In this article you will learn how to make a brick oven for a bath with your own hands. This is the main element of any Russian bath. To this day, many builders of baths build such stoves on their own. In rare cases, experienced stove-makers are invited. You can, of course, install a metal stove, but it has one bad feature - “cold” zones are created in the rooms. But the brick oven is spared from such a disadvantage. With its help, you can create a cozy and warm steam that will not burn the respiratory tract and body. But keep in mind that laying a furnace is a very laborious process. And so you need to stock up on knowledge.
Features of brick structures
Brick stoves have properties that no other stoves have. It is worth highlighting the following features:
- The stove can fit into any interior of the bath, regardless of what material the walls are lined with.
- When heated, a gentle and thick steam appears, it has a good effect onhuman well-being and he alth.
- The appearance of a brick is much better than that of metal ones. Therefore, sometimes it is not necessary to plaster or clad the stove on the outside.
- The material is environmentally friendly - when heated to a high temperature, no hazardous chemicals are released.
- Brick structures have a much higher durability than any other.
- The brick used in the manufacture is an excellent accumulator of thermal energy. It allows you to keep the temperature in the steam room for a long time.
- Condensation does not form in brick ovens.
- But it should be noted that if you make a mistake when laying, the stove will not work properly, it will not retain heat.
- You can use any fuel to heat the stove - wood, branches, coal, even dry moss.
- But the whole structure of the furnace is quite massive.
- No monthly oven chimney cleaning required.
Black sauna
In fact, brick stoves for wood-fired saunas differ from each other, and significantly. And each type has advantages and disadvantages. The following types can be distinguished:
- With stove.
- Grey.
- In black.
- In white.
If you decide to make a black oven, there is no need to build a chimney. All smoke in this design will exit through the steam room. Such baths have been used for several centuries, as the room warms up very quickly in them.
But there is a downside - beforeto start bathing procedures, you need to wait for the complete combustion of firewood in the stove. But after a few hours, an indescribable atmosphere will reign inside the steam room. It is recommended to treat all walls with products that will avoid the accumulation of soot.
Baths in gray, white and with a stove
Gray stoves are built with a chimney, but soot remains on the stones. Therefore, it is necessary to wait until all the fuel burns out in the furnace. The advantage of this design is that it heats up very quickly and does not leave a lot of waste. This is one of the simple brick ovens for a bath, you can safely use this design during construction.
The most environmentally friendly option is the white stove. But it is also the most expensive option. Warming up the stones is carried out from the stove, sometimes 12 hours are spent on this. You have to stock up on a lot of fuel. But with a constant fire in the furnace, you can enjoy bathing procedures for as long as you like.
The slab design of the stove allows heating stones from two cast-iron stoves. One is placed directly above the firebox, and the second is placed on top of the chimney. To increase the efficiency, these plates need to be lined with bricks. If you wish, you can swap the water tank and stones.
Brick selection
In order for the stove to serve you for a long time, and also not cause trouble, you need to choose the right brick. It must be of high quality. In the manufacture of the firebox, you can not use a simple brick, from which the walls of houses are built. Only refractory types should be used. It is made fromfireclay clay, the characteristics are much higher than all other types of bricks.
The cost of it, of course, is also not very small. It is worth noting that this material has one drawback - it cannot accumulate heat, as it cools down quickly enough. But to increase efficiency, you can make a brick-iron stove for a bath. After all, the metal heats up much faster and gives off heat well.
But it can withstand very high temperatures. It is for this reason that with its help it is necessary to lay out only the space around the firebox. The remaining parts must be made either from silicate brick or hollow. It is allowed to use decorative bricks fired on three sides. It must be laid so that the fourth side, which is not burned, is facing the inside of the room.
Requirements for bricks
Typical brick standard dimensions are 125 x 250 x 65 mm. It should be noted that quite often the material of the same brand, but different manufacturers, is different. When making a stove, only the same components should be used, so bricks must be carefully selected so that they are of the same size. Otherwise, the firebox may fall apart, cracks will begin to form through which heat will escape. In this case, it will be impossible to heat the room.
It is best to use bricks with the designation "M", the index should be from 75 to 150. The degree of frost resistance should not exceed 25 cycles. Thisyou can find out the characteristics if you look at the transport documentation. And if you purchase all the materials in a building supermarket, then ask the sales assistant. When making a brick oven for a bath with your own hands, you need to carefully choose the materials. Otherwise, the quality of the masonry will not be very good.
Please note that the material should not have defects, chips or cracks. The shape should be perfectly symmetrical, the sides are smooth, the angles are equal. You can not buy a brick with a large number of pores or interspersed with any elements. Fireclay bricks should be light yellow or white.
You can knock a small hard object on the body of a brick, if the sound is dull, then this material is not suitable for building a furnace. The sound should be "metallic", sonorous. And if you throw a brick, then when it falls, it should break into several large pieces. If it breaks into small pieces, then the quality of the material is very low.
Tools and materials
In order to make a stove for a bath, you need knowledge of all technologies, but it will not be superfluous to have such tools and materials:
- Building square.
- Stove Hammer.
- Trowel.
- Building level.
- Pickaxes.
- Usual ruler and pencil for marking.
- Plumb line.
- Abrasive wheel and grinder.
- Pliers.
- Red ceramic brick.
- Firebrick.
- Water and sand.
- Capacities for mixing mortar.
- Waterproofing material.
- Fire Clay.
Masonry Mortar
It is worth noting that a simple mortar based on cement and sand for making a furnace will not work. Here it is necessary to use a composition that is made of clay and sand. For laying a furnace made of refractory bricks, it is necessary to use fireclay mortar, it can harden at high temperatures, turning into a monolith. From the outside, the temperature does not reach 700 degrees, so this solution will quickly lose its positive qualities and begin to crumble.
The rest of the structure is laid out using a mortar of refractory clay and sand. It is advisable to use quarry or mountain sand, be sure to sift it through a sieve with a cell of no more than 2 mm. This will prevent the appearance of large particles in the mixture. The solution will have a homogeneous structure.
Clay is soaked in water and left for 1-2 days. Then it is filtered through a fine-mesh sieve and mixed. If necessary, the filtering procedure is repeated several times. You should have a viscous mixture that resembles sour cream. After that, the clay solution is thoroughly mixed with a construction mixer to get a homogeneous thick mass. Add a little water if necessary.
At the end, you need to add sand, it needs to be diluted with water. The amount of sand depends onwhat is the fat content of the clay. The quality control of the composition is carried out using a wooden stick. It must be dipped in the solution. In the event that the mixture is made correctly, a layer of 2 mm will form on the surface of the board. If this layer has a thickness of less than 2 mm, then clay must be added. If more, then you will have to dilute the mixture with sand.
Please note that this solution must be used immediately after production, as it will quickly lose all its properties. For this reason, it is necessary to prepare the mixture in small quantities in order to have time to use it as quickly as possible.
Drafting
As with the construction of buildings, it is necessary to make a project for a brick oven for a bath before manufacturing. It must indicate all the features, starting from what the appearance will be, and ending with the location of individual bricks. It depends on this how long you can operate the oven. There can be quite a lot of masonry options, it is recommended to consult with professionals in order to make changes and any adjustments, they can improve performance. In the manufacture of a brick oven for a bath with a tank, a heat exchanger should also be provided. This simple attribute will allow you to warm up the neighboring rooms. In addition, it will be possible to move the tank away from the oven.
Regardless of the masonry option and the used drawing of a brick oven for a bath, the following elements will be present:
- Firebox. It is made from fireproofbricks.
- The chimney is made of ceramic red or silicate hollow bricks.
- The tank needed to store water. It is made of metal.
- The ash pan is a firebox, a cast-iron stove, under the stove, it stores all the accessories for the bath, as well as other elements.
Building the foundation
It is worth noting that the foundation for the construction of a brick oven for a bath with a firebox is necessary in any case. Even when the bath is installed on a monolithic base. Please note that the temperatures of the building base and the furnace foundation are different. Therefore, it is necessary that between them there is a distance of about half a meter, and preferably more. Step-by-step instructions for making a foundation:
- Dig a pit, its depth should depend on what kind of soil is under the bath. Usually a depth of about 1 meter is enough. It is necessary that the size of the foundation be larger than that of the oven, by about 10 cm on each side. Be sure to leave a gap between the back of the stove and the bath wall. For wooden buildings, you need at least 15 cm, for brick and concrete - about 7 cm.
- At the bottom of the pit, it is necessary to fill in a 15 cm layer of sand and fill it with water.
- Then, on top of the sand, it is necessary to lay bricks or broken stone. The thickness of the layer should be about 20 cm.
- Pour a layer of crushed stone over the stone. The thickness should be no more than 15 cm.
- Install the formwork, it is made of wooden boards. They just nail down. But keep in mind that the formwork must have a high degreestrength, since concrete will be poured inside, which has a large mass.
- Inside the formwork, a frame made of reinforcement rods is installed.
- The height of the foundation should be about 15 cm. Pour the prepared solution inside the formwork, bayonet to get rid of air bubbles.
- After the mortar has hardened (and this will take at least a week), the formwork must be dismantled.
- Apply tar or mastic based on bitumen on the sides. In the seams that have formed, it is necessary to fill in crushed stone, sand or gravel.
- 2-3 layers of waterproofing material must be laid over the foundation.
Please note that the size of a brick oven for a bath should be smaller than the foundation. This is the main condition for construction.
Masonry of the main body of the oven
Now you can start making the main part of the sauna stove. Step by step instructions:
- Using a trowel, you need to collect the right amount of a mixture of sand and clay, cover the masonry place with it and level it.
- Place a brick on top of the layer, tap it with a rubber hammer. The mortar between rows should have a thickness of no more than 5 mm. Between bricks on the same row, the thickness should be no more than 2 mm. The smaller the seam, the more stable and stronger the structure itself is. Be sure to coat the bonding part of the bricks.
- To prevent large gaps from appearing, you need to break several bricks into quarters and halves in advance. Be sure to keep in mind that the seams on one row do not coincide with the previous one.and subsequent. Therefore, it is necessary to advance approximately 40-50% of the length of the brick.
- After laying the first row, it is necessary to install the blower door. For fasteners, you need to use a rigid wire, the thickness should be over 3 mm. It is screwed on the corners of the door. If there should be a firebox from the dressing room in a brick oven for a bath, then this moment must be taken into account when drafting the project. You need to turn the stove so that all the doors go into the dressing room.
- Each row must be checked with a level, the oven must not be built with a slope.
- For the construction of a durable reliable stove, you need to reinforce the spacing. This is done every four rows. When laying the firebox, it is necessary to reinforce all rows. The metal grating can reach a thickness of about 3mm.
- A cast-iron stove must be installed on top of the firebox, stones will be laid on it.
- The firebox door must be fixed in the same way as the ash pan. But there is one difference - the size of this door is much larger, so the fasteners are needed more durable and rigid. For this purpose, three or more wires are used, twisted into one.
Be sure to check with the brick laying pattern. In the event that everything is done normally, you can proceed to the manufacture of the chimney.
How to make a chimney
Here everything is more simple. It should be borne in mind that when expanding under the influence of temperature, condensate remains on metal pipes. It is for this reason that metal cannot be used; it is much better to make a brick chimney. The passages that connect the chimney shaft and the firebox are called hail. The sectional size of this move is approximately equal to ¾ of the width of the brick. It is not recommended to narrow the cross section of the chimney.
Best of all, if you make a shaft from solid elements. Building a chimney from quarters and halves is strictly prohibited. In the event that the height turns out to be small, the smoke will not be able to cool down, it will go outside with a high temperature. In other words, you will literally be throwing fuel into the wind. But if you make the chimney too high, then the firewood will burn out very quickly, because the draft increases significantly.