Brick stove for a bath: design features

Although metal stoves for baths have been invented for quite a few years, most people still prefer the traditional brick ones. This choice is due to the fact that it is the “living” material that is able to create the most comfortable level of heat for a person and the optimal amount of steam, as well as to give the room a cozy atmosphere.

The main advantage of brick ovens for baths is a certain technology of vaporization, which is achieved due to the unique properties of bricks. A person in the room breathes easily, feels “soft” warmth and enveloping steam, saturated, but not scalding. When the metal is heated, infrared radiation is generated, which burns oxygen in the steam room and burns the skin. It is not surprising that brick heaters are preferred by people who look after their health and choose comfort.

Brick construction comes in a variety of sizes and designs, which means it can fit into any bath that demonstrates the individuality of the owner. As a rule, stoves are folded with a base of 3.5 by 4 bricks (89 by 102 centimeters), or 4 by 5 bricks (102 by 129 centimeters). Height without pipe can be 168 or 210 centimeters. The most popular is the model with a water heating tank.

When giving preference to brick ovens, it must be remembered that they have both certain advantages and disadvantages. Among the advantages are the following:

• attractive appearance and the ability to fit into any interior of the bath: both made of wood and brick;
• such a furnace will delight the owner much longer than an iron one: unlike metal, brick is a material that will not be spoiled by small defects;
• there is no need to carry out additional finishing work;
• the resulting steam has a beneficial effect on human health;
• a heated brick will not begin to release hazardous chemicals into the air;

• a brick oven better maintains a high temperature throughout the bath room;
• for kindling, fuel is used, which is sold on any construction market, as well as the simplest raw materials that you don't even have to buy: sticks, branches, newspapers, dry moss and others;
• in a room with a stove with periodic action, you can steam for 2-3 days, and it will not cool down;
• if, after the bath procedures, you simply do not close the door to the steam room, then the oven will dry the bath itself;
• the chimney does not require monthly cleaning, unlike a metal firebox.

However, there are some downsides:

• the stove structure itself is quite large, you will either need to build a large bath from the beginning, or you will have to sacrifice some square meters;
• if mistakes are made during the assembly process, then the stove will become poorly at keeping the temperature, and the room will cool down quickly;
• brick is a rather expensive material;
• the services of a professional stove-maker are also very expensive;

• due to the large weight of the stove, a solid foundation will be required, the depth of which should be below the freezing point of the soil, and the foundation for the stove should not be tied to the foundation for the very structure of the bath house;
• stove construction is a long-term and laborious task;
• it will take a long time to completely melt a bath with a brick oven, up to 6 hours.

There are 4 main variations of sauna stoves:

• "In white";
• "In black";
• "In gray";
• with a stove.

Stoves that are fired in "black" do not have a chimney, and have been used in villages throughout the country for decades. All the fumes and smoke go out through the steam room itself - naturally through the cracks and gaps in the roof. Of course, this is how the best steam and aroma arises in them, and it becomes very pleasant to wash, but at the same time you have to wait until all the firewood is burned out. When choosing stoves "in black" it is recommended to treat the inner walls of the bath with a special solution that can prevent the occurrence of soot residues. Baths "in black" have a very high efficiency, and therefore, when using them, you can save on fuel.

Next in complexity are stoves, which are fired in "gray" style. They have a chimney, and therefore the bath heats up much faster. However, you still have to wait until all the fuel has burned out, as soot is deposited on stones. The walls are not soiled with soot, but when liquid is applied to the stones, a small amount of soot microparticles appears along with the steam from the furnace. This design can be straight-through and with channels. In the first case, the stones located above the firebox are on fire, and the gases go out into the air through the pipe, and in the second, through two valves.

Ovens "in white" warm up the room for up to 12 hours, but do not pollute stones, therefore they are considered the most environmentally friendly. The process is as follows: the overlapping metal plate is heated from the fuel, and the stones are heated from it, which will store heat for several hours. This heating method appears to be the most costly - a large amount of firewood and other materials is consumed. Previously, the box in which the stones were put was made of ordinary black iron, but now it is made of heat-resistant stainless steel. Traditionally, “white” saunas have two separate spaces: the dressing room and the steam room itself. To warm both rooms, one side of the stove goes into the dressing room.

In the fourth case - with a stove - stones and a water tank, the placement of which can be changed, are heated by two cast iron stoves. One of them is located above the firebox, and the second is above the chimney. On three sides, the slabs should be fenced with a brick screen, which will ensure the high temperature of the water. Such ovens are usually self-built.

Furnaces are distinguished according to the type of fuel used:

• wood-burning;
• fired by coal;
• natural gas;
• diesel fuel;
• wood chip briquettes;
• electricity.

By type of construction, they are divided into furnaces:

• with an open stove (typical for a Finnish sauna);
• with a closed heater;
• combined.

Batch stoves are usually chosen by large families, when many people go to wash, but the duration of the steam bath process is short. They have thick walls, which store heat for a long time and provide the required bath life. The smoke passes through the stones before entering the chimney. The volume of the stone backfill in such a heater is much larger than in permanent heaters.

Continuous sauna stoves have a minimum wall thickness and volume of stones located in an insulated metal box above the firebox. Their main advantage is the ability to use the steam room during the melting process. Closed-hearth stoves are also safer. Heating is carried out inside the body through the wall, which is common for the heater and the firebox.Stones keep heat much longer, and the air in the steam room at the same time has a stable optimal temperature. It will take about 4-5 hours to warm up the air in such a bath.

Separately, it is worth highlighting such a variety as a stone stove-fireplace for a bath. This design has an attractive design but low efficiency. If you install a fire-resistant glass valve, you can protect yourself from flames and enjoy relaxing in a heated room. That is why fireplaces are often installed in "dressing rooms". Modern technologies make it possible to design mini-heaters as well. This design quickly warms up the bath, but even after the fuel has completely burned out, the heating of the room remains. Its length and width are usually 2 bricks.

There are various ways to decorate brick ovens.

• With the help of plaster, you can arrange relief patterns, or simply create a neat, smooth surface. Paint or decorative plaster is applied over the plaster.
• Painting is the easiest option. In this case, it will only be necessary to paint the oven with 1-2 coats of very resistant paint.
• If you need some kind of creative and effective solution, then you should turn to the facing of the furnace portal with tiles or stone in a sequential or chaotic manner. In the case when the fireplace is planned to be closed, a glass cladding is chosen, and the brick itself will serve as an ornament. In general, the stove can be tiled with natural stone, majolica, unglazed terracotta, clinker tiles and porcelain stoneware.

When thinking about a color for a stove, it is recommended that you base yourself on the interior design. For example, the loft style involves hand-molded artificially aged bricks. For a classic interior in calm, light colors, as a rule, light yellow brick is used. Thanks to modern materials, it is possible to paint the stove in any light.

If there is a desire to arrange a log bathhouse in the Russian rustic style, then it is best to assemble the stove with your own hands. Usually it is faced with tiles or simply plastered and painted white. It is also necessary to attend to the substrate, which can be magnesia glass sheets or drywall.

If you have never built a stove before, then it is recommended not to start drawing up a drawing with your own hands, but to find a ready-made order and use it. Currently, various masonry schemes are used, the most complex of which are chosen by professionals, and the simple ones - by amateurs. In both cases, the result is satisfactory and the oven works efficiently. In addition to traditional masonry methods, the order of Kuznetsov's bell-type bath stoves is also distinguished. This design takes up significantly less space.

Ordering always starts from the base of the furnace, the so-called zero row. At this level, the laying is continuous, but a half-window is usually left on the side to create additional draft and clean the chimney shaft. At the next level, dressing is carried out - this means that the row is shifted by 30-50% to make the structure stable. If halves or quarters of bricks are required, it is recommended to use a grinder with a diamond disc. It must be remembered that such elements cannot be in chimneys, the shafts of which are always assembled from solid bricks, but only inside the structure.

At the third level, a damper usually appears, and the installation of the ash pan door begins.The fourth row indicates the appearance of the soot extraction door. At the sixth stage, as a rule, the shaft is divided by means of a lintel into two parts, one of which will become the shaft of the slab. On the twelfth row, one of the mines will be laid, and only one main one will remain. Usually, at the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth stages, the laying of the main structure ends, and then the laying of the chimney takes place.

The sauna heater project differs from the traditional projects: it has a special space for heating stones, which allows heating the steam room at a high speed. There are two main designs of such a stove: grate and grizzly.

In a grate stove, firewood is placed on a small grate or grate. This device also serves as the bottom of the firebox, and through it the primary combustion air is supplied. Ash goes down through the holes in the grate, thus there is a place for a new portion of fuel. The best material for this piece of stove hardware is cast iron, as it is more resistant than steel. Such furnaces have high efficiency, high combustion intensity, and are very easy to maintain.

Distinguish between solid grates, which cannot be disassembled, and type-setting, consisting of several parts. In the first case, when buying a part, you need to focus on the available area of ​​the furnace, and in the second, you will be able to assemble an element of the required size yourself. Steel grates are produced by chain or pipe grates. Steel are tiled, basket, beam and movable.

The brushless oven is also called the hearth. Firewood is placed on an under-floor, on which it is also possible to cook and bake, and air is supplied through the firebox door. In such furnaces, "upper fuel combustion" occurs when the front spreads from the upper layers of the fill to the lower ones as it burns, which is considered a more environmentally friendly way. For such stoves, only wood materials are used: firewood and briquettes.

Some craftsmen assemble ovens "by eye", since they believe that both the assembly of a brick oven and the lining of an iron one are so simple that preliminary calculations are not needed for them. However, it is better to make preliminary calculations. Both the thermal regime and the amount of steam in the room depend on the correct design. Otherwise, it can happen that the air heats up very quickly and the stones remain cold.

To fold a standard oven yourself, the first step is to choose a suitable brick. The material must be very tough, able to withstand high temperatures and be fireproof. The best option is considered to be a pale yellow brick based on refractory chamotte clay. It should be borne in mind that it is an expensive material, therefore, when building a homemade stove, it is supplemented with solid red brick. For example, fireclay bricks are used for fragments that are exposed to the most intense heating, and a red hollow M grade with a number from 75 to 150 is used to cover the outer walls, smoke circuits and decorative elements.

When choosing a brick, you should adhere to a few simple rules:

• When you hit a high-quality brick with a pick or hammer, you will hear a clear and clear sound;
• The brick must meet the standard parameters: 250 by 120 by 65 millimeters;
• High-quality material has no pronounced damage and defects, with the exception of filamentous cracks and grooves;
• If the brick has a "mica" film, this indicates a marriage.

To build a brick oven, you will need knowledge of block masonry and adherence to a single order. The first step is to equip a waterproofing layer at the base of reinforced concrete in order to cool the foundation. At the same stage, a sub-furnace is formed for storing inventory. Then, the preparation of clay and sand begins to connect the elements, because cement is not suitable in this situation. Clay is thoroughly cleaned of stones and impurities beforehand and soaked for several days. It is recommended to take samples taken at a depth of 150 centimeters below the surface of the earth. Quarry or river sand is carefully sieved for pebbles or pieces of pebbles. After that, the clay must be stirred, diluted with clean water without a musty smell and combined with sand prepared in the same way.

When using clay with a high fat content, it is recommended to dilute it with sand in proportions of 1: 2. To check if the mixture is correct, use a wooden stick. It is dipped into the solution, and if the resulting layer has a thickness of 2 millimeters, then you can start working. Experts also recommend giving preference to the clay underlying the selected brick, that is, either red or fireclay.

In the next step, it will be necessary to lay out the brick blocks. Typically, this will require ordering, a square, pliers, a broom with a scoop, and an emery wheel. Each brick is pre-placed in water so that all air bubbles come out of the pores and so that dehydration of the mortar is prevented. It is not recommended to immerse fireclay bricks in liquid for a long time; a few seconds are enough to remove dust. Laying starts from the corner. The first row is laid on a dry foundation, without applying a sand-clay mixture.

At some point, the water tank is also installed., plates, and, if necessary, the grate, as well as securing the doors. Regardless of the method of masonry, the key parts remain the same: a refractory brick firebox, a chimney, a water tank and an ash pan, consisting of a cast iron stove, a firebox and a furnace. Drying of the sauna stove takes place within 4-5 days with open windows in the room. After this period, you can begin to heat it with small chips 1 time per day, for a maximum of 10-15 minutes. As long as condensation continues to rise to the surface, the oven is not yet ready for full operation. If desired, after that, you can also carry out the finishing, for example, revet with tiles.

When constructing a stone oven, the following rules must be taken into account:

• leave at least 50 centimeters between the oven cover and flammable structures;
• more than 1 decimeter should remain between the brick chimney and the wooden parts of the bath;
• a gap will appear between the smoke channel and the roof, which must be covered with a metal plate, for example, made of galvanized steel;
• the floor in front of the base of the furnace is also covered with a metal plate about 10 millimeters thick, it will prevent sparks and coal from entering the flammable surface;
• the weight of the furnace together with the pipe, but without the foundation, should not exceed 750 kilograms;
• before laying, all bricks are carefully sorted, products of the same thickness are selected to get even seams - the best samples are used for smoke channels and fireboxes;
• the stove is recommended to be erected near the wall, which is opposite to the shelves in the steam room.

Decorative spectacular finishes for beautiful and stylish stoves.

• A massive wall-to-wall stove will become a bright accent of the steam room. It can be decorated with tiles, finished with stone and original brickwork. The rest of the interior details, including the cans with buckets, are made of light wood. Brooms are an organic accessory.

• If you want to decorate a high-tech bath, you need to use a laconic small stove, possibly a mini, and shiny metal sheets in the interior.The latter can also act as a protection for wooden walls.

• Choosing the right stones will not only improve the quality of the steam, but also beautify the interior. Experts recommend giving preference to river pebbles, basalt, porphyrite, which are not afraid of high temperatures.

• The bathhouse in the shape of a barrel with an open stove looks very original. In such a room, wooden walls are protected by metal plates.

• The firebox of a massive stove can be located in the next room - the dressing room. The large size and red brick will ensure a rustic look.

• A neat compact stove can be decorated with a carved metal bucket with stones. The decorative element will be matched by the protection of the wall, decorated with a stone.

For an overview of a brick oven for a bath, see the next video.