Sauna 3 by 5: the subtleties of the internal layout

Bath is an integral part of many cultures, including Russian. Each person who owns his own personal plot sooner or later thinks about building a bath. This is not just a tribute to an age-old tradition and a place for carrying out hygiene procedures, the bathhouse is also a place of relaxation. It is worth starting construction, having carefully planned everything, because in most cases the building should be compact.

You should start by choosing a place for a bath. The size of 3x5 m is considered the most popular, which can fit even in a small area. It is worthwhile to take a responsible approach to the choice of a place for a bath, taking into account personal, aesthetic preferences, various norms and rules (including firefighters and sanitary and hygienic). The image below shows the minimum distances between objects within the boundaries of the parcel.

Immediately it is necessary to exclude places of shallow occurrence of groundwater. They are ideal for a well or borehole. They are not suitable for building a house or a bath. If your site borders on a reservoir, it makes sense to build a bathhouse closer to the shore, then you don't have to build a pool.

In the era of technology and the Internet, everyone can choose a project that suits him perfectly. In most cases, they differ only in the internal layout. The first question that should be decided when choosing a plan is the combined or separate placement of the steam room and sink. Let's consider both options.

In the picture above, you can see the layout of a 3 by 5 bath with a joint steam room and sink. The total building area is 15 m / 2, the size of the steam room and the dressing room is 9 and 6 sq. m.

The steam room contains:

• shower area with drainage;
• oven with a hot water tank;
• bunk shelves.

Two facts speak in favor of combining the steam room and the washing room:

1. with a small volume of space, the temperature and humidity change too sharply, which negatively affects the well-being of people;
2. the pores on the skin open up under the influence of high temperature, in the steam room and again close from the low temperature of the washing room; each subsequent run forces the skin to be steamed again; when these two rooms are combined, the skin does not cool down.

Now consider the option with a separate sink and steam room. The dressing room occupies 9 sq. m, the steam room is 4 sq. m, and the sink occupies 2 square meters. The size of this project is the same as the previous one (3x5 m), but there are already three rooms here. If desired, both options can be modified by moving the walls to one side or the other.

Often in the baths you can find another room: a vestibule or an entrance hall. Its purpose is simple, but important enough. When leaving the dressing room to the street, warm air rushes into the open door, which causes rapid cooling, the vestibule helps to avoid this. Here you can arrange a changing room, take off your outerwear, store a variety of bathing utensils, dry firewood before use. The figure below shows an example of a 3 x 5 m bath with a vestibule.

Baths are not always one-story. Often, an attic is built as an additional floor, which is inferior in size to a bath. In Figure 4, you can see the staircase to the attic floor. With a bath size of 3x5 m, the attic will be no more than 2.5 by 5 m. You can use it at your discretion. Terraces are attached to the bath, some of them have access to a reservoir (natural or artificial). It is not necessary to build a pool: you can build a wooden font or buy a plastic one.

When you have already decided on the project, you need to think about the interior decoration of the bath. Steam room and sink are the main rooms of the bath. Regardless of whether you decide to place them together or separately, there must be shelves and stands (for the first room), a pallet, a sink and towel holders (for the second room). The stove should be located in the steam room, but kindling will come from the dressing room. In the dressing room, you can place a table and benches, shoe racks and hangers for outerwear.

Consider a few nuances of bath planning:

• it is better to place the front door on the south side: there are fewer snowdrifts, the snow melts earlier;
• windows should not be neglected: their main purpose is not lighting, but ventilation; the ideal option for windows for a steam room and a sink is 40x40 cm;
• window openings are located on the west side due to the fact that the bath is usually used in the afternoon, the rays of the setting sun will help save electricity;
• the vestibule is mandatory for buildings used all year round: if you wash in the bath only in the summer, its construction becomes unnecessary, which helps to save money;
• it is better to lay out the concrete floor with ceramic tiles and put several wooden gratings so that the feet do not freeze;

• the wooden floor needs to be made leaking to reduce moisture and facilitate its maintenance;
• the simplest and most economical way of interior decoration of a bath is lining;
• do not neglect thermal insulation, choose breathable materials;
• for interior decoration, it is better to choose deciduous trees: conifers release resin when heated;
• a ventilation plan for the room should be developed in advance.

The foundation is the first stage of any construction. For a bath, a tape or columnar type is often chosen. The choice depends on the composition of the soil at the construction site. Clay and fine sand suggest the construction of a monolithic strip foundation, if the soil is predominantly stony with coarse sand, a columnar foundation is erected. If the site has a high level of groundwater, it is better to choose a foundation on screw piles: this will be more reliable. All three types of foundations must be erected following the recommendations for their construction in order to increase their strength and service life.

There are many materials for building walls. The main ones are:

• wood;
• brick;
• cinder block;
• foam block;
• aerated concrete.

A real Russian bath should be made of wood (so many people think). Someone immediately buys a ready-made log house with installation, so as not to waste time on the project and construction. Others choose timber or rounded logs. In any case, the construction of a wooden bath must be treated responsibly. Wood is exposed to various atmospheric conditions, has drying and swelling properties.

A brick bath has several advantages. The main thing is a long service life, since the brickwork is much thicker in relation to the wooden walls. The thermal conductivity of bricks is much higher; thermal insulation requires a more detailed approach. The brick structure looks presentable, it may not require external finishing.

Cinder block, foam block, aerated concrete and many other materials popular for construction are suitable for building a bath no worse than an array and brick. They have less thermal conductivity than bricks and take less time to build walls.

The roof is the final stage in the construction of the bathhouse. It can be made one- or two-slope, ordinary or mansard type. The attic is preferable: it can be used to store bath accessories, it retains heat better. The rafter system is assembled on the ground, installed on the walls ready-made, or erected directly on site. The choice of lathing depends directly on the coverage.

Roof insulation is carried out in the same way as wall insulation.

The stove can be of several types: wood, electric and gas. Each of them has its own advantages. The wood-burning stove keeps warm longer, gives a unique aroma. Such structures are made of iron and brick. You can buy the first option, or do it yourself, the second is better to entrust to a professional: due to an error in the laying, there is a great risk of suffocation. It is believed that for heating 1 sq. m bath, you need at least 30 bricks.

Gas and electric ovens heat up much faster than wood-fired counterparts. The size of the bath 5x3 m does not provide a wide field of action. However, if you wish, you can arrange the space so that it is aesthetically pleasing and functional. Interior arrangement requires no less attention: the atmosphere of comfort depends on it.

For an example of interior decoration of a bath, see the following video.