Sauna on the balcony: types and features of the arrangement

It's good if you have a summer cottage and a bathhouse on it. But what if you live in an apartment? After all, you really want to relax and gain strength after a hard day in your own sauna. There is a way out - to equip it on the balcony or loggia.

If you are the owner of a large balcony, then you can equip a bath room right here, of course, observing all the requirements of the law in the implementation of redevelopment. In your own sauna, you will always be calm and sure that hygiene is observed, and the room is clean, and you will not have to waste time traveling and paying for this expensive pleasure in other establishments.

Of course, you can buy a ready-made mini sauna, but this will have to be spent on it. It is easier to equip the construction of a mini steam room on the balcony with your own hands. Typically, a compact sauna is 80 cm wide and 2 m high. If you have construction skills and a desire to make a steam room with your own hands, use the detailed instructions on the Internet and improvised means, or hire a competent master for professional advice.

Before erecting a structure on the balcony, decide what it will be. For example, if the internal structure of a Russian steam room and a Finnish sauna is almost the same, then the heating and heating systems are completely different. In the Russian bath, these are classic firewood and stones, on which water is supplied, as a result of which wet steam is obtained. And, of course, the presence of a broom is mandatory, with the help of which the body will be cleansed. But more modern Finnish saunas are usually equipped with an electric stove and give dry steam.

Of course, a simpler and more practical option is a dry steam room.when you do not need to take up additional space for firewood and clean ash in the stove and on the floor, and stones heated by an electric fireplace will increase the temperature in the room in just a few minutes. But the Russian steam room has its own "soul", and who does not want to steam with a fragrant broom. The choice of the type of sauna is up to you.

The idea of ​​a sauna on the balcony is ideal and quite easy to implement. Reviews about such a sauna are mostly positive, and there are plenty of advantages and advantages of the design of the steam room on the balcony:

• minimum financial costs;
• the effect of a real sauna;
• small size;
• the use of firewood is not required;
• fast heating of the room;
• personal hygiene and safety (own steam room will protect against diseases that can be transmitted in public places);
• convenience (no need to leave them at home, you can bathe at any time of the day or night).

Since the supply and output of water from the balcony is very problematic and costly to establish, it is worthwhile to limit yourself to steam procedures in a mini sauna, and continue the water procedures in the bathroom or shower. Before starting construction work, it is advisable to strengthen the structure of the balcony with supports, and then take care of the insulation of the room from the inside and outside. It is better that the sauna is adjacent to the walls of the building, and not at least one side facing the street. After all, if the heat loss is too high, then the room will not be able to warm up to the required temperatures.

The walls of the steam room are made "deaf", and double-glazed windows are installed in the "dressing room" (the glazed part of the balcony). Do not forget to provide a place for ventilation. Be sure to equip the steam room with a plug-type ventilation hole. After each bath procedure, ventilate the room well to get rid of excess moisture, or do it while washing, if there is a need to lower the temperature in the steam room.

A minimum of 2 people are required to install the sauna and the following building materials:

• insulation (mineral wool around the perimeter of the entire room);
• bars along the height of the balcony;
• waterproofing membrane;
• asbestos cardboard;
• folgizol;
• cable;

• lining;
• pipe;
• Styrofoam;
• boards;
• metal sleeve;
• auxiliary tools.

Along with reliable plastic windows, which will help to keep the temperature in the "dressing room" as best as possible, additional insulation and insulation of the steam room will be required. To insulate the ceiling of a room, such an insulating material as mineral wool is suitable. It is durable and completely safe to use. On the ceiling, beams are fixed about 35 cm from each other and mineral wool is placed in the space between them, and then foil-insol is fixed.

Before processing the walls, you need to install the wiring from the electricity meter to the sauna. It is worth using a special heat-resistant cable. To save the area of ​​the balcony outside, it should be insulated with foam. Inside, beams of 50x50 mm are placed vertically at a distance of about half a meter. The space between them is filled with mineral wool for insulation. Then the walls are covered with foil insulation, onto which the slats are subsequently nailed. At the end, this structure is sheathed with clapboard or other wood material. Perfect for finishing boards with a shrinkage of less than 10%.

Before insulating the floor, keep in mind that the floor structure itself must be mounted with a slope towards the street so that condensation and moisture do not accumulate inside the room and do not create problems for you and your neighbors. Logs 30 cm apart are stuffed onto the floor and filled with mineral wool. The floor is first covered with waterproofing and then boards. And in the steam room, the floor is made at least 10 cm higher than in the rest of the room in order to provide an additional outflow of liquid.

The main heating element in the steam room of a sauna is an electric heater or a factory stove. If you choose an electric fireplace, an infrared burner will heat the room. The container for stones on top not only helps to quickly warm up the room, but also gives off steam. By the way, the total weight of the stones should not exceed 15 kg - this is quite enough to warm up the steam room. The stove is connected through its own RCD on a 25A machine to a separate outlet.

Choose heating elements that are adapted to the sauna conditions and protected against the ingress of condensation. On these ovens, the terminals are usually located at the back and protected from moisture. In addition, it is desirable for the stove to have a non-combustible grate and a special tray for water. For safety reasons, the surfaces around the stove should be finished with asbestos cardboard, which has a high heat resistance.

When installing the steam room, pay special attention to where the electrical wiring will pass. From the switchboard, it is worth laying a cable with a safety switch. But the sockets and distributors inside the sauna should be abandoned for safety reasons. For lighting in the steam room, closed point-type lamps are used, for example, IP54 class devices with protection against water.

Read the instructions for the luminaire - the operating temperature must be at least 120 C. To prevent the light from hitting the eyes and not interfering with the seated person, mount the lamps in the corner on the back wall.In stores you can find all kinds of wood lampshades - they fit perfectly into the design of the sauna room.

As a material for finishing the steam room, wood from larch, linden, poplar or aspen is best suited. It is better to avoid the use of excessively resinous species, as resin can be released from the wood at particularly high temperatures and create an overly strong odor.

Depending on which type of sauna you choose (corner or wall-mounted), it is important to rationally plan the location of the seats and the stove. A compact steam room on the balcony is usually designed for 2 people, and the shelf will be small - the width of the balcony. For the construction of 2 tiers, the bars are attached to the floor and between themselves, and then seating places are created with a minimum distance between them - 50 cm.

After fixing, all surfaces are sanded and covered with a solution against swelling from moisture and drying from excessively high temperatures. Steam room doors can be made of wood or heat-resistant glass. In order to save space, the doors must necessarily open outward. And you should not use a lock on the door, because if a person becomes ill in the sauna, access to it should be open. And one more important nuance: be sure to cover all the screws in the steam room with wooden plugs. This will help you avoid possible burns from hot metal.

At the end of construction work, it is worthwhile to decorate the steam room and the "dressing room" in a beautiful and practical way. Clothes hangers can be made by hand. Purchase a special thermometer to monitor the thermal conditions inside the steam room. Please note that in the sauna you should only use decorative elements made of wood or other natural heat-resistant materials.

For a long time, balconies and loggias have ceased to be exclusively a place for a smoke break, a storage room for preparations for the winter and a storage of unnecessary things. More and more, modern people are trying to use this space in an apartment with benefit, making such functional premises from balconies as a kitchen, a room or even a sauna. Someone "bath" on the balcony will seem an impossible task. But this is not at all the case, especially since most Russians live in small apartments and they simply do not have the opportunity to take a steam bath.

Surely you will not regret if you choose the option of a sauna on the loggia, because such a procedure will help not only to relax, but also to improve health, since the steam removes toxins from our body. Having spent not so much time and money, you can fulfill your dream, and then you will not need to envy the owners of private houses. How pleasant it can be to relax after a long working week, “recharge the batteries” and just have a pleasant time with family and friends in your own sauna.

For an overview of the sauna on the balcony, see the following video.