Features of Finnish baths, designs and stove selection

With a lot of advantages of the Russian bath, its Finnish counterpart also has its advantages. It is necessary to approach its creation thoroughly and clearly in order to avoid mistakes in design and construction. Consider the features of Finnish baths and the choice of a stove.

Both the Finnish and Russian baths are subordinated to one task: they are designed to cleanse the body, relax in a calm atmosphere. But the Scandinavian tradition implies that the air in the bath room should warm up to 70 - 100 degrees, while its humidity cannot be more than 20%. This combination will help you feel real pleasure, as well as get rid of physical fatigue, easily cleanse the pores of the skin, opening them.

The Finnish bath is the hottest and driest among all the national analogs of buildings. The usual state for her is warming up to 90 - 100 degrees. You should not be afraid of any negative consequences. If there are no medical contraindications, low humidity will allow you to safely endure such an effect. The Russian approach is different: the air in such a room is humid. Sitting or lying on the upper benches, it will not warm up to more than 80 degrees. There is nothing surprising in this, the humidity and temperature in the baths should be inversely proportional.

If the heating of the air in a Finnish bath reaches the boiling point, and the humidity rises to 25% (only 1⁄4 more than the maximum permissible value), burns of the mucous membranes will inevitably appear. And if the conditions turn out to be worse, in addition, help will be provided too late, then lungs may be burned, possibly fatal. It is for this reason that stones in a Finnish bath should not be watered, except in microscopic doses to improve dry air or the need to give it some kind of aroma. The slightest slip can increase the air humidity to a critical, life-threatening value.

To guarantee the special parameters of the Finnish bath, you have to make it according to an unusual scheme (not like a Russian one). Stones are not placed inside the oven, they are placed on the surface of it. As a result, the room warms up more quickly, but it also cools down quickly. The ovens themselves are also different. The Russian tradition implies stoves in which solid fuel burns. The Scandinavian approach relies on electric hotspots.

They begin to equip the sauna from the floor, then move to the ceiling, the final stage is work with the walls. It is inappropriate to decorate the floor with wood: it rots too quickly. Only for rarely visited baths can you prefer a wooden flooring, and then only from the rocks that are most resistant to the action of water and heat. More often, tiles are chosen as a floor covering, a concrete base is poured under it. Through the pit, the water is redirected into the pouring pipe (the hole should be with a slope of 1 - 2 degrees).

Clinker tiles are better than ceramic tiles, they do not slip even when wet. Lining is mainly applied to the walls and ceiling. Linden gives an attractive pinkish color, smells well the room, it is quite durable. Abashi (hardwood) is expensive, but does not contain a single knot or resin pocket. This wood is comparatively lightweight and does not burn the skin when exposed to strong heat. The cedar massif also has its advantages.These include:

• ease of machining;
• zero risk of rotting and clogging with fungus;
• pleasant appearance and luxurious aroma;
• medicinal properties.

The walls are often decorated with Canadian and Baltic spruce. When choosing wood, it is recommended to use areas that do not contain resin inclusions. Approximately one-sixth of the entire varietal tree is suitable for work, and only from the lower part of the trunk, with the exception of the butt. Heat-treated wood is better suited for walls, and its service life is noticeably increased.

Whichever wood is used in the sauna, its qualities can only manifest themselves if the rest of the building requirements are met with high quality. Among them, ventilation occupies an important place. A completely logical step is to use a bastu-type system, since the Finnish bath needs to be ventilated only at the moment when it is warming up. The oven blower maintains air circulation throughout the entire procedure. In the least hot rooms, you can do with simple natural air circulation, this is quite enough to maintain a pleasant microclimate.

To visit the steam room will bring only joy, you need to choose the right sauna stove. Electric heaters are mostly made of high grade stainless or galvanized steel. Due to this, the environmental and sanitary indicators of structures are always at a high level. Such ovens can quickly warm up the air; they are controlled by consoles (built into the body or detached). It is worth paying attention to the versions that have a built-in steam generator, which allows you not to be limited to the traditional Finnish mode (you can steam like in a Russian bath).

As for manufacturers, the first lines of the rating are occupied by products from: Helo, Harvia, Sawo... The quality of the products of these three companies is stable, and the involvement of leading designers allows you to create a unique appearance. If the goal is to choose a wood-burning stove, you need to focus on products made of expensive steel grades containing a significant amount of chromium. Due to this additive, the structures are characterized by increased resistance to heat, they serve for a very long time and do not let consumers down.

Firm "Castor" produces furnace bodies with a thickness of 0.5 - 0.8 cm, and the device is capable of reaching an efficiency of 70% (subject to the rules of handling). Serious competition can be made by products released under the brand name "Harvia", the furnaces of which are cast-iron, and the body is made on the basis of multilayer steel. The emission of gaseous waste is 80% less (this will delight connoisseurs of ecology).

A stove for a Finnish bath must be equipped with a convection casing. Only such a device can provide the required air heating rate. It must circulate continuously, otherwise it will not be possible to support the very regime that made the Finnish baths famous. To prevent scalding and dampen harsh radiation, users have two options: installing special grids filled with stones around the stoves, and cladding the entire surface of the cabinet with carefully selected stone slabs.

The project must be compiled without fail, there are no trifles in it. A Finnish bath like a barrel can even be made by hand. First you need to select boards (spruce or pine, 9 cm wide and 4.5 cm thick). In most cases, the dimensions range from 250 to 400 - 450 cm, the exact size is determined by the required capacity of the structure. Strong coniferous beams must be used as the base, connected for the highest strength.When laying the floor, you need to create a slight slope, with the help of which the water will drain better.

It is imperative to provide openings for the entry of electrical wires. More often in Finnish baths, a roof made of bituminous tiles is used, attached with nails and glued inside. It is important to think about waterproofing and additional finishing of the roof from the inside to make it look more attractive. But it is not enough to draw up a good project, you need to choose a high-quality timber, because attempts to save on materials will turn into additional problems. As for beauty, you should focus on your own taste.

Building a sauna with a terrace is not that difficult. The roof can be made with two unequal slopes, internal insulation. For a structure measuring 7.65 x 7.65 sq. m should be guided by the following parameters:

• shingles roofing;
• heating system;
• preparation of a steam room and a washing room;
• allocation of a toilet and a rest room;
• separate technical room;
• a foundation with a shallow deepening of a tape type (on top of a sand cushion);
• lining the basement and chimney with natural stone;
• covering ventilation openings with decorative grilles;

The main structural material is glued laminated timber with a sanded outer side. Rolls of mineral wool (10 cm thick) are used as insulation material. For thermal insulation of the ceiling and walls of the washing, steam room, choose aluminum foil. There is no need to create ceilings in other rooms: there they are successfully replaced by the sheathing of the rafters. This solution will help make the space in the bath larger, make it original. The floor is laid from natural wood, an exception is made only for the washing room, where a full-fledged warm floor is performed on a foam concrete base.

Build a Finnish bath in the house is not worse than in a stand-alone version. However, you will have to create a smaller steam room than usual, since it must keep the temperature for a long time and not consume a lot of fuel. The stove will have to be heated constantly and intensively, which has a bad effect on its performance and service life. In most cases, a bathhouse in a house is made no more than 6 square meters. m. If you properly equip the steam room, 3 - 4 people will be able to visit it at the same time.

The ceiling is placed at a height of about 200 cm: this will allow it to maintain optimal proportion with the door openings. The upper shelves should be about 1 m below the ceiling, the lower ones are trying to be made narrower. The sauna in the house is always made without windows, sconces are used as lighting devices. Some designers recommend choosing lighting systems designed to relax the nervous system. It is better to create walls from timber or logs. For ceilings, beams of small cross-section are chosen, spaced 0.65 - 0.85 m from each other. A home sauna floor is usually formed from three layers:

• bitumen-based felt;
• cement screeds;
• tile or ceramic tiles.

When selecting tiles, you need to pay attention to the fact that they slip as little as possible. To do this, when buying, it is necessary to select a material with anti-skid properties, which is distinguished by a rough or slightly embossed surface texture. The opening of the hood is made 0.3 m lower than the ceiling level. The cold air inlet must be arranged opposite the outlet. Regardless of this, the sauna built into the house will not allow the use of the pool. There is simply no suitable place for him. However, neither floor nor ventilation will help maintain a good microclimate if the wrong stones are used in the stove.

It is recommended to use only four types of rocks:

• jade;
• diabase;
• raspberry quartzite;
• volcanite.

It is not enough just to build a Finnish sauna and equip it: a steam room of this kind requires an unusual treatment. You cannot use brooms, you can only sit and relax as much as possible. Honey masks, scrubs and moisturizers for the skin are acceptable, but nothing more. Even a gentle blow with a birch broom can cause skin burns.

Usually, visitors to Finnish baths take a shower without soap and other detergents, and when they enter the steam room, they sit down and relax. The first run is limited to a maximum of 5 minutes, even for healthy and physically fit people. You cannot take this time as a kind of norm. If negative feelings have arisen earlier, it is time to immediately leave the steam room and go to the dressing room. In the first minutes, you need to stand under a cool shower or plunge into the pool.

As with any other bath, you should refrain from drinking alcohol, coffee, sweet soda, cocoa, chocolate bars and similar products. They sweat a lot in the sauna, you should drink more. Each subsequent entry into the steam room allows an increase in the time spent, but you cannot enter there more than six times and stay longer than 15 minutes. No amount of physical fitness and well-being can justify violations of this restriction. It is worth spending only one time in the sauna (even in the relatively cold part of it) for a maximum of 3 hours.

Sitting in the break room, it is worth drinking:

• clean warm water (still);
• tea (not too strong);
• fruit drink;
• kvass or other natural drink.

After the final exit from the steam room, you can use shampoo, soap or shower gel. The benefits of being in a sauna are beyond doubt. This procedure strengthens the heart and develops the lungs as effectively as intense physical exercise on the street. Any organs and tissues are better supplied with oxygen, weight loss is possible (a sauna gives a lasting effect only in combination with a decrease in diet and an increase in physical activity). Skin and muscles are quickly restored, general relaxation of the body occurs.

It is important not to forget about contraindications for a visit to the sauna. You cannot go there if:

• body temperature is higher than normal;
• an infectious disease has been confirmed;
• a non-infectious disease has worsened;
• have an oncological disease;
• found serious problems with the heart, blood vessels, skin and lungs.

Only with the permission of a doctor, anyone who has turned 60 years old, who suffers from chronic inflammation or high blood pressure, can visit the Finnish bath. Steaming in the sauna is unacceptable until 4 years of age; for older children, a full examination and the consent of a doctor are required. By observing the recommendations for the construction of a Finnish bath, the arrangement of its internal space and the use of the sauna, you can achieve a good result in construction and improve your health.

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