Wooden sauna furniture: how to make the right choice?

When the bathhouse is built, the matter rises behind its internal arrangement. Everything here should be thought out to the smallest detail - from what kind of furniture to place in it to the material from which it should be made, especially if it is made independently. Wood is rightfully considered the most environmentally friendly material; it is the best suited for a bath. But not every type of wood is equally suitable, for example, for a steam room and a sink. Let's consider what type of array is better to choose for each bath zone.

The steam room is rightfully considered the central place in the bath, the temperature in it can reach 100 degrees. In it, only shelves are usually made of wood with a high density and good tolerance to temperature changes, low thermal conductivity, and it should also not contain resin. Linden, poplar and aspen have such properties. Coniferous wood is more suitable for furniture in a dressing room or living room, as when it is heated, resin is released, which is fraught with burns. Although aspen is easy to process and has a low cost, it has the unpleasant property that it can rot from the inside out.

Alder, which rots raw, has the same property. Aspen can be used to make buckets and tubs. Poplar has strength, is easy to process, but its service life is not long. Oak can also be used for a steam room, but its cost is high. Linden is best suited for this room, it is easy to process, has low thermal conductivity, and products made from it are highly durable.

In order to independently make shelves, benches and benches for a sauna, it is necessary, first of all, to measure the room of the steam room, draw a sketch, and indicate the attachment points. A frame is mounted from a bar. Shelf seats are made from well-sanded planks. It is best to place the boards at a distance of 1 or 1.5 cm from each other in order for the shelves to dry well.

The average width of the shelf is 60 cm, so that it is comfortable to lie on it. Sometimes the shelves are made 90 cm wide. Usually the shelves are arranged in steps, on two or three levels, while the distance from the floor to the lower tier should not be less than 60 cm, otherwise it will not be comfortable to sit. The length of the shelf is usually from 1.5 to 1.8 m, so that you can lie down at full height.

Making shelves yourself is not difficult. To begin with, the prepared wood is sanded, sharp corners are rounded. Then each part is covered with a wood preservative to prevent the growth of bacteria, fungus and rot.

Next, make the frame:

• wooden poles are installed vertically every 60 cm;
• attach shelves to the wall;
• then the prepared boards for the bench are fastened, while it is imperative to use special oak wedges for fastening, since screws or nails cannot be used for seating in the steam room.

For washing, a wide bench is needed in order to make it more convenient to wash, as well as tubs, buckets, hangers. Coniferous and deciduous wood is suitable here, it is not afraid of moisture and does not lose its appearance. A distance of up to 10 cm is left between the bench and the wall, so that the water can drain, and the tree dries out faster.

There should also be space under the seat for better drying. The surface is treated with compositions only based on natural oils. The sink bench is usually simple, yet stable. The legs of the bench are set as wide as possible.

To make a bench, you need to take pre-sanded boards of the required size and place them at a short distance from each other. Then, perpendicular to the boards on each side, nail the bars that will hold the boards together. Then you will need to nail the legs to them. The finished bench is coated with a special oil compound for its durability.

If space permits, a font can be placed in the bathhouse. In the old days, after the steam room, it was customary to plunge into a container of cool water. These traditions have survived to this day. The shape of the font can be square, round, oval, triangular. The most practical is the oval shape, it takes up less space and is more durable in design.

The tree for the font should be chosen with high moisture resistance and density., then it will last a long time. Most often it is made from larch, cedar, oak and beech. Larch is a natural antiseptic, it is not susceptible to the formation of fungus, moreover, it has a healing effect on the human body, and exudes a pleasant aroma. Resistant to high temperatures.

Beech fonts also heal the body, give strength, and increase immunity. Beech is resistant to temperature extremes and is a very durable material. Cedar is distinguished by the content of resin (sap) and natural phytoncides in it, which do not allow mold and fungi to multiply, have a therapeutic and bactericidal effect on the body. Cedar is rich in essential oils and has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, relieves stress, increases physical activity, and is effective in the treatment of respiratory diseases.

But the more popular font wood is oak. It is loved for its strength and durability, as well as for its therapeutic effects on the body. Oak helps to normalize sleep, metabolism, has a wound healing effect. In order for the tree not to dry out, it is necessary to leave some amount of water under the lid in the font so that it does not evaporate quickly. Thus, the required humidity level is maintained.

In the lounge or living room, you can choose furniture to your taste and style. A seating area requires a table and benches. The table can be rectangular, square, oval or round. A round table takes up a lot of space, so a square or rectangle is most often preferred.

The size of the table depends on how many people will be in the bath at the same time and on the size of the rest room itself. Benches can be with or without a back.

A table made of rounded logs will look original, besides, it is not difficult to do it. In the rest room, you can place shelves, footrests, hangers. They are easy to assemble and do not take up much space. Furniture should be with a well-polished surface, smooth.

For the independent manufacture of furniture in the bath, you need tools that you will probably find either at home or in the country:

• screwdriver;
• Grinder;
• a circular saw;
• building level;
• roulette;
• square;
• ruler;
• pencil;
• hammer;
• plane;
• pliers;
• manual frezer;
• self-tapping screws;
• metal corners.

In order to make a table for a bath, you need an edged board made of linden, alder, oak, larch or other wood; the bars can be made from the same wood. All prepared parts are assembled into one structure using bolts, in accordance with the selected sketch. For the manufacture of countertops, put next to the required number of boards of the required length and width. Having stepped back from the edge of the boards, 1 board is nailed on each side perpendicular to the one taken.

The worktop boards can be laid side by side or at a short distance from each other. The table can be made either on 4 straight legs, or on crossed ones, nailed to the table top.

The crossed legs do this: they put the prepared bars crosswise and cut out the attachment points to each other with a hacksaw. Then each pair of legs is fastened with special glue or self-tapping screws. So that the table can stand on a horizontal surface, the corners of the supports are cut off. Both pairs of legs are connected with a crossbar parallel to the floor. The result is a fairly stable table.

Now it has become fashionable to "age" furniture. This is done with varnish and paint, but this method is not suitable for furniture in the steam room. The aging process will take some time, but the result is worth it - such furniture will make any room more comfortable. To create the effect of antiquity, you need "Belinka" in a warm shade and "Pinotex" in a dark color.

First you need to specially "spoil" a piece of furniture, for this you can apply scratches to the surface, beat it with a hammer. Then cover the surface with "Pinotex" and after it dries, apply an antiseptic. Then use sandpaper to create a rubbed effect.

The next step is to cover with Belinka in a lighter shade so that the darker layer is visible. When the paint is dry, with a brush, movements along it, as it were, erase the top layer. The last step will be to cover the wood with white glaze. It can also be used to create the effect of "whitewashed furniture".

To do this, first, the surface is treated with a stiff brush., then covered with white glaze, and after drying, treated again with a stiff brush. The wood becomes more embossed and acquires a beautiful light shade, which is very refreshing for the coating. This method is suitable for those who want to update their wooden furniture.

To create a more refined interior in the bathhouse, carved furniture is used, but it is more expensive, and if you do it yourself, it will take a lot of time. If old and unnecessary wooden furniture (chairs, chests of drawers, wardrobes, tables, armchairs) remains at home, then it can be given a second life with the help of decor, ideas can be gleaned from master classes on the Internet.

Consider some decorating directions that are suitable specifically for old furniture:

• The easiest way is to glue the wardrobe or chest of drawers with self-adhesive tape. Only before gluing it is necessary to degrease the surface with alcohol. The color of the film can be chosen according to your taste, in accordance with the interior of the bath.

• The next way is decoupage of furniture. Here you will need napkins with a pattern, PVA glue, brushes, acrylic paints and varnish for fixing.

• You can also transform furniture by burning various patterns on it.

• Using a variety of stencils, you can apply a pattern with wood spray paint.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways to decorate wooden furniture.

Bath furniture should be not only beautiful, but also practical and durable. It should not clutter up the space too much, in other words, there should not be too much in the bath, and it shouldn't be. In the steam room there are shelves, in the washing room there are wide benches, stools, hangers, shelves. In the rest room there is a table, benches, shelves, hangers, a wooden cabinet. You can put a sofa, it can be with leather or textile upholstery.

As you can see, wooden furniture in the bath is not only environmental safety, practicality and health benefits, it is also a wide range of design solutions, and endless space for the manifestation of design ideas.

You can watch a master class on wood brushing in this video.