How to make the interior decoration of a bathhouse - step-by-step instructions

Finishing inside the steam room

Since buildings are made of different materials, owners are interested in whether there is any difference in how to decorate a steam room in a bathhouse, say, from brick or foam concrete.
In principle, there are no differences even at the level of constructing an insulating pie, and even more so the finishing does not depend on what the walls of your bathhouse are built from. However, options do exist.

Interior decoration in a bathhouse made of timber or logs

A beam or log is a material that in itself has excellent decorative qualities, so there is no point in hiding it under the skin, unless your area is in the Arctic cold, that is, if the thickness of the log or beam is enough to keep warm.

In this case, the owner’s main concern will be insulating the joints with inter-crown insulation between logs or beams and sealing them (which we will discuss separately). In addition, finishing works include protecting log walls from various misfortunes (fire, water, insects, fungi and bacteria) and revealing the decorative properties of wood - both are done with the help of impregnations.

BUT! In the steam room, protective measures are limited to antiseptic on the lower rims and impregnation for the walls as a whole, which will protect them from water.

A well-sanded log has a beautiful “moire” pattern, which can be made more visible with the help of varnish or impregnation. On our website parilochka.com there is an article that talks about paints and varnishes that are acceptable for processing steam rooms.

Finishing with clapboard in a bathhouse made of aerated concrete, foam concrete, brick, frame

The finishing of a steam room in a bathhouse built from the materials listed in the title will in the vast majority of cases be reduced to clapboard cladding. This is the easiest way to make the interior “wooden”. In addition, lining is a convenient and affordable material, and the difference in profiles gives the owner the freedom to choose according to his tastes.

Baths not built from wood are usually insulated. In this article we will not describe the thermal insulation pie - you can read about it in this article on our website. However, we will spoil it: methods of thermal insulation finishing of a steam room in a bathhouse made of aerated concrete, foam concrete, etc. are the same. And the lining is the final stage of this finishing.

The lining is attached to the counter-lattice. There are several ways to attach it inconspicuously. Previously, this was most often done with finishing nails through a groove, but this is hard work, especially when compared with the modern method of fastening to staples or nails using a pneumatic gun through clamps. As an option, you can attach it to self-tapping screws.

IMPORTANT! Clippers do not replace fastening with nails or staples, they only simplify it. A nice and convenient addition.. Watch the video, which clearly demonstrates the method of fastening the lining using clamps:

Watch the video, which clearly demonstrates the method of fastening the lining using clamps:

Regarding the finishing of the steam room with clapboard, it is worth saying one more thing: there are two mounting options - vertical and horizontal. Accordingly, the counter-lattice should go in a perpendicular direction.

Since we are talking about a humid and hot room, it is worth noting that vertical fastening of the lining is not optimal. Each individual lamella with this arrangement is moistened unevenly, which leads to stress inside the wood. In the future it may crack.

At the same time, horizontal fastening makes the lamellas moisturized more uniformly. The main thing is not to forget when fastening that the groove should be on top, and the tenon should enter it from below. Then water will not flow into the lock.

In addition to the above, the described types of lining installation also have this feature: vertical fastening visually makes the room taller, and horizontal fastening makes the room appear lower.

Photos of finishing the bathhouse inside and stages of work

The popularity of lining is explained by the fact that with its help two tasks are solved simultaneously - finishing walls and insulating rooms.

The location of the stove must be made of non-combustible materials.

This material is made from wood and is an ideal cladding panel. Walls decorated with clapboard look nice. In addition, visually, the boards level any surface. This is the best option for wall decoration, since it ensures excellent ventilation of all other building materials. The lining allows the walls to “breathe” freely; it prevents the formation of condensation, and therefore mold.

Although, if there is a flat wall surface, the sheathing may not be installed. In such a situation, the cladding material is fixed directly to the walls. However, this option for interior wood finishing will be strong, beautiful and durable only if the wall planes are perfectly flat.

A thermometer and a clock are necessary functional parts in the interior of a steam room.

Bathhouse like a bathhouse

The simplest decoration of a Russian bath is simply its absence, see fig. More precisely, the absence of a continuous finish: a bathhouse made from wild logs selected to size breathes perfectly on its own thanks primarily to the open ends of the logs - along the fibers the tree absorbs and releases water vapor several times faster than across the layers, but it warms up from thermal radiation and from contact with heated air evenly. Therefore, in the original Russian bathhouse, the required temperature and humidity ratio is naturally maintained over a wide range of heating intensity.

Interiors of log baths

The original Russian bathhouse comes in 3 types - vigorous, made of oak, kondovaya, most often made of pine, and light, linden. The latter is the most useful, but if linden timber appears on sale, it is prohibitively expensive. A complete replacement for it in terms of sanitary and hygienic indicators, but only for 5-7 years, is poplar. Steaming in a vigorous oak bath is not for everyone’s health; It is definitely not recommended for women and children.

A pine bathhouse without interior decoration will be useful and quite fragrant if it is made from ordinary commercial pine-dried chips. Expensive, but extremely resistant to moisture, rot and pests, pitch pine is used for 1-2 lower crowns. However, the pine bath must first be “burnt”, the remaining volatile substances must be expelled from the logs, and the heavy fractions of resins must be forced to bituminize. To do this, in the summer, in dry hot weather, in the new bathhouse, in the morning, open all the doors, entrance and interior, windows, upper vents (see below) wide open and empty all containers, including the waste pit, if it is under the floor. Then the stove is heated to maximum until lunchtime; here for the first time you need an eye and an eye - suddenly there is something wrong in the fireproof cutting of the pipe (also see below). After lunch, the firebox is stopped, the bathhouse is allowed to cool until the next morning, and this procedure is repeated 3-5 times. If the weather turns bad, it’s okay, a break won’t hurt.

Methods for caulking a log house

However, you can use a Russian log bathhouse without additional finishing only if the log house is properly caulked. Since ancient times, baths were caulked with moss, but now the best option is jute. During the construction process, the crowns are caulked in a stretched strip (see figure on the right), and after dry shrinkage of the frame, the cracks are hammered into the set with jute rope (top left photo in the figure above). If the bathhouse is built in compliance with these requirements, the floor in it is also laid as it should be, see below, and properly burnt, only decorative functions remain behind its finishing; you just need to leave more wall surfaces free and not cover the outer and inner ends of the logs.

About finishing the sauna

Finishing a traditional sauna

The northern country of Finland has never been rich in forests suitable for building a bathhouse. The abundant spruce there is not the best option in this case: it is difficult and time-consuming to remove resin from its solid mass. Therefore, the Finns initially assigned the medical and health functions of the bathhouse to its less expensive internal lining: the traditional finishing of the sauna is a plank stand made of seasoned spruce boards, see fig.

Avid Finnish sauna lovers, having steamed in their own and in a real Russian sauna, say: yours is better. Not by much, but it still feels better. However, a sauna is much simpler, cheaper, can be made compact, even in the nook of a city apartment, and even mobile, which is what determined its wide distribution. The design of the sauna is very plastic, therefore, if you want to get a sauna, then when finishing using the methods described below, use seasoned air-dry spruce for the cladding.

Does the bathhouse need finishing?

Regardless of what kind of bath you have - Russian, Finnish sauna or Turkish hammam, a bath is a high temperature and high humidity. Without completing the finishing, without insulating the walls, floor and roof, you will be forced to heat the steam room for hours, and with it the surrounding air, literally throwing money away.

Due to the difference in external and internal temperatures, moisture will settle on the walls as condensation, which over time will lead to the formation of fungus, mold and rotting of wooden structures. If the building is made of masonry material (brick or blocks), a steam room without finishing can cause burns if it comes into contact with a hot wall. Only in the case when the bathhouse is cut down from logs or built from timber, can it be left without additional finishing if the thickness of the walls provides the required resistance to heat transfer. If this is not the case, go back to reading the first sentence of the paragraph.

If the bathhouse is made of logs, complete interior finishing may not be carried out

There are many safety requirements for finishing a bath:

• non-flammable insulation;
• hardwood cladding;
• special wood processing for the steam room. It cannot be treated with paints and varnishes;
• non-slip tiles;
• drainage - drains in the steam room and washing room;
• material and design of the steam room door: it should be made of wood, with a wooden handle, a sealed rebate and open outward;
• protecting the section of wall, ceiling and floor next to the heater with non-combustible material;
• fence around the heater;
• use of nails made of stainless materials.

  
  The walls next to the heater are lined with non-combustible materials, and the heater itself is fenced

The walls and floor of a bathhouse are most often insulated with stone or basalt wool, but this is not the best option: mats and slabs of mineral insulation contain a small amount of bitumen binder, which evaporates under the influence of high temperature, as well as tiny particles of fibers that cause irritation when deposited on the skin.

A safer and more economical option - foam glass insulation - avoids these disadvantages. Vapor barrier is performed with aluminum foil or foil-coated polyurethane foam, which belongs to the group of non-combustible materials and will serve as an additional heat insulator.

We are engaged in waterproofing

Taking into account the experience gained in construction, you should definitely take care of good waterproofing. It will protect the material of the supporting structures

Popular waterproofing materials remain:

• aluminium foil;
• vapor barrier film, which is a modern analogue of aluminum foil.

If waterproofing is combined with insulation, it must be laid on top of rolled materials. So that there is a small overlap in those places where the waterproofing is connected to the sheathing. The steam room may not have thermal insulation. Such options are cobblestone construction or log house

The seams that exist between the logs are simply caulked. To prevent a possible fire, we pay attention to the place where the pipe exits in the ceiling. Iron or brick are the materials with which it needs to be covered

Kinds

Before starting finishing work, it is important to decide what types of products to cover certain rooms of the bathhouse. The generalized characteristics of all types of lining are as follows:

• Breathable structure. Thanks to this property, fungus and mold rarely form on the lining, and proper ventilation is ensured.
• Ecological cleanliness. This material is completely safe for humans.
• Tongue-and-groove fastenings. At the dawn of the development of lining production, the fastenings were “tongue and groove”. Today, these options are not used, as they quickly fail.

To cover the inside of the bathhouse, you can use lining made from various types of wood. Uniform conditions for the material - it must be resistant to humidity, frequent and sudden temperature changes. When choosing a material, you must rely on the basic criteria of the wood species.

Wood species for lining can be as follows:

• conifers;
• deciduous.

When choosing a material, you need to understand for which bathhouse rooms it can be used. The most popular types of bath lining are made from:

• cedar;
• alders;
• oak;
• ash;
• linden;
• pine trees

Linden lining is considered the most suitable for cladding the walls of a steam room. The structure of the material is porous, low density, wood does not heat up from high temperatures. Linden has medicinal properties, releasing essential particles when heated. They are useful for the prevention of many diseases.

Linden wood is characterized by soft shades that do not change color throughout its entire service life. The only drawback of linden is its porosity - the material absorbs moisture. The room must be well ventilated.

Aspen lining has a more dense structure compared to linden. Despite its hardness, the material is easy to process. The surface of the material does not allow steam to penetrate and does not absorb moisture. Under the influence of temperature differences, it only becomes stronger.

Wells were previously built from aspen. The water in them remained clean for many years. Many craftsmen advise choosing aspen lining for a bathhouse.

Alder lining has good thermal conductivity and excellent water resistance. The material is not subject to deformation at almost any temperature. The color of the alder lining is a pleasant golden-orange.

The characteristics of the material make it possible to cladding both dry and wet bath rooms. No additional processing is required for alder lining. Alder acts on the human body as a general strengthening agent.

Cedar lining is considered an ideal option for lining a bath space. The products are quite expensive, so they are rarely used for lining baths. Cedar wood is durable and resistant to moisture. Another positive quality is the respectability of her appearance.

The medicinal qualities of cedar are known for its bactericidal properties, as well as its ability to make the air cleaner. The material does not change its original parameters for a long time. The pleasant aroma of cedar needles remains in the bathhouse rooms.

Another option for the base for lining is larch. Its installation is difficult, since the board is fragile and splits during processing. Larch is resistant to moisture. After some time, the finish acquires the required strength, but still requires additional processing. Otherwise, the material will lose its natural shade.

Larch is a conifer, but it does not emit resin, so it is suitable for finishing steam rooms. It can be used for walls, ceilings, and floors. The material is universal, it can be used both inside and outside the bath. The medicinal qualities of the material are the same as those of other conifers.

Pine lining is often used to decorate the inside of bathhouses. The price of the material is affordable, but it cannot be used in all rooms. For example, in a steam room, resin will be released from it, which will cause burns on the skin if it comes into contact with it.

However, in bathhouse rooms with normal temperatures, pine lining will create a special microclimate. In rooms with normal humidity, upholstered with clapboard, the aromas of the forest will be present. The appearance of the material will last a long time. Deformation processes may occur due to some hygroscopicity of the material.

Oak lining is famous for its strength and high density of wood. Oak is a beautiful and rich material. Oak finishing saturates the premises with essential aromas that suppress pathogenic microorganisms. Oak has high resistance to moisture and temperature changes. Oak is suitable for any bath room. The lining made from it varies greatly in color.

How to make the interior decoration of a bathhouse step by step instructions

If the bathhouse box is built from a log house, it is necessary to withstand the time required for the building to shrink. Before carrying out interior work, it is necessary to caulk the logs inside and out. Similar requirements are imposed on timber buildings; insulation and finishing are carried out on a fully established structure, otherwise deformations are possible.

Requirements for finishing materials

The choice of material is determined by the operational characteristics of the premises. Given the high humidity and temperature fluctuations, pay attention to characteristics such as:

• Environmental cleanliness;
• Biological resistance;
• Easy to care for;
• Long service life;
• Resistance to high humidity and temperature.

An important factor when doing the work yourself is the ease of installation of the selected materials.

Bath finishing technology

Buildings made of cobblestones and logs do not have ideal geometry, so the first stage of work consists of installing a frame made of bars on the walls and ceiling. Purchase chamber-drying material, because... it is more stable to humidity fluctuations. A dry block does not “lead”, which has a positive effect on the quality of the finish.

Fix the bars vertically, maintaining a level relative to the horizontal and vertical axis. The distance between the frame posts must correspond to the width of the insulation. The standard size of mineral or basalt wool is 60 cm, therefore, the distance between the posts should not exceed 58-59 cm.

Install the insulation sheets against each other, pressing them from above to minimize their shrinkage. Having insulated the walls, continue installing mineral or basalt wool on the ceiling. Avoid voids between sheets. Any gap in the insulation will become a cold bridge.

Important! Use high-density board material. The use of roll insulation on vertical surfaces is unacceptable.

When arranging the floor along joists, it is allowed to lay roll or fill insulation. After installing the insulation, it is necessary to secure the vapor barrier.

Why is vapor barrier needed?

Warm indoor air is saturated with water vapor. When meeting cold floors, moisture from the air settles on them. The resulting condensation leads to dampening of the material. Wet insulation loses its thermal insulation properties, and a damp structure will rot in literally 2-3 years. The main requirement for the installation of vapor barrier films is continuity. When connecting the canvases, it is necessary to overlap at least 10 cm, and all joints must be glued with professional tape such as Tyvek or 3M. In the steam room, aluminum foil is used as a vapor barrier, which, in addition to retaining moisture, serves to reflect heat. The high energy efficiency of the steam room contributes to rapid heating, slow cooling of the room, and, as a result, energy savings.

Important! After attaching the vapor barrier, before finishing, it is necessary to create a ventilation gap of at least 2 cm.

The lack of a ventilation gap leads to the lining getting wet, which negatively affects its appearance and service life.

Working with wooden paneling

To install the lining you will need:

• Roulette;
• Building level;
• Pencil;
• Hacksaw, jigsaw or parquet;
• Hammer and mallet;
• Nails.

Start installing the dies from the corner. If the lining is positioned vertically, align the first board vertically. Nail it in the corner; later they will be covered with decorative trim. Secure subsequent dies with clamps. Hidden fasteners are more aesthetically pleasing and safer. Periodically check your work with a level.

Important! Leave a gap in the corners. Fluctuations in humidity lead to changes in linear dimensions and bowing of boards.

Advantages of lime lining

Linden is used for finishing steam rooms based on its consumer properties:

• Ease of processing;
• Easy to care for;
• Lack of resinity;
• Resistant to high humidity and temperature;
• Environmentally friendly.

The only drawback is the high cost compared to coniferous and aspen lining.

Finishing the bath with ceramic tiles

Ceramic tiles and porcelain tiles are highly durable, resistant to moisture and temperature. It is optimal to use tiles when arranging the floor covering in a washroom if the base of the floor is a concrete floor. The use of tiles on the walls of private baths is impractical due to the high cost and complexity of installation on wooden walls.

Finishing work

After finishing the interior of the bathhouse with clapboard, it is necessary to close the joints of the corners, window and door openings with decorative elements. To treat wood, use compounds intended for coating wood in a bathhouse.

Materials

So, how to properly decorate the inside of a bathhouse? Let's start with the choice of materials.

Insulation

Typical thermal insulation in a steam room is basalt wool, which practically does not caking and, accordingly, does not lose its insulating properties. Aluminum foil, the notorious Penotherm or its analogues - foam and mineral wool heat-resistant insulation with foil glued on one side - are used as a vapor barrier.

Mineral wool with a glued reflective layer of foil does not require a separate vapor barrier.

Lathing

You will have to install lathing on the walls under the internal cladding. Its cross-section is determined by the thickness of the insulation; in most cases, a block with a cross-section from 50x50 to 50x75 mm is used. The preferred material is larch, resistant to dampness and rot.

Sheathing

Natural wood lining is traditionally used to decorate the inside of a bathhouse's steam room. Of course, the price per square meter is much higher than that of artificial analogues; however, in a hot, humid atmosphere, as we remember, most synthetic materials simply will not survive.

Which types of wood should you choose, and which should you avoid?

• Pine and spruce are the cheapest species. And... the least suitable for our purposes. When heated, a large amount of resin (including in pockets) will appear on the surface and will stain everything that touches the skin.
• Birch. You can forget about the problem with the resin. But the service life leaves much to be desired: in a damp atmosphere, birch lining will quickly rot.
• Larch, on the contrary, is very durable. Its negative feature is extremely painful splinters and... again, a high content of resins.
• Linden is a popular solution with low thermal conductivity (which will protect you from burns) and a pleasant aroma.
• Finally, aspen is the clear leader. It combines resistance to high humidity with the absence of cracks and resin pockets.

Aspen lining.

Floor

Here two solutions are quite equivalent.

1. Laying tiles with a slope towards the drain that drains water beyond the foundation.
2. A plank board through the cracks of which water will drain directly into the ground under the steam room.

Requirements for insulation of a bath room

The most important quality of a steam room is the preservation of hot steam and heat inside the room for a long time. That is why thermal insulation comes first in finishing. There are many methods for such work, but we will consider the simplest and most common ones, which can be easily done with your own hands, without the help of specialists.

When choosing materials for insulation, you should be guided by their safety at the usual high temperatures for a steam room, that is, fire resistance and resistance to sudden temperature changes . The most common materials are mineral wool as insulation and aluminum foil as a vapor barrier. They are highly reliable and easy to operate.

Before you begin work on insulating the walls of the bathhouse, you should carefully prepare the surfaces. Carefully examine the walls and ceiling, remove gaps, knots, and roughness. All wooden surfaces are treated with an antiseptic, which will provide protection against fungus and mold.

By insulating and equipping a bathhouse, you will get walls in the form of a so-called “sandwich”, consisting of layers alternating in a certain sequence: a waterproofing layer, an insulating layer, a vapor barrier, and, finally, an internal lining.

Drywall

• helps hide utility lines;
• allows you to achieve a perfectly flat wall surface;
• absorbs moisture well;
• possibility of non-linear editing.

You should also be careful when purchasing drywall in a store. You should start from the characteristics of the room in which the cladding is planned. If you have to deal with a permanently damp place, it is best to choose moisture-resistant gypsum board sheets. They are usually available in blue or green. For rooms with high temperatures and a certain risk of fire, pink drywall is suitable - it has a reliable fire-resistant coating that will help protect your walls from unpleasant surprises. One of the advantages of covering walls with plasterboard in a wooden house is that it is easy to install. Thanks to the dimensional sheets, the cladding can be completed quite quickly. True, you will first have to build a sheathing - this is an improvised frame made of metal profiles or wooden beams. It can successfully hide all sewer and ventilation communications, cables that spoil the appearance of the room. After the gypsum board sheets have been attached, all that remains is to treat them with a primer, seal all the seams with serpyanka, thoroughly putty all the defects and paint or whitewash them in the color that fits into the format of your interior

An important point that I would like to pay close attention to: new wooden houses tend to shrink after some time, so it is recommended to cover them with plasterboard only after this. In this case, it is necessary to leave 1-2 cm gaps at the junction with the floor and ceiling, since wooden walls tend to swell - and one day the cladding may simply tear

Video with recommendations from experts.

The process of finishing a steam room in a bathhouse with your own hands

The easiest way to decorate a steam room in a bathhouse with your own hands is to show it in a photo, but I will try to explain it clearly, and of course I will also provide the necessary photos.

The best material for finishing is lining; it looks good in the interior. In addition, if you wish, you can make it yourself, and there is a huge selection of it on store shelves. This material allows the wall to breathe and is easy to install. It can be secured using clamps or nails without heads.

Let's break down the finishing of a steam room in a bathhouse with our own hands step by step, the first thing we'll look at is the ceiling, then the walls and floor.

Ceiling finishing

The decoration of the room is done all in one style; if the ceiling is covered with clapboard, then it is better to finish the walls as well. If you want natural wood, then you should take care of its quality; it must be treated with special means. These products will ensure many years of service to her and will preserve her appearance much longer. They are also carried out to ensure that the wood is not subject to fire for some time.

The choice of lining is very large, so you will find for yourself the type of wood from which the lining will be made. You can also choose for yourself according to your financial means.

The ceilings are also finished with cork, which is an environmentally friendly material. It does not emit hazardous substances when heated, just like lining. It is very easy to install and is not difficult to operate. But its disadvantage is its high price.

Wall decoration

They also prefer to cover the walls with clapboards made of wood. In this case, it is better to fasten it with a gap to avoid deformation of the wood due to swelling. This gap will save you from redoing the entire finish; it will allow it to move if necessary.

Think over the design in advance, you will always have time to buy, take a closer look at different types of finishes, and choose the one you like best.

Floor finishing

The floor can be made of wood or laid with tiles. The tile is not afraid of moisture, but it is not very pleasant to step on it after a steam room, moreover, you can slip, so most often it is covered with wooden flooring in the form of lathing or a covering that is easy to care for, such as cork.

If you want to lay tiles, first screed and level the surface. It is laid on a special glue, and the seams are treated with moisture-resistant grout.

Wooden floors can leak or not. Leaky floors are when the boards are laid on joists with a gap of 5-30mm, while floors that are not leaking are laid close to each other and tongue and groove boards are chosen for them.

I provide a photo of finishing the steam room in the bathhouse with my own hands.

Wall decoration

The steam room in the bathhouse occupies a central place. Therefore, it is logical to consider wall decoration in relation to it. This is a task that can be done “with your own hands”. Let us describe the technology of finishing walls with linden lining.

We are erecting the sheathing

Wall finishing begins with the installation of sheathing. The wall on which the installation will be carried out is covered with a vapor barrier membrane. For racks we choose a board with a thickness of 30 - 50 mm. The width of the board is taken according to the thickness of the insulation layer, which for a steam room is 1.5 - 2 times thinner than for an ordinary room in the area where the bathhouse is located. If the outer walls of the bathhouse are made of timber or logs, the building should be allowed to settle. It’s even better to use rack fastenings that allow the outer walls to slide along them. When purchasing insulation, in addition to the area of ​​the walls, we take into account the area of ​​the ceiling. Since warm air is concentrated in the upper part of the room, we make the insulation layer on the ceiling 50 mm thicker than the walls. The distance between the posts is chosen to be 1 cm less than the width of the insulation sheet, which simplifies the installation of mineral wool mats. After laying the last layer, cover it with a vapor barrier membrane. Fully laid insulation should leave 1.5 - 2 cm of the width of the board unfilled. This is an air gap between mineral wool insulation and foil penofol, installed on racks, with a layer of foil inside the room. Penofol is secured to the racks with slats. The width of the rail is equal to the thickness of the rack - 30 - 50 mm. Thickness – 25 mm.

We are engaged in waterproofing

Waterproofing in the bathhouse is the same as in other buildings. When constructing a roof, vapor and waterproofing films and membranes are used. Timber, log and frame walls are protected with impregnations and films. The floor in the washing area requires special attention in terms of waterproofing. Today, shower cabins with trays are often used here. Water does not fall on the floor. Fans who indulge in the pleasure of being splashed with cold water after leaving the steam room should take care of the proper arrangement of the floor. It is appropriate to lay it with metlakh tiles on a concrete screed, under which a waterproofing layer of thick polyethylene film is laid. If several sheets are used, the film is laid with an overlap of 15–20 cm. The joints are glued with special moisture-resistant tape. The edges are folded onto the walls to a height of 15–20 cm.

Features of finishing of bath rooms

A classic Russian bathhouse necessarily contains such rooms as:

• steam room;
• washing;
• vestibule (locker room).

If the area allows, modern buildings will be equipped with a separate recreation room, a billiard room, a swimming pool, a veranda, a barbecue area and even a full kitchen.

Despite fashion trends, the basic requirements for a bath remain unchanged:

• the steam room requires persistent hot steam,
• in the washing room there are non-slip floors and the possibility of convenient bathing procedures,
• In general, the premises have a comfortable microclimate and an aesthetically pleasing environment.

The functionality of bath rooms largely depends on the correct finishing. Even if your structure is built from rounded logs, and the walls from the inside look beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, it is recommended to carry out interior finishing of the bathhouse, as this will significantly extend its service life.

Finishing a steam room as a necessity

What material is suitable for a steam room?

There are a lot of finishing materials for interior work. To make it easier for you to choose what kind of finishing will be done for the steam room in the bathhouse, each designer has photos and pictures of ready-made solutions. It is worth remembering that even if you made your own choice, it is better to coordinate it with a specialist, because not all materials are suitable for installation inside the hottest room.

Taking into account the specific operating conditions, the following requirements are imposed on the finishing:

• moisture resistance;
• heat resistance;
• durability;
• hygiene;
• environmental friendliness.

Important! For the interior decoration of the bathhouse, you should choose natural materials.

When the temperature rises, plastic becomes deformed and begins to emit an unpleasant odor, and ordinary tiles crack after heating. Therefore, the use of such finishing is unacceptable in the steam room.

The best option is wood. The finishing structure depends on financial capabilities. For example, lining is cheaper than timber; it is chosen if it is necessary to meet a certain budget. Basically, bathhouse owners prefer deciduous wood. Below is an example of what the interior decoration of a bathhouse might look like, a photo of the classic version.

High-quality wood for interior decoration of a bath Source stroy-block.com.ua

There is an opinion that you should not sheathe the inside with steamed coniferous wood, since it releases resin when the temperature rises. But this statement is controversial, because resin has a beneficial effect on health, cleanses the respiratory tract, and strengthens the heart.

Whether or not to sheathe the interior with coniferous wood is up to you - maybe someone in your household doesn’t like the smell of pine needles or vice versa...

If lining was chosen for cladding the bathhouse, then it must be of high quality. Particular attention must be paid to the external processing of the material - there should be no chips, knots, or cracks on its surface. The lining should not deform: swell when heated or dry out at normal temperatures.

If wood is not suitable for you as a material for interior decoration of a steam room for some reason, you can give preference to heat-resistant tiles; they have proven themselves well under significant temperature changes.

Experts recommend laying the walls of the steam room with terracotta flagstone - this material is resistant to high temperatures and humidity.

Choosing an antiseptic for wood

The purchased wood protection composition must solve a whole host of issues. They need to protect the finish from fungi, prevent decay and the appearance of harmful bacteria, infectious agents and insects. You should not buy the cheapest composition, you need to focus on quality. When purchasing, you should carefully read the instructions and get full advice from the seller. Among the domestic means of protection, Neomid has proven itself well. Depending on the composition developed by the manufacturer, it can provide fire-retardant impregnation and protection of affected areas of wood. "Neomid 200" is designed specifically for steam rooms and protects wood from rotting.

100% natural flaxseed oil is also used as the most powerful natural antiseptic. This is probably the best environmental choice.

Steam room

Only hardwood is suitable for finishing the steam room.

• linden is attractive in appearance, does not darken over time, it is characterized by low heat capacity and density, it warms up quickly, but you cannot get burned when touched. When heated, it releases an unobtrusive, delicate, pleasant aroma. It is quite common, therefore it has an affordable price, especially in the southern regions;
• aspen is a traditional material for steam rooms in the northern regions. Durable wood, difficult to split or split, has bactericidal properties;
• alder – aesthetically attractive, pleasant to the touch, resistant to hot and cold water, steam and condensate, washing solutions (acidic, alkaline), easy to process;
• abash is just beginning to gain popularity, a tree native to the African tropics. This type of wood is especially good for making shelves - even in very hot conditions, it practically does not heat up, maintaining a temperature close to the temperature of the human body. Does not darken under the influence of steam, water and heat.

Wood cannot be painted or varnished, no matter how high quality they are - when heated, they will give off an unpleasant chemical smell. When installing, the screws (nails) must be deeply recessed and closed at the top - otherwise, when they heat up, they can cause a burn. The lining should be filled vertically - drops of water formed during condensation will drain faster. To protect the junction of the floor and the wall, high skirting boards made of waterproof material are installed.

When decorating a bathhouse with wood, you cannot use wood with knots - compared to the general massif, their density is much higher, so when heated they will simply fall out.

Traditionally, the floors in the steam room are wooden, the best material being larch. However, tile is preferable - it washes better, dries faster, and fungus does not grow on it. If the tiles seem cold to you, you can put a removable wooden grate on top.

Making the floor in the steam room

Not only comfort, but also safety depends on the choice of raw materials for the floor. Moisture on smooth tiles or linoleum leads to falls and injuries. Installation of such materials will turn the floor into a skating rink. In addition, when heated, linoleum emits an unpleasant odor containing substances harmful to health.

The optimal choice of floor for a steam room is wood. It does not require a special coating, and with this design the room will be designed in the same style. It is worth noting that the wooden floor in the bathhouse is not made of oak. This wood becomes stronger when wet, but at the same time its surface begins to slip.

Concrete works well. A floor made of such material will be strong and durable. Tiles are laid on top of it, but the structure of the surface of such a coating is important. It should not be glossy; a pronounced relief is necessary. The floor is laid at a slight slope towards the water drainage.

Laying tiles on the floor in a bath Source seattlehelpers.org

The tiles are laid from the corner, placing crosses between the blocks, tapping with a mounting hammer. After 2-3 days, the seams between the tiles are rubbed down. Wooden grates are placed on top to prevent you from stepping on the cold floor and provide additional safety in case of possible slipping.

Ceiling finishing

The finishing of the ceilings is similar to the finishing of the walls. The same materials and technologies are used for the steam room. In the washing room, you can cover the ceiling with clapboard made of linden, cedar, and aspen. The best insulation for the ceiling of a steam room is ecowool. The material is not cheap, but it is worth the investment. In addition, the ceiling area of ​​the steam room is small.

A layer of foil material is definitely needed, but its choice is fraught with some nuances. You should not use materials based on foamed propylene foam or polyurethane foam. The optimal insulation option is ecowool plus foil on paper, that is, kraft foil.

Important! The use of high-quality finishing materials is the key to safety and health. Saving on these points is harmful and dangerous!

The interior should please

The most optimal wood species for each room are described above.

It is impossible to imagine the vaping process without a wonderful woody aroma.

Of course, it is very difficult to get by with wood alone in finishing a bathhouse. For example, it is better to use ceramic tiles for floors, especially in the washing area. In order to make such a surface safer, a wooden grate should be installed on top of it.

If you still want to completely decorate the washroom as wood, we recommend treating the boards with a special varnish, the effect of which will be no worse than that of tiles.

To give the room an unusual touch, you can make unusual wooden lamps yourself.

Shelves and a door in a steam room made of timber

The main rule here is that the material for the shelves should not heat up to such an extent that contact with it could burn the skin. For this reason, for the manufacture of shelves, wood of the same species is used as for lining - aspen, linden and others.

It is also advisable to sheathe the door with “safe material” that will not accumulate heat and burn upon contact with bare skin. It is also recommended to make the door to the steam room insulated. This will help to more effectively retain heat inside, save fuel and achieve a stabilized microclimate during bathing procedures.

Shower trim

The first thing worth noting is that you should not use wood to cladding the shower. It would be better to choose tiles. It does not rot and is easy to care for.

Open showers require the installation of channels, drains and cladding aimed at moisture resistance. In particular, facing with tiles or similar material that can withstand heat.

If we talk about individual shower stalls, it is quite acceptable to trim the walls with clapboard, cover them with moisture-resistant plaster or paint them. But it is better to cover the sinks themselves with tiles.

It is recommended to use rough floor tiles - they do not slip.

If desired, heated floors can be installed. It is undesirable to make the floor oak - it becomes slippery under the influence of humidity. In this case, you can use coniferous species. Larch is recommended - it resists rotting better than others.

Areas of the floor that may come into contact with large amounts of water are recommended to be finished with drain tiles. As for the ceiling, larch and suspended ceilings - cassette or slatted - are suitable here. From time to time, the ceilings will have to be washed, which means that the material must react calmly to detergents.

Finishing materials for a bath - how not to make a mistake

The interior decoration of different rooms in the bathhouse performs different tasks, and in accordance with them the type of decoration is chosen.

Table: requirements for finishing a bath

Steam room finishing

To cover the steam room, it is better to use hardwood, which does not release resin when heated. When choosing a material for wall cladding, you must remember that a bathhouse is not only pleasant, but also useful. By inhaling the phytoncides released by heated wood in the steam room, we increase the body’s resistance to colds and heal the respiratory tract.

Table: recommended types of wood for a steam room

If you are interested in a budget finishing option, choose alder; if there are no cost restrictions, then the best option is ash.

A bathhouse trimmed with ash clapboard will look prestigious and expensive

For lovers of coniferous scents, a combined finishing option may be offered: where contact with the skin is possible, we make the finishing from deciduous wood, and, for example, we line the space under the shelves with cedar, larch or pine.

To cover a section of the wall near the heater, you must choose a material with high heat capacity and thermal conductivity, ensuring maximum accumulation and uniform heat transfer. The structure of the stone must be uniform so that it does not explode when water gets in. The stones are selected to be round or oval in shape with a smooth surface for free air circulation, the optimal size is from 5 to 21 cm. Another requirement is environmental safety: when heated, they should not emit harmful substances.

Table: properties of bath stones

The ceiling in the steam room above the heater, just like the wall behind it and the floor around it, requires protection with fireproof material. Above the heater, you can make a section of suspended ceiling from a soapstone slab. Soapstone is a universal material for heater stones, cladding walls, floors and ceilings. A more budget-friendly option is a metal sheet over the stove, a foundation and wall cladding made of solid, well-fired brick.

Soapstone can be used not only as a material for stones, but also as a decoration for walls and ceilings behind the heater

The floor in the steam room is made of concrete or ceramic tiles, with waterproofing and a drain for draining water. Walking flooring made of hardwood is laid on top.

Finishing materials for washing

A sink with open shower screens requires the installation of channels, drains and moisture-resistant finishing: facing with ceramic tiles or other durable and moisture-resistant material that can withstand elevated temperatures.

If you plan to install individual shower cabins, such finishing is not required; you can line the walls with clapboard, paint them or plaster them with moisture-resistant decorative plaster.

To prevent water from affecting the sink frame, it is finished with tiles.

It is advisable to have heated floors. The tile must have a rough surface that prevents slipping. It is undesirable to make oak flooring in wet rooms, as it is very slippery when wet. A coating made of coniferous wood, especially larch, is welcome, as it is the most resistant to rotting.

The area of ​​the floor near the font, where significant spills of water are possible, is best made of ceramic tiles with a drain.

The ceiling of the washing room will have to be washed periodically; accordingly, the material must withstand treatment with detergents: larch lining, metal slatted or cassette suspended ceilings.

Restroom

The rest room has no restrictions on decoration, with the exception of warm flooring - it’s always nice to walk on warm wood with bare feet. The rest of the interior design depends on the taste and requirements of the bathhouse owner.

Photo gallery: options for finishing bathhouse premises

In this steam room, the firewood rack serves as an interesting element of the interior.

Soft diffused light and heat from a brick Russian stove will create an unforgettable experience of visiting the bathhouse

Protective lampshades made of slats protect lamps from mechanical influences and create directed streams of light

Taking bath procedures in a small steam room is very comfortable

The interior of the steam room is very decorated with the combined layout of lining made of different types of wood

A steam room for a large company should be heated with a high-power heater

What to achieve?

The structure of the bathhouse can be brick, foam and gas blocks, wooden beams, frame or log; We don’t touch on such exotic things as, say, an earthen bath. Except for one of these cases (see below), the structure of the bathhouse itself is not capable of breathing as a bathhouse should. Bathhouse builders charge about... 500 thousand rubles for the final finishing of a 4x6 m turnkey box, and materials account for no more than 20-25% of this amount! It follows that decorating a bathhouse with your own hands is at least economically justified. Now let’s summarize what we should get technically:

1. When heated to 70-90 degrees, the finishing of the bath should not emit fumes harmful to health, but should maintain its shape and mechanical characteristics;
2. The risk of injury (burns, slipperiness, scratches/splinters) from finishing the bath should be excluded;
3. The interior decoration of the bathhouse should quickly absorb and retain heat well, gradually releasing it into the room after heating;
4. The finishing properties must be maintained for a long time under the influence of cyclic thermal shocks and 100% humidity;
5. The finishing of the bath should be pleasant to the eye and to the touch with steamed skin.

We install a heat and vapor barrier layer

The thickness of the layer of heat-insulating material directly depends on the design of the insulated surface. It should be noted that the floor of the bathhouse, both wooden and concrete, is insulated using a certain technology, and this work is labor-intensive enough to devote a separate article to it. Now we are considering the insulation of the walls and ceiling of a traditional wooden bathhouse.

The ceiling is subject to much more thorough insulation than the walls, so the layer of mineral wool on it should be twice as thick. This is due to the fact that the hot air in the steam room rises, and it is through the ceiling that maximum heat loss occurs.

So, the frame previously made from beams is installed on the surface and carefully secured with screws or bushings. An even piece of insulating material is placed in the space between the beams. It should lie tightly, without free spaces or overlaps. The edges of the material are secured using a construction stapler.

Once the installation of mineral wool is complete, it’s time for the next stage – vapor barrier. Aluminum foil is most often used in this capacity, since it not only protects the insulation from steam and moisture, but also has reflective properties. Thanks to this quality, foil creates the so-called “thermos effect” in the steam room, retaining heat inside the room for a long time.

So, to install the vapor barrier layer you will need:

• Aluminum foil in the required quantity;
• Thin slats for sheathing;
• Small wallpaper nails or a construction stapler;
• Scotch tape or adhesive tape.

For vapor barrier, it is preferable to take foil with a thickness of 65 microns. This is a material that is optimal in density and strength and is easy to work with.

First of all, you should prepare the sheathing. Since the room of the bathhouse and steam room is small, it will be easy to make the lathing by stuffing slats to the frame of the heat-insulating layer.

After this, sheets of foil are secured to the sheathing using wallpaper nails or a stapler. At the same time, they should be well, but not too tightly, and carefully aligned. The overlap of the sheets on each other should not be more than 5 cm. Since the vapor barrier layer must be continuous, the sheets are connected with tape at all joints.

The main condition for the materials used: they must be environmentally friendly, and when exposed to heat and moisture they must not emit foreign odors of a chemical nature. This is why such common building materials as roofing felt, roofing felt or glassine are not used in the interior decoration of bathhouses.