame. We proceed to the construction of the rafter system.
The construction of the roof of the bath from rounded logs
For the rafters, we will use a 50x200 mm edged board. On the ridge, the rafters are connected by pins, and their free ends form a movable abutment to the walls of the log house. This technology provides the building with the correct shrinkage along the gables. The movable connection of the rafters to the wall is provided in a special assembly consisting of a hook and a bracket.
The brace is fixed on the rafter leg in the longitudinal direction. The hook for the bracket covers the rafter leg from above, pulling it to the crown. Self-tapping screws are used for fasteners. The pitch of the rafters is selected taking into account the size of the roofing insulation, usually 500-600 mm. Then, a lathing made of a 25x100 mm board is stuffed onto the upper part of the rafter system and a vapor barrier film is attached.
Under the roof of metal, corrugated board and metal tiles, "counter-lattice" is made. Under the soft tiles, the sheathing is sheathed with plywood. Corrugated slate sheets are attached to the crate.
All connections of the rafter system are made using corners, cuts and overlays. Before installation, its wooden elements should be treated with fire retardants and antiseptics, this is important. Do not forget to run a drainage system from your roof so that rain or melt water does not pour onto the walls of the log house.
Interior decoration of the bath from the rounded log
After a slight shrinkage of the foundation and walls, you can start finishing the premises. Three months will have to wait.
The natural beauty of wood cannot be replaced by anything. Therefore, the amount of finishing work in the log bath is minimal. This is especially true for the walls. Actions with them are reduced to processing wood with compounds that protect it from aging and give the desired shade. Paint and varnish cannot be used in the bath.
A properly built log sauna is always warm, its walls “breathe” and perfectly tolerate high air humidity. Therefore, she does not need special systems of thermal insulation and ventilation.
Bathrooms finishing work may include:
- Quality flooring;
- Sheathing of ceilings with clapboard;
- Installation of window sills, doors and windows;
- Manufacturing of an interfloor staircase.
Finally, we present to your attention a video of the construction of a bath from a rounded log:
Undoubtedly, you can do many types of work yourself. You need to look for other performers. When choosing specialists for the construction of your bath from a rounded log, photos of the objects they have made can do you a good service. We hope you succeed. Good luck!
