Established traditions, the health benefits of bath procedures, the method of spending leisure time - this is just a small list of arguments in favor of your own bath. However, someone may have a question: is it necessary to insulate it, since you have to heat it irregularly, once a week?
The answer is obvious, since when arranging this building, homeowners often face the problem of slow heating and rapid cooling of bath compartments. To figure out how to insulate brick bath inside, you need to know the parameters of the building material from which the walls are made. For thermal insulation, it is recommended to insulate the baths brick partitions, ceiling and floor inside and outside the building.
Brickwork with insulation inside
Features of thermal insulation
If we compare brick with other materials from which walls are mounted, for example, wood or foam concrete, then, of course, brick walls are more thermally conductive. Therefore, you need to know how to properly insulate a steam room in a brick bathhouse. The main layer is made of heat-insulating boards, and the additional layer is made of roll material, coated with a foil layer. This thermal protection perfectly reflects infrared radiation and protects the insulation from moisture evaporation.
To insulate and waterproof a brick bathhouse, you need to start doing this already during the construction of wall structures. They absorb moisture well, therefore, the walls should not come into contact with the ground, for which the base is protected with roofing felt.
The procedure for insulating the partitions of the bath compartment is practically no different from the thermal insulation of other rooms.
But there are still some features:
- Before thermal insulation of walls, windows are insulated first. Why use sealant to fill all the voids between window block and wall.
- The insulating material is fixed either using special glue or using umbrella dowels. Metal fastening material in these buildings it is allowed to be used, but on the condition that it cannot be contacted.
- When uneven surface, it will be necessary to first level them by plastering or applying drywall. To make sure that the wall is defective, it is enough to pull the fishing line and if the difference is greater than the thickness of the insulation, then leveling the structures is necessary.
Brick is a special material that cannot be stored for a long time without proper insulation. high temperature, so you need to correctly, following all the recommendations, insulate the steam room in a brick bathhouse. So that after installing thermal insulation in the steam room, the temperature can quickly rise, and long time stay warm.
Thermal insulation diagram Materials and tools
Now there is a large selection of insulation materials on the market and we must remember that bath procedures will bring a healing effect only if natural products are used inside the bath. In this case, the following requirements are put forward for thermal insulation products:
- Environmental friendliness of insulation. At elevated temperatures and high humidity, insulation materials can emit toxic substances. Therefore, before insulating the bathhouse, this indicator must be taken very carefully;
- Hydroscopicity. The insulation should not get wet during operation;
- Thermal conductivity. The lower the coefficient of this material, the less heat this product transmits through itself over a certain period of time;
- Biological inertia. There should be no impact of harmful impurities on the human body;
- Fire safety;
- Ability to maintain its shape;
- Budget cost and easy installation.
Comparison of insulation materials according to different parameters To understand which insulation is best for a bathhouse, you need to know their parameters. Let's take a closer look.
Organic insulation
For a long time, this material has been used to preserve heat in Russian baths. The indisputable advantage of this insulation is its naturalness and accessibility. But there are also many disadvantages:
- Fire hazard;
- High hygroscopicity;
- Difficult to use;
- Susceptibility to rodents.
In this regard, the use of organic insulation fades into oblivion and is used very rarely.
Thermal insulation materials made of semi-organic materials
In these natural products, synthetic or adhesive compounds are used during manufacturing.
These include:
- Reed slabs;
- Peat slabs.
Such insulating materials can be used for insulating the outside of a bathhouse with additional protection from precipitation, but they cannot be used from the inside on the walls of steam rooms.
Organic insulation Synthetic insulation
These products are manufactured under industrial conditions and are divided into two types:
- Polymers. Among them, polystyrene foam and polystyrene foam stand out.
- Polyurethane foam.
It is impossible to insulate a bathhouse inside, especially in a steam room, with such material, since polystyrene foam emits a harmful substance at high temperatures - styrene. However, this is an ideal option for thermal insulation of a building on the outside.
Penoizol. This is a foil insulating material used in the steam compartment. It is an exception from a number of polymer materials due to its reflective properties.
Foil insulation Mineral wool. Basalt wool and glass wool belong to this group. Their advantage is fire safety and resistance to thermal insulation. The disadvantages include high hygroscopicity, which determines the use of films.
Basalt wool is an environmentally friendly material that is recommended for use in steam rooms and saunas. Having chosen the appropriate insulation, you need to purchase related materials, as well as prepare the tools.
On a note! For cladding, it is advisable to use boards made of alder or linden. Wood of such species is impervious to water and neutral to high temperatures.
If you plan to do concrete screed for the floor, the list of materials will increase to include the following products:
- Mesh for reinforcement;
- Composition for pouring screed (sand, water, cement);
- Damper tape;
- Lighthouses.
For the external filling of the ceiling you will need expanded clay and powder polyurethane.
Tool
From the tool you need to prepare:
- A circular saw;
- Hammer;
- Level;
- Hacksaw;
- Fasteners (nails, screws).
Materials and tools for insulation When installing the facing material, the heads of nails and screws must be deepened inside the boards to avoid burns from accidental contact during bath procedures.
External and internal thermal insulation
Before you start insulating the inside of a brick bathhouse with your own hands, you need to prepare the surfaces: seal the cracks, wooden crafts coat with antiseptic.
Then follow the steps step by step:
- Step #1. Cut the beams and make a sheathing with a pitch slightly smaller than the width of the insulation, and then attach it to the brick wall, after drilling holes with a hammer drill (the cross-section of the beam must correspond to the thickness of the insulation).
- Step #2. Place the slabs in the prepared cells.
- Step #3. Apply a vapor barrier film on top. It needs to be laid starting 5 cm on each side. As a rule, a foil covering is used in the steam room. The waterproofing sheet at the joints must be sealed with aluminum tape for better tightness. And also seal the joints between the timber and the insulation, while covering at least 5 cm from the insulation side.
- Step #4. For better preservation vapor barrier and creating a ventilation gap, a frame of 20 mm thick slats under the lining is mounted on top of it. It is recommended to do it with vertical arrangement strips so that in the future condensate can flow freely between the facing and vapor barrier materials.
- Step #5. Cover with clapboard or simple planed boards (they are attached to the sheathing in a horizontal position). The sheathing material must be attached in such a way as not to damage the vapor barrier layer.
Insulation brick bath Attention! The procedure for sealing joints between vapor barrier layers and connections between insulation and timber is very important - the penetration of moisture into the insulation depends on it.
Floor insulation
The floors in the bathhouse are made of wood or concrete. The technology for applying insulation does not differ greatly depending on the flooring material.
The only thing is that when constructing a concrete structure, you need to pour an increased layer of expanded clay. At the same time, its thickness is usually compared with the width of the walls, and a layer approximately twice as thick is poured.
If (in the case of strip foundation), then you need to do the following:
- Treat the walls with a waterproofing preparation;
- Pour sand 10 cm thick, pour it with water and compact it;
- Cover this layer with roofing felt with an overlap of 15 cm on the walls.
And then fill in the expanded clay.
Scheme of floor insulation in a brick bath Ceiling insulation
The application of a thermal insulation layer on the ceiling is essentially the same as on the walls. You just need to keep some things in mind when doing this. Since hot air tends upward, the layer of thermal insulation becomes thicker than on the walls. This is usually achieved by pouring on top ceiling covering, and a foil sheet and facing material are laid inside.
Insulation of a bathhouse from the outside
A brick bathhouse must be insulated, since this wall material has high thermal conductivity. In this regard, it takes a long time to warm up a room without external insulation, which will result in increased fuel consumption.
The scheme for applying the insulating layer is standard:
- Lathing;
- Insulation;
- Facing.
Materials for external thermal insulation can be moss, reed mats, glass wool, polystyrene foam, polystyrene foam, foam glass and other organic and synthetic insulation materials.
Various are used for cladding Decoration Materials or siding. You can also cover the outside of the bathhouse with plaster if foam boards were used as an insulating layer. Here at the top of this material a mesh is applied, primed and then the walls are plastered.
External brick wall insulation scheme Basic mistakes
In the steam room, the temperature reaches up to 95 degrees, and it must be maintained this way for a long time - this is the purpose of the Russian bath. But sometimes during the construction and improvement of this structure mistakes are made that can radically affect the proper functioning of the bathhouse.
Here are the most common of them:
Mistake #1. When constructing brick walls, the seam joints are not completely sealed and, as a result, a powerful cold bridge is created from all the unfilled seams of the wall. Sometimes it almost completely negates the insulation of the walls.
Mistake #2. The facing boards are placed directly onto the insulation sheathing. This, firstly, violates the integrity of the vapor barrier layer. Secondly, there is no guaranteed gap between the skin and the reflective sheet. In both cases, this threatens the penetration of moisture, wetting of the insulation and the appearance of mold on the sheathing.
Mistake #3. Facing material attached with nails or screws with non-deep heads; contact with them can result in burns.
If, when insulating a brick bathhouse, you follow all the technology of this process and avoid the listed mistakes, then the procedures carried out in the bathhouse will be truly healthy and strengthen your body.
As a rule, bathhouses rarely have a usable underground, so the floors are often installed directly on the ground with a layer of insulation between the finished floor and the base.
Expanded clay, which has good thermal performance and high mechanical strength, can be used as insulation. A floor poured over such insulation will last for many years without deformation.
Also, extruded polystyrene foam can be chosen as insulation, reliably protected by layers of screed and finishing coating from the high temperature inside the steam room.
Insulation of the steam room ceiling
You should also pay attention to insulating the ceiling of the steam room so that hot air is stored indoors for as long as possible.
In one of the publications we already touched on the issue of how to properly insulate a ceiling. It is also advisable to choose mineral wool rolls or slab materials. Filling the floor with expanded clay is also quite widely practiced.
A brick bathhouse is superior to a wooden one in that the walls do not require special waterproofing and fire protection. Brick is absolutely not afraid of fire, and it absorbs little moisture. But it has a “weak point” - high thermal conductivity, which interferes with bath rooms heat up quickly and retain as much heat as possible. Insulating a brick bathhouse helps to increase the thermal insulation properties of the steam room and other rooms. Without it, the heating time of the building increases by about 3 times, and the cooling rate is high. Consider how to insulate a brick bath and all of it structural elements using safe materials.
A private bathhouse is used periodically, so there is no point in maintaining a constant positive temperature inside. True, a cold brick will freeze through and through in winter, and if you start heating, then most of heat will go to heat it up. And what is the point of heating the stone? If you insulate the walls from the outside, then the entire brick will be inside the pie, covered only with clapboard. And you have to spend money on heating it, whether you like it or not.
With internal insulation, the brick box will remain outside the pie, and it will be insulated by a layer of insulation. In this case, your costs for heating the premises will be reduced, because the insulation will not allow hot air to pass out and, if installed correctly, will release most of it back into the premises.
Internal insulation of the walls of the bath
Consider options for how to insulate a brick bath from the inside.
Option 1. Create a second wall
Most often, second walls are erected inside a brick box. The material is a bar-ten, which in itself warm material and when heated does not emit harmful components.
Mount the cake as follows:
- A crate is stuffed onto the brick.
- A waterproofing film is fixed along the sheathing.
- Installation of timber walls.
- The second sheathing is filled over them.
- Cover the beam with fiberglass, fixing it to the sheathing with a stapler. The fiberglass fabric is not stretched between the beams of the sheathing, but an overlap is made so that the insulation can be easily placed later.
- Insulation boards are inserted into the spans between the sheathing.
- To protect the heat insulator from internal steam, the top is covered with foil or a vapor barrier film.
- The last thing to fill is the lining.
The foil is attached to the sheathing construction stapler without pulling tightly
Regardless of the type of insulation, its thickness must be at least 10 cm. harmful substances. For this, basalt or fiberglass heaters are optimally suited, which are not afraid of moisture. If there is a desire to close the timber with polystyrene foam materials, then it is better to choose penoplex. It has a higher resistance to high temperatures than foam, and in the event of a fire, this insulation tends to self-extinguish. But don’t insulate a steam room in a brick bathhouse with polystyrene. With strong heating (over 100 degrees), they will begin to char and release toxins. For the steam room you should use only basalt materials.
Option 2. Double layer of insulation
Considering options for how to insulate a brick bath, you can focus on creating a double layer of insulation. Its difference from the 1st is that instead of timber walls, an additional 10-centimeter insulation is laid in the crate.
The wall pie will look like this:
- Brick.
- Waterproofing.
- Lathing.
- Insulation.
- Waterproofing.
- Second sheathing.
- Fiberglass.
- Insulation.
- Vapor barrier.
- Lining.
Pie thickness internal insulation will be about 22 cm.
When selecting insulation, line the first layer (closest to the brick) with extruded polystyrene foam. It is not afraid of moisture, so external vapors that get through the brick are not dangerous for it. Choose the second, inner layer of insulation taking into account the room in which you will lay it. In all rooms, except the steam room, it is worth covering with foil foam. This foam material is covered on one side with a thin layer of foil, which will both reflect IR rays and act as a barrier to internal vapors.
For the steam room, it is better to choose basalt insulation, and cover it with special foil for baths on top. This way you will avoid the release of harmful substances when the room is very hot. The joints in foil insulation and foil are sealed with special aluminum tape.
Foundation insulation
A powerful conductor of cold in a bathhouse is the foundation, because concrete materials are chosen for it, which are not characterized thermal insulation characteristics. Even before construction brick walls The upper part of the foundation is waterproofed with roofing felt or roofing felt to prevent moisture from the soil from entering the brick. But this is not enough. It is necessary to carry out external insulation of the entire surface of the base walls in order to increase the level of heat conservation of the floors and to prevent movement and shrinkage of the foundation. On Russian lands, many soils are heaving, i.e. In winter, when freezing, they expand their volume. As a result, the pressure on the foundation increases, and this leads to distortions and cracks in the foundation. If you lay a layer of insulation between the soil and the walls, it will soften the pressure and make the structure stable.
For insulation, it is better to choose from two insulation options: penoplex or sprayed polyurethane foam. In fact, both materials have approximately equal specifications:
- are not afraid of ground movements;
- have increased compressive strength;
- waterproof;
- high-level heat insulators.
You will have to choose based on your construction skills and financial situation. So, spraying with polyurethane foam will cost significantly more than penoplex, but craftsmen will do it for you in a day. In this case, the main advantage of such insulation will be a continuous durable coating in which there are no joints. Those. moisture and frost will not be able to find loopholes to penetrate deeper foundation slab.
Penoplex is produced in slabs, and they are fixed to the foundation walls with special mastic or adhesive composition. Any owner who has an understanding of construction can handle this. But it won’t be possible to install insulation in a day. This is a slow process, because the slabs must be tightly joined, all seams must be sealed, and the corners must be blown out polyurethane foam.
Thermal insulation of floors
The floors in the bathhouse have to withstand both high humidity and the temperature difference between the ground and the rooms. Therefore, before installation concrete slabs The entire subfloor should be covered with expanded clay or slag. Moreover, the layer of insulation pad is calculated based on the thickness of the walls. If the walls are 20 cm, then expanded clay should be 40 cm. The subfloor is not used in the baths, so fill the entire internal space of the foundation with insulation. This will provide additional dryness to the concrete or joists.
How to insulate a concrete floor
- If the floors are concrete, then the insulation of the brick bath from the inside begins with the waterproofing of the floor slabs. They are coated with water-repellent mastics (for example, rubber), and a rolled waterproofing agent is laid on top - roofing material or a special film.
- Penoplex or foam plastic is laid on top of the waterproofing.
- It is reinforced with a metal mesh on top and filled with a layer of concrete.
- Final stage– covering with floor tiles.
Expanded clay cushion improves the quality of thermal insulation of floors in a bathhouse, regardless of the wall material
Wood floor insulation technology
It should be borne in mind that wooden floors are not very suitable for baths. a good option, because wood is afraid high humidity. But if you have just such a floor in mind, then first of all take care of the quality of ventilation in the underground. Without it, logs and beams will instantly rot.
- The expanded clay pillow, which was mentioned earlier, must be created in this case as well.
- Beams and logs treated with antiseptics are laid on top.
- They are covered with a vapor-proof film.
- Lay subfloors from edged boards.
- Styrofoam is laid.
- Cover the insulation with a waterproofing film.
- Finished wooden floors are laid.
Insulated ceiling: not afraid of heat and steam
If we consider how to comprehensively insulate a brick bathhouse, then we definitely need to pay attention to the ceilings. Most of the hot air escapes through them, so a blockade is simply necessary here. But the climate of the bath, especially in the steam room, is characterized by very high temperatures in the upper part of the structure, because both the heat and the vapors, according to the laws of physics, rush to the ceiling. This means its design must be resistant to moisture and hot air. We immediately exclude polystyrene foam materials, because in such heat they will harm human health.
If you study the insulation of a brick bath from the inside on the video, then most experts recommend insulating the ceiling with mineral wool, but with mandatory double-sided waterproofing. Also a good option is to lay fiberglass on the ceiling, two clay-sand layers (one with sawdust, the second with vermiculite) and on top of all this - foam. But again, for a steam room it is better to take not polystyrene foam, but foil-coated fiberglass.
Fiberglass is laid with foil inside the steam room so that it repels maximum amount heat and steam
With proper insulation of a brick bath, you will significantly speed up its warming up and reduce the cost of maintaining the desired temperature during steaming.
Insulating a brick bathhouse from the inside will not solve all the issues regarding heat preservation. This is a complex work that involves insulating all planes.
After all, heat leaves the room in large volumes through the ceiling, and cold is also perfectly drawn through the floor. Therefore, today we will consider the question of how to insulate a brick bathhouse most optimally and efficiently.
Also in the video in this article you can watch the entire process of doing the work and understand what and how to do.
We carry out insulation
Let’s now look at how to insulate a brick bath in more detail. Everything in this matter can be done with your own hands and without outside help.
Then the price of the work will be significantly lower, and you won’t have to worry about the quality. Below are instructions on the rules for performing this work.
Key Stages
The insulation of a brick bathhouse from the inside and outside is done according to a certain scheme and has already been worked out and time-tested. First of all, you should minimize heat losses bathhouse premises.
So:
- Particular attention should be paid to insulating the steam room, the air temperature in which depends only on your personal preferences. The average temperature in this room varies from 60 to 130 degrees. As for the Russian bath, in which heat is “caught up” with hot steam at high level humidity in the bathhouse, then here you can limit the temperature to 60-90 degrees.
- The temperature in the bathhouse should be maintained as high as possible for as long as possible. Maintaining the required temperature in conditions of large heat losses will require a huge amount of fuel and effort from you, which can ruin your vacation.
- Moreover, due to heat losses, the service life of the bath itself is significantly reduced. Excessively prolonged exposure to high humidity conditions can cause premature rotting. wooden elements. This also leads to a reduction in the service life of the heaters, and certain models of stoves are not able to fully function in such baths.
- Reduced service life also applies to brick kilns. This is due to the imbalance resulting from big difference between heat transfer and heat losses in the bathhouse. If the amount of heat that leaves the bathhouse is significantly greater than the heat output of the stove, then the stove will not cope with heating such a room. The result of this will be the absence comfortable conditions for a healing holiday.
- Brick belongs to the category of good thermal insulation materials. But the builder and owner of the bathhouse is faced with a completely different task, which is to ensure extremely effective and rapid heating of the bathhouse, as well as to achieve the longest heat retention in the bathhouse, allowing the most comfortable and economical use of this room.
How and with what to make thermal insulation
Insulation of the walls of a brick bathhouse from the inside is done first. This should be done immediately after finishing the construction of walls and installing doors and windows.
Every qualified builder should know how to properly insulate a brick bathhouse, because the temperature in the premises depends on the quality of this work.
Attention: To ensure better heat retention, multi-layer thermal insulation is used. As a rule, slab materials are used as the first layer, on which rolled thermal insulation material with a foil coating is laid.
The insulation technology itself does not present any difficulties. The main difficulty is choosing quality material. To make your search easier, you need to know what basic requirements a good insulation product must meet.
This:
- Resistant to sudden temperature changes.
- Environmental friendliness. To insulate inner part For brick baths, you should use only those insulating materials that will not emit substances that have a bad effect on health.
All these requirements are met by a material such as mineral basalt wool, which can be used to efficiently insulate wooden, brick and frame buildings.
Attention: The only significant drawback of cotton wool is its increased ability to absorb moisture. To insulate the floor and ceiling, you can use expanded clay or wood shavings.
External thermal insulation can be done using polystyrene foam, which has many undeniable advantages, including:
- Simplicity and ease of use.
- High thermal insulation properties.
- Excellent slab geometry.
- Excellent sound insulation ability.
Attention: However, it should be borne in mind that polystyrene foam can only be used for external insulation of brick buildings. For internal works It is recommended to choose mineral wool slabs.
Insulation of walls from the inside
The insulation of a brick bath is carried out during the installation process. Brick walls absorb moisture well, so they should not come into contact with the ground. To do this, the base is treated with a special mastic or roofing felt.
The process of thermal insulation of bathhouse walls is practically no different from the insulation of other rooms. But there are still certain features.
So:
- Before you begin thermal insulation of walls, you need to insulate plastic windows. Using polyurethane foam, you need to eliminate all the gaps formed between the window and the wall.
- Suspensions and metal profiles have good heat-conducting properties, so they cannot be used for insulation.
- Fastening the insulation to the brickwork is carried out using two methods: using special glue or dowel umbrellas.
- Also, if the wall is uneven, then you will have to do lathing. To check this, simply take the fishing line and stretch it along the diagonals of the plane. If the difference is large, then you need to install a sheathing.
- The transverse lathing is made according to the width of the insulation, but the distance should not exceed one meter.
- A vapor barrier material, which can be used as foil paper, is laid on the main layer of insulation.
How to perform high-quality floor insulation
The initial stage of thermal insulation of a bathhouse should be insulation of the floor. It should be understood that the floor in the bathhouse can be either solid or with well-designed ventilation.
The process of insulating a solid floor in a brick bathhouse consists of several important stages.
- First of all, it is necessary to treat the base with antiseptic agents.
- After this, a layer of insulation is laid on the treated surface.
- Waterproofing material is laid on top of the insulation.
- Finally, the floor is laid out using 40 mm tongue and groove boards.
If a brick building has a ventilated base, then the stages undergo slight changes.
- First, the base is covered with a layer of sand.
- Foam slabs are laid on top of the sand layer.
- Then a mixture consisting of cement, sand and foam chips is laid.
- The next layer will be a mixture of vermiculite, cement and sand.
- Rolled roofing felt is laid on top of these layers.
- At the next stage, the reinforcement mesh is laid.
- All this is filled with a solution of crushed stone and concrete.
- Finally, a ventilated plank floor is installed.
How to make proper ceiling insulation
Warm air rushes upward, so increased attention should be paid to insulating the ceiling. For high-quality and dense insulation, it is necessary to choose reliable insulation.
For greater reliability, it is advisable to put vapor barrier foil on the side of the steam room. To eliminate the smallest holes, it is advisable to carefully glue it with aluminum tape. Foam boards are laid on top of the foil, the joints between which are treated with polyurethane foam.
- There should be no large windows or high doors in the bathhouse.
- In order for the boiler installed in the bathhouse to maintain the desired water temperature longer, it must be insulated with foil plates.
- To ensure high-quality thermal insulation of a brick sauna steam room, you should choose only natural materials.
- The gaps formed between the plates are sealed with polyurethane foam.
- It is advisable to carry out thermal insulation of a brick bath during the construction of the building.
How to carry out external thermal insulation of walls
Now we need to insulate the brick bathhouse from the outside. For carrying out outdoor thermal insulation works The same non-flammable mineral wool insulation is used, which retains heat well and has good soundproofing properties.
When using roll insulation, it must be firmly fixed to the external walls building. This can be done using wooden planks or slats.
Attention: When installing external insulation, you must pay attention to Special attention at the connection of the heater. After all, when deformed, it loses its properties and special attention must be paid to this.
If as thermal insulation material If mats based on mineral wool are used, you need to follow a slightly different sequence of work:
- First on outer surface the walls are secured with a lath made of corners and a metal profile;
- Each cell of the sheathing is filled with heat-insulating material;
- The joints formed between the mats are glued using construction tape;
- The entire structure is covered with a layer of waterproofing.
At the final stage, the walls are sheathed with any finishing material.
To insulate a brick bath, you can use foam sheets. In this case, before starting work brickwork cleansed of all contaminants.
- All flaws present there, such as deep seams and brick chips, are removed from the surface of the wall.
- Sheets of foam plastic are glued to the plastered wall using special glue.
- After the glue has completely dried, the sheets are secured with dowels. Special dowels with wide heads are screwed into five points on each sheet of foam plastic.
- The joints formed between sheets of heat-insulating material must be carefully coated with glue.
- Placed on top of the foam and secured reinforcement mesh. The resulting surface is treated twice with plaster.
Now you know how to insulate a brick bathhouse. Give preference when purchasing materials to trusted brands. You should not buy cheap Chinese products. It often emits a harmful odor when heated.
The most reliable and durable material for building a bathhouse is brick. Such a building will last for decades, requiring virtually no repairs. After all, brick walls will not suffer from the invasion of bark beetles, will not rot, and will not increase in size due to excessive humidity like a wooden bathhouse. In addition, they do not require additional cladding, which means you can save on both materials and the work itself. Also, such a building is safer, because the brick itself is fireproof. But if you want so that such a structure retains heat well— it’s worth thinking about how to insulate a brick bathhouse. After all, a building of this type does not retain heat very well.
And so, it would seem that such a process is quite simple and uncomplicated, but it was not so: after all, there are many features that you need to know about in order not to get into trouble.
At the stage when the brick walls have already been built, and the windows and doors are well installed, you can begin finishing the interior of the room itself. Insulation is necessary so that the high temperature does not decrease in the building for as long as possible. This is necessary not only for the steam room itself, but also for other rooms.
If the entire building is well insulated and protected from excess moisture, it will last longer.
The steam room is the most important part of the sauna, so insulating the steam room is very important.
To keep the heat in the brick walls of the bathhouse longer, internal, multi-layer thermal insulation is usually carried out. The insulation of a steam room in a brick bath is done with thick slabs. Then they resort to more subtle roll insulation, for example, with foil. Because they are great reflect infrared waves, and also protect the thermal insulation itself well from excess moisture, what is not less important.
The right materials for insulating a brick bath
Actually, insulation of walls in a brick bathhouse is best done with the following insulation materials:
| Name | Characteristic |
|---|---|
| Mineral wool | It will make the thermal insulation of the bathhouse better if used outside. Attention: under no circumstances should you use it to insulate walls from the inside - when heated, it can release harmful substances. |
| Foil and foil materials | Excellent insulation. Foil is often used for thermal insulation of brick walls. Thanks to the foil, the temperature inside the bath becomes higher and the steam becomes heavier. |
| Styrofoam | A fire hazardous material that, when heated, releases substances harmful to human health. It is dangerous to use for thermal insulation of a steam room. |
| Foam glass | Insulation in which they combined best qualities mineral wool and polystyrene foam. It does not need to be isolated from steam, it is lightweight, does not emit harmful substances when heated, and is not flammable. |
| Expanded polystyrene | It is worth using one of the layers for thermal insulation of the floor and ceiling. |
| Ecowool | One of the best materials for insulating a brick bathhouse from the inside - does not burn, is environmentally friendly, and does not conduct heat well. Ecowool is laid wet on vertical surfaces, and dry on horizontal surfaces. |
| Basalt wool | Ideal for insulating a steam room: it does not contain phenolic impregnation. |
The process of thermal insulation of a brick bath from the inside
Insulating a brick bathhouse from the inside and with your own hands is not so simple, but not very difficult either. It is very important to protect the building from heat leakage, so it is important to ensure that all stages of thermal insulation are carried out strictly in order. How to properly insulate a brick bathhouse from the inside? You should start with insulating the floor.
The correct way to insulate the floor
To equip a concrete floor you will need more than one layer, because at proper insulation baths, moisture should not get on the thermal insulators.
First you need to start leveling and compacting the soil. In case this is difficult to do due to large stones, the base is leveled with sand. It spreads further shut-off waterproofing, for example, ultra-thick cellophane, and the edges are wrapped on the walls. They should be much higher than the screed level itself. Then, before filling in the expanded clay, a cushion of at least twenty millimeters thick made of sand is poured. Despite the fact that according to the instructions you can lay this pillow under the cut-off, it is still better to do it on top - when dry, sand also acts as a thermal insulator, but not when it is wet. Then a layer of expanded clay is poured on top, its thickness is adjusted depending on the need.
Cut-off waterproofing is not required here. To fill the screed it is enough place the profiles for reference directly into the expanded clay. If desired, you can also install reinforcement under the beacons to secure the screed monolith.
It is very possible that you will install a drain in the floor. Be careful: when using, water should not get beyond the edges of the funnel, soaking the thermal water-electric insulation.
Wall insulation
Insulating the walls of a bathhouse from the inside with your own hands is actually not such a difficult task if you follow our instructions. You should start with the stripe of the sheathing for the wooden lining. Most often, the sheathing is mounted on consoles made of metal perforated hangers for plasterboard profiles.
But before you start installing the consoles, it wouldn’t hurt attach the hydrobarrier to the wall with glue or even double-sided tape. Then you need to place U-shaped brackets on it.
Mineral wool is threaded through these brackets - one of the best insulation materials. So, it covers the entire area of the wall, leaving no gaps or cracks. Alternatively, you can first attach wooden profiles for sheathing. Then fill the space between them with mineral wool, occasionally nailing it to the beams with a stapler. As for the thickness of the insulation, it all depends on required power thermal insulation.
When the mineral wool is laid, it is covered with foil polystyrene foam, along with the sheathing. Experts advise fixing expanded polystyrene with glazing beads so as not to make unnecessary holes in the foil.
Wooden eurolining is installed directly on the foil using clamps and self-tapping screws.
We insulate the ceiling - we save heat flow
When insulating a brick bathhouse from the inside, in addition to the walls and floor, it is important not to forget about the ceiling. For its thermal insulation, similar materials are used as for the walls. Even the process of installing thermal and waterproofing is identical.
Useful tips from the experts:
- in order to avoid heat loss, the gaps between windows and walls are sealed with polyurethane foam;
- avoid metal profiles in work - they conduct thermal energy;
- before starting work, it is better to treat the walls with a special primer;
- if you insulate the boiler with foil plates, it will retain the high water temperature longer;
- to secure well mineral wool on the ceiling, it is best to use a nylon thread by securing it between the sheathing profiles;
- Availability large windows and doors in the bathhouse - undesirable.
For a little more information on how to insulate a brick bathhouse, see the video below:
