In the conditions of the cool climate of our country, when it is cold outside for seven to eight months a year, you especially want to be warm. Sauna is the perfect option to warm up and relax after a hard day's work. Not everyone can afford to go to such places. Some of these events can not afford, others do not have enough time. The ideal option for such busy citizens is to make a sauna on the balcony with your own hands. You can find out the methodology for creating such a room and see the photo in our today's article.
What should be considered before creating a sauna on the balcony?
Refurbishing a balcony in an apartment is quite simple. To do this, it is necessary to think over all the details of the restructuring in advance and take into account the nuances. For example, it is important to know how electrical wiring should run. An equally serious issue is the supply of ventilation to the selectedroom.
You need to be able to equip steam protection, as well as reliable thermal protection. Waterproofing is the most problematic issue in this case. If you manage to settle all the issues, then you can get a good steam room. The dimensions of the sauna on the balcony, made by hand, are usually small. It all depends on the layout of the house.
What should be the preparatory work for arranging a sauna on a balcony?
In home stores you can find ready-made steam rooms that can be installed on a balcony or loggia. They are easy to install in the selected room, but for people with average incomes they are very expensive. It is much cheaper and more convenient to design a sauna on the balcony yourself. This business takes a lot of effort and free time, but if a person likes to bathe in a sauna, then it's worth it. The most troublesome work is laying ventilation. If everything is done according to the instructions, then you can get a steam room where there will be dry air. A photo of a do-it-yourself sauna on a balcony can be seen in the article presented.
Often at the preparatory stage it is necessary to expand the balcony or opening. To reduce heat loss, it is better to make the sauna closer to the main walls of the house you are looking for.
It is worth considering in advance how best to glaze the balcony so that heat does not escape through the windows. There should be no windows in the steam room. The walls must be deaf. The remaining space must be closed with double-glazed windows. Better not saveas windows, and take double-glazed windows of good quality. At the same time, it is better to immediately mark where the ventilation hole will be.
What building materials will be needed?
After the preparation work is over, you can stop at the choice of building materials. To make a sauna on the balcony with your own hands, you need:
- Buy mineral wool. It is necessary for warming.
- Foam and waterproofing membrane.
- Prepare wooden bars. Their thickness should not exceed five centimeters.
- Boards for arranging the floor. The walls can be sheathed with wooden clapboard.
- Vapor barrier. You need to choose foil.
- Metal hose.
It is important to have a corrugated pipe, a special asbestos cardboard.
What is not allowed for use in the course of work?
In the process, it is better not to use a brick. The same can be said about the stone. It is believed that these materials are very heavy, and their use on the balcony will be an extra load on the surface. It is better to resort to the use of mineral wool. The layout of the sauna on the balcony with your own hands takes place in stages. It is better to start all balcony work with arranging the floor.
How to make the floors on the balcony for a sauna?
Before starting work, it is important to think about how to insulate the entire room. Mineral wool is considered the most suitable material for creating a comfortable indoor temperature at any time of the year.
The cover is placed on the floor, taking into account the fact that the steam room rises about fifteen or twenty centimeters above the perimeter. This idea is explained by the fact that the elevation is necessary for normal draining from the film. Thus, the steam room will remain dry, and excess moisture will flow down.
Do-it-yourself floors in the sauna on the balcony are made in stages:
- Initially, a layer of waterproofing is laid.
- It is necessary to install wooden lags. Their height is approximately eight centimeters. It is important to remember that a step of forty to fifty centimeters is respected.
- Be sure to lay the second layer of waterproofing.
- Floor boards are fastened with nails. They also need to be nailed to the walls. It is important to make sure that during the operation of the steam room you do not get burned on the nail heads.
An important point is to create a floor slope towards the front door. It turns out that excess moisture can easily leave. For the interior decoration of the steam room, it is recommended to use boards made of deciduous trees. The degree of their shrinkage is ten percent. It is good to use softwood boards for the floor.
How to finish the balcony walls for a sauna?
It is better to insulate the sauna on the balcony with your own hands. To do this, finishing professionals advise to insulate the walls from the outside. Judging by the reviews, foam is well suited. This material does not weigh down the structure due to its lightness, but ensures the preservation of the temperature inside the room. An important nuance in this work is the choice of the thickness of the insulation. The thicker the layerfoam, the faster the booth will heat up.
Scheme of the interior decoration of the balcony in stages
To make a good sauna on the balcony with your own hands, you must follow the instructions exactly:
- The slats on the walls are nailed with a "step" of five hundred millimeters. The cross section of the board should be no more than five square centimeters. The place where the steam room itself will be located must be covered with plywood around the perimeter. The insulation should be as close as possible to the wall.
- There should be holes between the bars. They must be fitted with a foil-side vapor barrier with the foil facing out.
- Mineral wool sheets should be prepared. They should be wider than the desired size by about five centimeters. Such an increase in footage is necessary so that the insulation lies more tightly against the desired wall.
- A layer of insulation is laid in the entire recess between the boards.
- The top layer is aluminum foil. It is important to put it in such a way that the reflective side is inside. It can be fixed with a construction stapler or self-tapping screws to wooden planks.
- Metalized tape should be prepared in advance. It will be needed in order to seal all the joints.
- After the insulation work is over, you can proceed to the final stage. The walls are upholstered with clapboard. Inside the walls of the steam room must be upholstered with hardwood slats. The remaining parts can be upholstered with different types of wood. It is better to keep the same style with the steam room.
A detailed photo of a do-it-yourself sauna on a balcony can be seen in the article.
How to make a ceiling?
When finishing work on the ceiling begins, the focus should be on the vapor barrier. It must be remembered that on the balcony (loggia) the steam always goes up. Don't let the neighbors get damp.
First of all, you need to nail the slats no more than five centimeters thick. It is worth retreating a step that is equal to forty centimeters.
There are gaps between the bars. They need to lay a layer of waterproofing. After the insulation has been laid, it must be pressed down with a small load, such as a bar. After that, the layer must be fixed with screws or nails.
The vapor barrier membrane is best fixed in two layers. After completion of this type of work, you can begin lining the clapboard. A photo of a sauna on a balcony, constructed according to the described methods, can be seen in this article.
Experts advise not to do ceiling work alone. It is much more convenient and more productive to carry out work with an assistant. It is difficult for one to hold the insulation and at the same time try to fix it on the ceiling.
What are the features in the preparation of the sauna on the balcony?
In addition to finishing work, you also need to think about how the electrical wiring will go. A photo of the sauna project on the balcony, made with your own hands, can be seen in our article. Every question needstake the time to take the work seriously. Fire safety is a guarantee of peace of mind for the owner of a home sauna.
For electrical wiring, it is better to choose a cable that will have good heat resistance characteristics.
First of all, you need to install a separate machine on the electricity panel, most often they choose devices for 25 amperes. It is necessary to install an RCD on the power supply network.
On the balcony you will need to add a new outlet that will work from the switchboard. To make the connection, you will need a corrugated pipe.
The wires to the lamp must be placed in a metal hose, which is fixed above the ceiling. For saunas, they usually buy specialized lamps that can easily withstand high temperatures up to +120 degrees. Light sources of this type have a distinctive level of moisture resistance IP 54.
It is important to remember that switches and sockets cannot be installed in the sauna. It is forbidden to install distribution boxes in this type of premises.
Instead of a conclusion
So, we figured out how to make a sauna on the balcony with our own hands. This room should not only be aesthetic, but also meet all safety requirements. By doing all the work according to the instructions and the recommendations presented above, you can get a quality result. Such a steam room will be no worse than classic saunas. Moreover, it will not cause discontentneighbors and pamper you with heat after a hard day's work.
