How to insulate bath floors. How to properly insulate the floor in the bath: the choice of material, calculation, work technology

One of the problems that can upset the owners of a brand new steam room may be the floor is too cold in the room. If they collected a bath box in the summer, they could also insulate the floor in the bath, as they say, according to the season or according to the standard adopted for ordinary housing on a light foundation. With the advent of winter, thermal insulation is clearly not enough, and in the steam room, not to mention the dressing room and dressing room, it becomes chilly even with a properly working stove.

Warming the bath floor with mineral wool will be the cheapest

Why is the floor in the bath cold

It is clear that the boards on the floor in the bathhouse should not be overheated, but it is even worse if at a height of 10-20 cm from the surface the air already seems cold, and even icy in severe frost.

There are few reasons for such cooling of the lower tier, mainly these are mistakes made when planning the design and power of floor insulation in the bath:

• Alteration of the summer steam room - a temporary hut into a full-fledged bathhouse, without thermal insulation of the foundation and soil under the floor;
• Incorrect position of the stove. If the distance from the boards or tiles to the stove blower is more than 25 cm, and plus everything, a screen is installed, then even the insulated floor in the bath will simply not have time to warm up in a few hours of visiting the steam room;
• The erroneous device of the drain system, or worse, the equipment of the drainage pit under the bathhouse.

Important! The main reason is still the illiterate arrangement of thermal insulation. The method of warming the floors of the bath differs from the installation of warm walls and ceilings.

Another factor that prevents you from properly performing floor insulation in the bath with your own hands can be considered elementary illiteracy or the desire to save on building materials. For example, when planning floor insulation for different bath rooms, different materials and techniques are used. You can’t do everything one size fits all, if in the steam room it is necessary to lay reflective thermal insulation under the subfloor, then it’s pointless to do this for a concrete base, just a waste of money. It will not be a mistake to make the floor as hot as in the steam room, but if it is the other way around, it will be impossible to heat the steam room even in 4-5 hours.

Insulation of the bath floor without vapor barrier is wasted effort and money

Cold floor in the bath: how to fix it

Even if the bath room has a weak and cold floor, no one will rebuild the building, and there is no particular need for this. But it is necessary to correct the insulation, waterproofing of the foundation and thermal insulation of the steam room, washing department and rest room.

Important! There are few options for keeping warm, but each of them requires a very careful, balanced approach. In addition to warming the bath floor, it is necessary to ensure normal ventilation of the space, otherwise the underground will not only be cold, but also wet due to condensation, and, as a result, infect the bath room with a sick atmosphere.

What can be done:

• In the rest room and washing department of the bath, remove the floors, lay insulation and pour concrete screed. A clean floor is laid on top. Due to the air gap and the insulated concrete base, heat loss will decrease by 3-4 times;
• For small steam rooms, the problem can be solved by laying a heat-insulating layer and changing the air movement pattern between the subfloor and front floor. A 10 kW stove of thermal power, with the correct arrangement of air channels, heats the floor in the dressing room and in the sink even faster than the walls;
• Tiny bathhouses, with an area of ​​​​4-7 m 2, can simply be equipped with a “warm floor” water heating system. For most winter country steam rooms today this is the most optimal option for warming.

A hot water tank installed on the stove will provide not only floor heating, plus everything, it becomes possible to regulate the temperature depending on the weather and frost. And most importantly, upon completion of the bath procedures, the heat stored in the water container will be enough to dry the floor and drain even when the stove is extinguished.

You can heat the floor of the bath from the stove

Of course, all of the above activities make sense only with the correct primary insulation of all floor levels in the bath, otherwise the effect of heating the wooden base will be reduced to zero.

How not to do floor insulation

Separately, mention should be made of the methods by which it is impossible to insulate the base of the bath floor. First, you cannot rely only on the air gap between the wooden flooring from the boards and the ground. If the basement of the bathhouse is made without waterproofing, in other words, it remains under the lags open ground or a dug hole to collect water, then it will not be possible to insulate the floor. Humid air conducts heat very well, so the soil must be covered, an outlet sewer and an additional layer of heat-insulating material must be installed.

Insulation from cut foam packaging is unlikely to save the floor of the bath

Secondly, it is impossible to cover the outer parts of the foundation and walls with soil. Sometimes this is done to close the outer layer of insulation in the bases of residential buildings, but the earth embankment itself leads to the accumulation of water and rotting of the lower crowns of the walls. For a bath, it is more profitable to insulate the floor inside the room, rather than deal with general heat loss.

Thirdly, you can not use electric heaters, no matter if they are film or based on a high resistance cable. This is a direct violation of safety rules, and the effectiveness of such a warm floor in a bath room is low.

What insulation for the floor in the bath is better

Of the entire list of heaters used in domestic construction, only some of the most resistant to high temperature and humidity can be used to insulate the lower tier of the bath:

• Extruded polystyrene foam or polystyrene;
• Bulk insulation based on granulated perlite or expanded clay;
• Multilayer polyethylene foam with a reflective aluminum layer;
• Mineral wool.

In addition to standard ways to insulate the floor, there are many folk methods of keeping warm, most of them are still used in practice for small country steam rooms and padded jackets.

The floor can be insulated with standard foam and fiber materials

Important! Folk methods are quite laborious, require patience and good knowledge of the characteristics of the preparation of insulation, therefore, if there is no exact information about what and how to lay the material, then it is better to use more understandable traditional methods and heat insulators.

Bulk insulation

Many builders do not like floor insulation in the bath with expanded clay or perlite for one simple reason. The process itself turns out to be quite dirty and dusty; upon completion of the work, the walls and the wooden floor have to be washed and dusted for a long time. Perlite is especially "dusty" in nature, it has to be laid in the floor in the form of an additive 3: 1 to the cement mortar.

Perlite is not cheap, but the insulation from the granules is ideal

Expanded clay itself tolerates well high temperatures, therefore, it retains its insulating qualities without degradation for decades. But burnt porous clay has one drawback - expanded clay, like a sponge, absorbs water vapor and odors.

If in the bath part of the moisture through cracks or through cracks in the logs gets into expanded clay, then the material will have to be changed, even prolonged heating will not restore heat-insulating qualities.

Of the advantages, one can name a simple technology, do-it-yourself floor insulation in a bath with expanded clay is considered the most affordable way of all existing ones. Expanded clay is ideal for a steam room and dressing room, but subject to good waterproofing and vapor barrier. The recommended layer thickness is up to 20 cm.

Mineral wool for the floor in the bath

Mineral fiber plates are used for insulation, basalt, gabbro-basalt or even slag processing products can be used, it is better not to use glass wool. Of the most popular brands, Rockwool or TechnoNIKOL are recommended.

The thickness of the thermal insulation layer for the steam room must be at least 15 cm, with the obligatory protection of the vapor barrier along the lower layer and the waterproofing along the upper one. Unlike expanded clay, thermal insulation with mineral fiber of the floor in the bath is possible only along wooden logs.

Foam materials

There is a certain prejudice in the use of expanded polystyrene and polyethylene foam in the insulation of the bath floor. Many owners of the bath, and experts too, believe that when the floor and walls are heated in the steam room, the appearance of polymer decomposition products is inevitable. In the case of walls and ceilings, this statement may have some basis in fact. Facing in the ceiling space can be heated up to 100 o C.

Insulation with polystyrene foam is the most durable

Another thing is the floor in the bath, it is always wet or even wet, the temperature rarely exceeds 50 ° C, so it is also possible to insulate the floor in the bath with polystyrene foam, but under the screed.

Advice! In cold climates, the floor in the bath can be additionally insulated using foil-wrapped polyethylene foam. One additional layer of thermal insulation can reduce losses through the floor by 20%.

How to properly insulate the floor in the bath

It is clear that the choice of insulation method fully depends on the design of the floor and foundation. For example, for a steam room installed on an uninsulated earthen base, moisture-absorbing insulation cannot be used. In this case, it will be necessary to make a screed and additional waterproofing of the base.

The scheme of warming the wooden floors of the bath on columnar supports

If the bath box is installed on piles, then the lower level of insulation is covered with a vapor barrier, and a waterproofing membrane is laid under the finishing floor, on top of the insulation. The same film acts as a water collector for the inlet funnel of the built-in sewage system.

Snipovskaya scheme of insulation for a bath on the ground

Insulation of the wooden floor in the bath

If it so happened that the bath box, including the floor, is on the ground, then the best option for warming would be to use EPS. Extruded polystyrene foam does not allow water vapor to pass through, so you can lay out and glue the sheets directly on the ground covered with plastic wrap. The next layer is laid from waterproofing, and then you can lay out the boards of the finishing floor. In the steam room, they are usually made removable to make cleaning and drying easier.

EPPS can be laid directly on the ground

It is customary to glue EPPS at the joints, therefore, if polyurethane glue is used and plates with a thickness of at least 50 mm are taken, then the bottom layer of the film can be completely abandoned. True, in this case, you will have to make a pillow of gravel and sand in order to protect the wooden floor and the entire bath building from ground moisture. If the room is planned for a steam room, then the wooden floor can be insulated with an additional layer of mineral plates.

Insulation on a sand and gravel pillow

The result is a very simple and dry floor, in which, apart from plank floorboards, there are no details, logs and beams made of wood, which means there is nothing to rot, there is no basis for the reproduction of the fungus.

Warming along the lags

In most cases, they try to raise the bath box on a foundation of piles or columnar supports in order to avoid rotting of the basement or the lower crowns of the walls. In this case, the floor is made on logs.

You can insulate the floor by laying EPS or foam plastic in the space between the wooden beams. A layer of waterproofing is preliminarily laid, then a heater and a vapor barrier membrane. The joints between the slabs and beams are blown with foam.

The second option involves the use of mineral wool slabs. In this case, there should be a ventilation gap between the wooden floor and the insulation surface, 10-15 cm high.

Thermal insulation on Rockwool with reflective foil

How to insulate a concrete floor in a bath

The easiest way to perform thermal insulation on the foundation is to use perlite concrete. Perlite moistened with water is added to the usual solution and not a large number of liquid soap. In this case, the mixture becomes fluid, and you can easily fill in insulation up to 12 cm thick.

A more complex, but at the same time better option for insulating a concrete floor in a bathhouse involves the use of an embedded insulating layer of XPS. A waterproofing film is laid on top of the laid polystyrene foam panels and beacons from a perforated profile are glued.

If the thickness of the screed is less than 40 mm, then a mesh of fiberglass reinforcement is preliminarily laid. It is clear that a concrete floor with insulation is just a rough basis; to ensure the necessary level of comfort in the bath, you will need to remember about the surface waterproofing and the sewer system.

Next, it remains to lay oak or larch beams and lay wooden floorboards. With such insulation, sanded boards are laid with a gap of 2-3 mm. The cracks do not interfere with walking in bath slippers and at the same time do not allow the wooden floorboards to swell and stand on end. In the process of cleaning, they are easy to remove, clean, dry and return to their place.

How to insulate the floor in the bath with your own hands: video

Oddly enough, but when arranging floor insulation in the steam room or other rooms of the bath, drainage ground water do not, these tasks are solved with the help of drainage laid along the perimeter of the foundation of the building.

The first thing to do is to tear off part of the soil inside the bath to a depth of at least 15 cm and replace the removed mass with a sand-gravel mixture or expanded clay, in which case the insulation will be softer. It is clear that the layer will need to be carefully planned and aligned with the rails.

At the second stage, the pillow is covered with a film and the main layer of foam or EPS insulation is laid out.

Next, a perlite concrete screed is poured and waterproofing is applied. A tile is laid on top of the concrete field. The use of floor ceramics in the steam room and dressing room usually causes a lot of controversy. It is believed that part of the heat is lost in this way, and the floor becomes slippery and unsafe.

On top of the insulation in the bath, you need to lay tiles and wooden ladders

In fact, the ceramic coating is ideal for a bath, tiles can be glued in one step throughout the bath, and wooden ladders can be laid on top.

As a result, we get additional bonuses:

• Ideal waterproofing and insulation of the bath floor;
• Lack of soil odors and penetration of fungi and bacteria from the ground;
• Cleaning the floor in such a bath is much easier and faster than a purely wooden floor.

If it is required to insulate the floor with mineral wool, then a system of lags is assembled over the concrete screed, between which the slabs are laid. A PVC membrane is used as a vapor barrier, then a layer with a reflective coating and a finished floor made of wooden floorboards.

One of the options for laying Rockwool for floor insulation in the bath is shown in the video:

Warming folk methods

The simplest folk method is still used today, before steaming in a bath, a cold floor is poured with a large amount of boiling water. The procedure has to be performed until the oven warms up the floorboards, logs and underground. The technology is simple, but too troublesome.

For stone baths on the foundation, you can insulate the floor with a mixture of grated and burnt clay mixed with chopped reed stalks. To prevent the insulation from getting wet from moisture, the top was covered with larch or oak sawdust.

The most difficult option was to form channels in the subfield from clay and rye straw. When passing hot air from the stove, the floor of the bath warmed up and remained warm for 4-5 hours.

Conclusion

There are quite a few options for qualitatively insulating the floor in the bath. Even if you just do the waterproofing and vapor barrier correctly, then after laying the insulation material in the base, the floor of the bath will in any case be warm. Practice will show how durable the insulation made "by eye" will turn out.

A bath is not just a place where you can cleanly wash yourself. Bath for a Russian person is a kind of club, even, if you like, a sanctuary. But even such a sacred place should not be cold and uncomfortable. The Russian bath should perfectly keep heat, keeping it long time. Yes, and washing in a room that instantly loses temperature is also not very pleasant. That is why good thermal insulation of all rooms in the bath becomes a very important task in its construction. It is necessary to insulate all parts in the bath: both the walls and the ceiling, and especially the floor.

What materials to use for floor insulation?

The high humidity and temperature that are constantly present when using a bath dictate a careful approach to the selection of materials used for thermal insulation of floors. In an ordinary room that does not have such extreme operating conditions, almost any mineral-based insulation can be used. But when insulating the floor in the bath, experienced builders recommend using heat-insulating material with a cellular structure. The most suitable material that meets all high requirements is foam of all types. It is it that is widely used for floor insulation in rooms with high humidity.

There are several approaches to the question of what material should be used to organize the floor in the bath rooms. So, it can be made of concrete, or it can be made of wood. When insulating floors of all types, there are some general rules which we will tell you about.

We warm the wooden floor in the bath

In the event that you have to insulate an existing wooden floor, then you will have to initially dismantle the existing flooring.

We carry out work according to the following algorithm:

Insulation of the concrete floor in the bath should be done after laying the rough screed. We act according to the following algorithm:

1. We place waterproofing on the rough screed. As such, you can use ordinary durable polyethylene. We spread the film all over the floor, with at least 5 centimeters on the walls, we can then cut off the excess. When using rolled material, we overlap in the region of 10 centimeters, fixing the joints with adhesive tape.
2. Laying insulating material. As a heater, you can use ordinary foam. To fix the foam plates, we form frames from wooden beams, fasten them to the floor with self-tapping screws on dowel plugs.
3. We fill the foam plates and frames with a fixing solution, then place a reinforcing mesh on top. The thickness of the screed over the foam sheets must be at least 2 centimeters.
4. After the reinforcing screed has dried, fill in the rough leveling screed. We use a self-leveling mixture, the total thickness of the screed over the foam should reach 5-8 centimeters. Level the finish screed with a needle roller, removing air bubbles.

We create a warm water floor in the bath

A good option for floor insulation in a stationary bath will be a warm water floor. We carry out work according to the following scheme:

1. Preparing the surface for painting installation work. We eliminate floor defects - chips, protrusions and cracks.
2. We place heat-insulating material over the entire surface, preventing excessive energy consumption.
3. We fix the damping tape along the walls of the room, preventing the deformation of the floor during thermal expansion.
4. We place a reinforcing mesh on the floor, lay out a pipe with a liquid heat carrier, avoiding those places where it is not required to heat the floor. The maximum distance from the pipe to the wall should be 10 centimeters.
5. When laying the pipeline system, we leave the pipes some degree of freedom, ensuring their safety during thermal deformation.
6. We connect the pipeline system to the heating system using the inlet and outlet manifolds. We carefully fix the joints of the pipes using couplings and winding.
7. We check the operation of the warm water floor system at the maximum power of the water flow, carefully monitor possible leaks.
8. With satisfactory test results, we form a cement screed, first rough, and then self-leveling.
9. Between the screed and the top coat, we lay an absorbent layer, then we mount the top coat.

Read in the article

Material selection

Types of insulation: shavings, expanded clay, foamed rubber, polystyrene foam, liquid foam, mineral wool.

Warming the steam room requires a balanced approach. The modern market is simply flooded with new heaters and insulating films with different quality indicators. To equip a bath, you should purchase only high-quality goods that can not only insulate the steam room well and protect it from moisture, but also not harm human health.

Most of the heat insulators that the market offers are not suitable for warming a bath. Synthetic films and foam plastics are destroyed under the influence of a temperature of +60 ° and begin to spread toxic fumes, and when heated, glass wool releases phenol, which is very dangerous for human health.

Felt and cork materials.

According to experts, the most suitable materials for warming a steam room are foil for vapor barrier and felt for insulation. Hybrid felt materials - lnovatin (with the addition of flax), flax-jute felt - do an excellent job of insulating the task, do not shrink, do not rot. They have such a unique ability as the removal of excess moisture. An alternative to felt is cork materials. Here, too, not every product is suitable. Many cork coatings contain a phenol-releasing adhesive.

The scheme of warming the steam room of the bath with mineral wool.

Today, the internal insulation of the steam room is most often performed using basalt mineral wool with a foil coating. You should choose goods only from well-known manufacturers. Unscrupulous manufacturers use harmful impurities in the production of basalt wool. Fibrous material made from basalt stone is an environmentally friendly product, non-flammable, withstands up to +1000 °, durable. Mineral wool based on basalt perfectly retains heat. On this moment most bath builders agreed: basalt fiber is best suited for thermal insulation of the steam room.

This eco-friendly heat insulator in bulk form is used to insulate the floor and ceiling of the steam room. Light granules appear as a result of firing clay. Manufacturers offer different-sized material ׃ gravel or crushed stone. But the thermal insulation effect will be noticeable only at a backfill layer height of 25 cm.

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Folk methods

• Straw. For floor insulation, you can also use straw, but only rye. It must be mixed with liquid clay in a ratio of 1x1. You have to mix the clay manually or with your feet. With the resulting solution, fill the earthen base in the bath, level it and wait for it to dry completely.
• Sawdust. The processing process is identical to that of straw. Sawdust can be used for any tree species, but coniferous are best. Because they contain special resinous substances in their fibers, which, when heated, are released into the air and thereby slow down the process of decay and the spread of moisture.
• Bulk heaters. As a heater, you can use expanded clay, slag from factories, and so on. Raw materials are poured, usually on an earthen base 5-10 cm thick. From above, the layer must be compacted and poured with a thick layer of clay (10-15 cm, or more).

*Interesting! If it's cold for you to stand on the floor, then the easiest and cheapest option would be to buy special wooden gratings. You can easily make them yourself, just make sure that there are no nails sticking out of anywhere, and also process the boards to get rid of knots. In stores, you can also buy special rubberized mats.

If you have your own sauna, so that nothing interferes with a friendly warm atmosphere, in order to reduce the cost of fuel for heating the room, in order to reduce the time it takes to warm up the bath to the required temperature, you should think about insulation initially, during construction. But even if this issue was not taken into account, then dismantle floor covering, and then it will not be difficult to insulate.

Perlite insulation

Perlite mortar is convenient to use for warming concrete floors. In this case, a layer of heat-insulating material is placed in the space between the rough floor screed and the final leveling fill.

Expanded perlite sand - a highly effective insulation Qualitative characteristics of perlite Perlite insulation

Important! Dusty volcanic sand scatters even from slight breezes of the wind, so a carefully insulated room without the slightest drafts should be chosen for the preparation of the solution. Having tightly closed the doors and windows, proceed to the preparation of the mixture and the implementation of the main stages of work directly

Table. Perlite floor insulation

Stage of work	Description
Solution preparation	Note! The unit used in this example is a bucket. Based on the given proportions, you can prepare the required amount of the solution by measuring the starting ingredients in fractions, kilograms, bags, etc. Pour 2 buckets of perlite into any deep container of a suitable size, add a bucket of water to it and give the mixture time to completely shrink. In the resulting solution, add half a bucket of cement not lower than M300, and then half a bucket of water. Important! Thoroughly mix the mixture after adding each component. Finally, you need to add a little more (about half a liter) of water to the solution. The result is a dry crumbly mixture. Knead the semi-finished product until it becomes plastic.
Laying thermal insulation mortar	The resulting plastic solution is evenly distributed over the rough screed. The recommended thickness of the insulating layer is up to 100 mm. You can level with any in a suitable way, for example, using a long rule. If a large area is insulated, for convenience, using self-tapping screws / anchors, you can attach several guides to the floor, for example, from a drywall profile or a wooden beam with a step corresponding to the length of the rule you use.
Pouring a finishing leveling layer	5-7 days after applying the perlite solution (that's how much time it needs to harden), a fine leveling screed is poured over the insulation. The most convenient and easy-to-use option is a modern ready-made self-leveling floor compound. Reinforced solutions are available for sale, allowing you to equip coatings with a layer of up to 8 cm or more. The builder only needs to prepare the mixture and apply it to the base in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Helpful advice! Before pouring a final leveling layer, the surface can be covered with a waterproofing material and a reinforcing mesh can be laid, but, as practice shows, the design feels great even without such inclusions. After the leveling layer has dried, you can finish the insulated floor, for example, tile it with a suitable tile.

Video - Properties of perlite as a heater

Warming the ceiling of the steam room with your own hands

If, when insulating walls, many doubt whether it is necessary to insulate the steam room, then ceiling insulation is necessary in any bath without exception. This part of the bath is the most vulnerable spot. Because, through the non-insulated overlap of the steam room, hot air leaves the room in a short time, and in addition, beams and wooden floors suffer from high humidity.

Insulation of the ceiling of the steam room with expanded clay

To solve the problem, our ancestors used ordinary earth mixed with sawdust or expanded clay. The material covered the attic above the steam room and thereby reduced the heat loss of the room. Today, "grandfather" methods have lost their relevance with the advent of new materials and methods of insulation.

The ideal option for insulating the ceiling in the steam room is from the outside, i.e. from the attic side. You can use glass wool or basalt insulation. Where the thermal insulation is adjacent to the chimney of the bath, be sure to use a non-combustible insulation with fire-retardant mastic. But in the article we will take a closer look at how to insulate the ceiling in the steam room from the inside.

How to insulate the ceiling in the steam room yourself

A modern way to warm the steam room

Mineral wool insulation can be used for insulation. To do this, a frame is constructed on the ceiling from the inside, between which mineral wool slabs are inserted. Further, the entire ceiling is covered with a vapor barrier film, you can also use foil isolon, which reflects heat towards the steam room.

The second, more reliable option for insulating the ceiling in the steam room with your own hands is to fix the foam boards on the ceiling of the steam room from the inside with self-tapping screws. All seams are carefully foamed. For reliability, you can also close the insulation with foil insulation, although the penoplex does not absorb or pass moisture. Work ends with sheathing.

Wall insulation.

Consumables for thermal insulation are selected depending on what the walls are built from.

Given the high thermal conductivity of brick and concrete, special attention should be paid to the insulation of buildings made of them. The main rule for thermal insulation of walls is the organization of the ventilation system

Do-it-yourself warming of the steam room is preferable to perform according to the type of designer. This option is convenient in that the structure, if necessary (for example, for repair), can be dismantled and reassembled.

Rules and sequence of work on thermal insulation:

So, the insulation of the ceiling, floor and walls in the steam room is a mandatory step in the construction of the bath. To improve the effectiveness of thermal insulation, the following tips should be followed:

• provide for small windows in the bath, because they account for a fairly large percentage of heat losses;
• install low doors with a large threshold in the steam room;
• the layout of the building should be based on taking into account possible heat losses and minimizing them.

The right choice of insulation is the key to success

The modern market offers a huge number of heaters. They differ from each other not only in their technical characteristics, but also in cost. However, you should not focus on the latter when choosing the best option.

The choice of insulation must be made on the basis of:

• Type of flooring. The concrete floor is insulated with foam, expanded clay or perlite. Wooden floor - foam, as it is the only material that does not absorb moisture at all. It is undesirable to lay insulation with a fiber or open cellular structure under it, for example, expanded clay, since in this case it will be necessary to equip a reinforced waterproofing layer. Penoplex can be replaced with foamed polymers - ecowool or Aisinin foam. Being light in weight, they retain heat very well. However, both under the concrete and under the wooden floor, you can install electric, infrared or water heating.
• The space in which it will be placed. Organic heaters are suitable for use only in rest rooms or in the dressing room, since even treatment with flame retardants does not make them resistant to high temperatures.
• Personal safety wishes - insulation can be organic and have a vegetable or animal origin (felt, tow, cellulose) and inorganic (foam plastic, mineral wool and glass wool). The latter are produced through the processing of minerals and are characterized by resistance to high temperatures. However, they lose in terms of environmental friendliness to organic heaters.

In addition, attention should be paid to specific gravity the heater itself. A good insulation is one that does not create additional load on the foundation

Technology of floor insulation in baths

There is only one principle: the location of the insulation between two rigid layers and its protection with insulating films. In wooden structures, heat-insulating material is placed between the subfloor and front floor. In a concrete cake between the base and leveling elements poured from cement. But there are also specific differences.

How to insulate a wooden version?

The optimal time for installing a thermal insulation system is the construction period, but non-leaking wooden floors can be insulated even after, after completely removing the final flooring.

• To the lower edge of the beams along the entire length on both sides, cranial bars are nailed, which are required to install the subfloor.
• Low-grade boards, cut in advance into a size slightly smaller than the distance between adjacent beams, are laid on a cranial beam.
• It turned out the first layer of the cranial floor, waterproofing is laid on top of it - an indispensable element wooden structure. It's best if it's waterproofing membrane with steam protection. It must be laid so that all the beams are covered and the lower parts of the walls are covered by 20 cm along the perimeter. The material is usually attached to the protruding structural elements with a stapler and the joints of individual sheets are sealed with vapor barrier tape.
• On top of the vapor barrier layer is laid, either first the second row of the cranial floor, and then the insulating material, or immediately the insulation.
• Depending on the type of insulation, the next layer of insulation from steam and moisture is laid. An expensive membrane can be replaced by a layer of roofing material with seams neatly glued with bituminous mastic.
• Around the pipe intended for draining, the empty space between it and the insulation is filled with mounting foam.
• At the end of the insulation, boards of the finishing floor are laid, excess vapor barrier material is cut off, and a plinth is installed.

A ventilation gap of 3-4 cm should remain under the boards of the finishing floor. It is necessary to dry the wood.

Insulation of a concrete structure

Waterproofing is laid on the concrete slabs of the lower floors or on the draft layer of the floor poured over the ground. Instead of roll material, you can use a coating mastic applied in 3 layers. You can combine both roll and coating options in one bottle.

Mineral wool mats, extruded polystyrene foam or expanded clay, etc. are laid. The thickness of the layer is determined by the thermal qualities of the material chosen for insulation.

Above the insulation, on special plastic or stands made from a mixture of alabaster and cement, a reinforcing mesh is placed. The upper screed is poured over the reinforcement. Further finishing steps depend on the desire of the owner.

The specifics of the insulation of different rooms

A lot of water is poured onto the floor, usually only in the washing department. The floors in the rest rooms and dressing rooms can not be equipped with waterproofing at all. The final flooring in the steam rooms for additional insulation can not be disassembled, but the existing floor can be supplemented with another floor on the logs, but with an effective insulation. The floor in the steam room is generally recommended to be made 10 or 15 cm higher. By reducing the volume of the room in this way, the owner will be able to warm up the steam room faster.

We have given general recommendations on how to insulate the floor in the bath. They paint a generalized picture of the work and the final result. There will be no fundamental differences in any scenario, but the thickness of the insulation layers must be calculated based on real climatic conditions, and not on approximate average figures.

Stage 2 walls

If the steam room is insulated in a wooden bath, then it should be started in a good way with the installation of interventional insulation, which can be used as jute, moss or felt.

Interventional insulation of log walls

But the warming of the steam room in a brick bath is carried out only after its construction. Such is my case. It is noteworthy that the entire scope of work is actually very similar to that which was done in relation to the floor:

Work plan for wall insulation from the inside

1. Installation of waterproofing. Here I used an ordinary plastic film, not a membrane, since dampness from the walls is still less than from the ground. The fastening was carried out with a construction stapler, hammering the staples into the cement joints, and glued the joints with mounting tape;

Roll of polyethylene film

1. Installation of the frame from the rails. The process, in fact, is similar to the installation of the log, only in this case, the planks are usually used narrower, although their cross section must still exceed the thickness of the foam again, and no slopes are required. The distance between them is also selected by 20 mm narrower than the polystyrene foam sections. But with fixing things are a little more complicated:

• • I drilled the planks attached to the walls and marked the bricks through the resulting holes. Do the same with concrete, but in the case of wooden walls you can immediately start screwing screws;
  • By marks made holes with a puncher, which I then filled with plastic dowels;
  • And just now screwed the rails themselves with self-tapping screws. By the way, waterproofing can be laid after installing the frame, fixing the film directly to it;

Installation of a wooden frame on the walls of gas blocks

1. Insulation laying. Is it possible to insulate walls with penoplex, which is the same extruded polystyrene foam? Of course yes. For example, I did just that, laying it between the prepared planks;

Thermal insulation of the walls of the bath from aerated concrete from the inside with foam

1. Foil mounting. As a vapor barrier, I used foil, which, in addition to protecting the polystyrene foam from moisture, also returns the heat radiated in the steam room back, which greatly reduces the cost of heating it up. For fastening, I again used a mounting stapler, and glued the joints with a special foil adhesive tape;

Installing foil on walls

1. Installation of lining. Everything is the same with the floor, no differences.

Installation of decorative lining on the walls of the steam room

Stage number 3: ceiling

From the school physics course, everyone probably remembers that hot air rises. Consequently, the bulk of warm air masses accumulate precisely under the ceiling, and if it does not have high-quality thermal insulation, a cold steam room awaits you. Therefore, I carried out its insulation both from the inside and outside:

1. There is a small attic room in my bathhouse, and instead of storing any inventory there, I covered its floor with expanded clay, which is also a good thermal insulation material;

A decent layer of expanded clay on the floor of the attic

1. Then, again, by analogy with the floor and walls, he beat the ceiling from the inside with a pair of plastic wrap;
2. Installed a crate of wooden slats;
3. Between the planks I placed plates of extruded foam;
4. Covered everything with foil;

Foil on the ceiling

1. And sheathed with clapboard, completing the creation of the "thermos".

Materials used for floor insulation

The most popular heaters are polystyrene foam, mineral wool

When choosing a material, you should take into account the purpose of the room and the possible loads on the base.

Mineral wool

The use of mineral wool, as well as glass wool for insulation of a concrete base is very popular.

If this material is used, it is important to create a waterproofing layer so that moisture does not get on the insulation. With the penetration of moisture, the thermal insulation qualities are significantly reduced.

Mineral wool, produced in the form of slabs, has considerable strength.

Advantages of mineral wool:

• fire safety, high temperature resistance;
• has vapor permeability;
• not subject to the formation of all kinds of microorganisms (fungus, mold, etc.).

It should be noted that the material does not have water repellency, use in rooms with high humidity is not recommended. If the insulation is wet, then it begins to sag and quickly loses its original properties. The material is laid between the lag, therefore, no load should be placed on it.

Mineral wool is divided into:

• stone;
• slag;
• glass.

The type of cotton wool depends on the constituents of the material. In the process of work, safety precautions must be observed. Avoid getting into Airways on the skin

As a precaution, masks, gloves, special clothing are used.

Styrofoam

Varieties of expanded polystyrene, its application:

• Styrofoam;

This is the most economical insulation, after expanded clay. At the same time it gives a high effect, moisture resistant. Has some disadvantages:

• low strength of the material. In the process of work, a reinforced cement screed is placed on top of the insulation;
• wet foam plastic breaks up during freezing, turns into small balls, loses its properties;
• the material is moderately combustible, emits harmful substances when burned.

Extruded polystyrene foam looks like polystyrene, but is devoid of many of the disadvantages that polystyrene has.

It has a number of advantages:

• high strength characteristics;
• durable;
• waterproof;
• some categories of expanded polystyrene are non-combustible (safety class NG)

Expanded clay

One of the ways to insulate a concrete base is expanded clay. According to the characteristics, it is similar to min. cotton wool. For proper insulation of the concrete base, it is necessary to moisten the expanded clay with cement mortar. It is important to organize a slope of 10 degrees for arranging the drain.

Perlite

Perlite can serve as a heater for the floor of the bath. This is a good option for a concrete base. The basis of such a heater is dusty sand mixed with a light cement mortar. The mixture is placed between two base screeds. Perlite is light and has low thermal conductivity. Perlite is sand that has undergone a process of swelling according to a certain technology.

To complete the work you need:

• eliminate the possibility of drafts;
• ten liters of water must be mixed with two buckets of perlite;
• cement should be added to the resulting mixture and everything should be mixed well;
• a homogeneous mass should be obtained, to which another bucket of perlite and 0.5-1 liter of water are added;
• it is important to carefully mix the constituent components, until the moment when water begins to beat off, this indicates the readiness of the mixture - insulation;
• the concrete base is covered with a layer of insulation and allowed to dry completely;
• the drying process takes place for a week, then a concrete screed is made over the perlite insulation.

This thermal insulation will not rot from time to time, it is resistant to environmental influences.

Insulation of the concrete floor is a crucial moment. The thickness of the insulation is determined based on the material used during installation. A reinforcing mesh is placed on top of the laid material. It has plastic or alabaster-cement supports, the resulting floor device is poured with a screed. This is the final stage of warming the floor of the bath.

To warm up the room faster, you need to prevent heat from escaping through the cold floor of the bath.

Before warming the floor, the question arises - why? How expedient is this? Concrete has poor heat retention properties. Heat loss must be prevented. To do this, you need to use materials with the highest thermal conductivity characteristics.

Installation of an insulating layer solves such problems:

• condensation does not form on the cold floor inside the room;
• the occurrence of microorganisms - mold and fungus, harmful to health is prevented;
• reduced heating costs;
• creates a favorable microclimate in the room (optimal ratio of temperature and humidity).

Without floor insulation in the bath, the microclimate will not be comfortable, and the design will be less durable.

4 We insulate the ceiling step by step instructions

To insulate the ceiling in the steam room, a completely different heat insulator is needed - foil mineral wool. It withstands heating up to 700 degrees Celsius and can easily endure the usual temperature in this area of ​​the steam room, which does not rise above 160-180 ° C.

The finishing process itself begins with covering the ceiling with an antiseptic primer that protects the boards from fungus and mold. The second step is the stuffing of the crate boards on the ceiling, the depth of which should be equal to the thickness of the insulation (usually 10 centimeters). The step of laying the boards is equal to the width of a standard strip of mineral wool.

The ceiling is insulated with foil mineral wool

The third step is laying the insulation. After the assembly of the crate is completed, the space between the boards is filled with mineral wool, which is laid with foil outward (toward the floor). And all joints are carefully glued with foil tape. After completion of work on the ceiling, there should be no gaps.

The final step is the installation of a finishing board (lining) or plywood panels over the lathing. Moreover, in this case, it is necessary to read the description of the specification for the lining - options from pine and spruce and other resinous trees are not suitable in this case. The ideal lining for a bath is made from hardwood deciduous trees.

Types of insulation materials

Now, when building a bath, new schemes and materials are used. Concrete floor slabs or logs can serve as a base. In both cases, when insulating floors in a bath, it is necessary to take into account characteristics grounds. The heat-insulating layer is selected in accordance with the technical characteristics of the base.

Expanded polystyrene is a rigid and very light material that consists of a polymer alloy of small closed granules. This insulation is universal and can be used for thermal insulation of concrete and wooden bases. But most often used for warming wooden floors. It does not absorb water that can seep through the wooden flooring. The insulation practically does not weigh down the mass of the base. To cut the material, you can use a regular clerical knife, while the waste will be negligible.

It can also be used as a foam insulation on the floor in the bath.

Glass wool and mineral wool are mainly used for thermal insulation of concrete floors. When using such materials for wooden floors, it is necessary to put a reinforced layer of waterproofing on top of the insulation, since this material absorbs moisture well.

Expanded clay is used, as well as mineral wool. These materials have a different structure, but they practically do not differ in thermal properties. for a wooden floor reinforced waterproofing is required. When using expanded clay concrete floors for insulation, there are some difficulties associated with the organization of a 10 ° slope for drainage.

To comply with the required slope, expanded clay, which is covered with the use of guides, is shed with a weak cement mortar. You can do it differently: mix expanded clay with cement and pour an insulating layer with such a solution, a cement screed is made on top of it.

Another type of insulation for the floor in the bath is Aisinin - a foam-like heat-insulating material that is used when organizing floors on logs.

Boiler slag, foam concrete, half pan can also be used for insulation. These materials are covered with a layer up to 30 cm, 25 cm, 10 cm thick, respectively. The thickness of the heat-insulating layer depends on the climate of the region in which the bath is located.

Another type of insulation used for bath floors is perlite, which is a silty volcanic sand. To perform thermal insulation, it must be mixed with water and cement. The finished mixture is poured onto a concrete screed, another layer of screed is made on top. When solidified, the mixture will acquire a porous structure. The result is flooded floors in a bath with a layer of insulation.

Structure layout

In order to avoid the problem of how best to insulate the steam room , it is worth considering the location and layout of the bath, since following simple rules will help to avoid unnecessary costs for thermal insulation of the room. So, a competent design layout implies the following:

1. The dimensions of the building are determined based on the planned number of people who will be inside at the same time and the number of internal premises - dressing room, dressing room, steam room, etc. As a rule, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe dressing room is 4-6 m2, and steam rooms - 6 m2.
2. The layout of the bath should be based on taking into account possible heat losses and minimizing them. Thus, it is desirable to provide a dressing room closer to the entrance to the room, which can prevent drafts and cold air from entering the steam room.
3. Considering options for how to properly insulate a steam room , it is desirable to make the entrance to the washing compartment or the dressing room, which will be connected to the steam room by a vestibule.
4. It is advisable to make the doorway not too wide, but always with a high threshold.
5. The optimal shape for a steam room is a square, in the corner of which the stove is located and preferably closer to the door.

Floor insulation with expanded clay

The order of backfilling the heat-insulating layer will vary depending on what design the floor of the equipped bath has. Few options:

• the floor is laid on top of the logs installed on compacted soil;
• the flooring is made over the logs, placed on brick supports;

the structure is represented by a concrete screed or reinforced concrete slab overlap.

An example of floor insulation with expanded clay

Floor insulation with expanded clay

Choose your option, study the instructions specifically for it and get to work. The information is given in the table.

Table. Floor insulation with expanded clay

Type of floor construction	Warming procedure
Floor on logs on the ground	It is assumed that the joists have already been installed and it remains only to lay the layers of insulation to equip the finishing flooring. If an already used wooden floor is insulated, you must first remove the flooring (damaged boards are replaced with new ones), replace rotten logs and carefully compact the soil. The next steps are the same for both cases: - waterproofing is laid on top of the compacted soil. You can put both a plastic film, and roofing material or glassine. Waterproofing is placed both in the space between the lags and on top of them. Lay the sheets with an overlap of 10-15 cm. Glue the joints with construction tape. You can attach the insulation to the logs using a construction stapler with staples or small nails; - a uniform layer of expanded clay is poured over the waterproofing. Further actions depend on whether expanded clay will be used as the only insulation, or whether a second heat-insulating layer, for example, mineral wool, is planned to be laid on top of it. If thermal insulation is performed exclusively with expanded clay, the procedure is as follows: - on top of a leveled layer of expanded clay with a thickness of 30 cm or more, the selected vapor barrier material is laid (better - foil). The overlaps and fasteners are the same as when laying the waterproofing material; - floor finishing is carried out at the discretion of the developer. If expanded clay is used in conjunction with other insulating material, the procedure is as follows: - on top of a layer of expanded clay with a thickness of 10-15 cm (the specific value is selected taking into account the planned thickness of the upper heat-insulating layer), a vapor barrier material is placed. Recommendations are similar to the previous case; - expanded polystyrene or mineral wool is laid on the vapor barrier. The lags will perform the functions of the frame for placing the plates - select the width of the heat-insulating elements according to the size of the gaps between the lags (or simply fill the frame with the required parameters from a bar). If the height of the lag is not enough, nail a beam over them along the height of the upper insulation; - thermal insulation is covered with a layer of hydro-vapor barrier. The further order of work remains at the discretion of the owner. So, for example, if a concrete screed is to be poured, a reinforcing mesh is first laid on the insulation. If the floor is wooden, bars are nailed to the joists for laying boards.
Floor on logs on brick supports	In this case, the procedure will differ little from the option discussed above. Minor differences are present only at the initial stages of warming: - expanded clay is filled up to the level of the lag, laid on top of the brick supports; - cranial bars are nailed to the lags (the most commonly used option is 4x5 cm in size); - on top of the bars, a rough flooring is made of boards or wood-based panels. Further actions are performed similarly to the previous instructions.
Floor on concrete slab	The sequence of events will differ little from the instructions you have already considered: - the base is covered with waterproofing; - expanded clay falls asleep; - backfill is covered with another layer of waterproofing. The further procedure is determined by the developer and depends on whether the concrete floor will be poured or the wooden structure will be equipped.

Expanded clay Characteristics of expanded clay Expanded clay - advantages and applications

Video - Floor insulation with expanded clay

Preparation of perlite insulation

To mix pulverized sand, you need to choose a room where all doors and windows can be closed at the time of preparation of the solution.

• The material is mixed in a deep container with water in a ratio of 2 to 1 until smooth.
• In the resulting solution, you need to slowly pour cement (grade M300 or higher), with a volume that is half the measured from all components. An ordinary bucket can act as a measuring bucket.
• After that, you need to pour in an additional half a bucket of water. Each step must be accompanied by sufficient agitation. At the finishing stage, another half-liter of water is added.

The resulting solution must be different from conventional plastic mixtures designed to smooth out irregularities and finishes. The output should be a crumbly plastic mixture, which can cover the bottom layer of concrete screed with a continuous 10 cm layer. The perlite insulating layer hardens after 5-6 days, after which it is possible to start pouring the top finishing layer from cement mortar. The waterproofing layer and the reinforcing mesh are laid as desired before the finishing leveling layer, they are not mandatory.

And yet, it is important to choose the most suitable insulation for the floor in the bath - which one is better - opinions differ. According to numerous reviews of experts and home craftsmen, polystyrene foam does its job best

It is easier to handle, stack, inexpensive, and leftovers can always be used for other purposes.

Steam room ceiling insulation

Ceilings can be insulated with polystyrene foam, mineral wool, ecowool, expanded clay or straw with clay. The best option is mineral wool. The algorithm for insulating ceilings with mineral wool is no different from the work on arranging walls, it makes no sense to repeat. Let's talk about another method using expanded clay. Insulation is carried out after the finishing sheathing of the steam room ceiling. The thickness of expanded clay is not less than twenty centimeters.

Warming the ceiling of the bath with expanded clay

Important. Expanded clay has hygroscopicity, during saturation with moisture it can increase its weight several times

This has a very negative effect on the bearing surfaces, there are cases of deformation of the ceiling sheathing. To avoid such an unpleasant phenomenon, carefully make hydro- and vapor barrier.

Step 1. Lay vapor barrier material on the ceiling. For these purposes, you can use both ordinary cheap polyethylene film and expensive modern non-woven materials.

Ceiling vapor barrier

Practical advice. We recommend taking film for several reasons. First, it's cost. Secondly, the efficiency is almost in no way inferior to the widely advertised nonwovens. Thirdly, it is possible to make the insulation completely continuous without joints. The film is sold in rolls, the manufacturing method makes it possible to obtain a continuous sleeve. The width of the roll can exceed three meters, in the context it will have a width of six meters. This means that all individual bath rooms can be insulated with a continuous film. Fourth, there is a wide choice of material in terms of thickness. For ceilings, it is better to buy a sleeve with a thickness of at least 35 microns.

Laying and installation of vapor barrier on the ceiling

Ceiling vapor barrier

Step 2 Gently evenly pour a layer of expanded clay on the film with a thickness of at least 20 cm. Cover with a film on top.

Poured expanded clay

Expanded clay covered with vapor barrier

It is necessary to say a few words about how expanded clay works. Among its shortcomings, none of the manufacturers mentions one rather significant one. Air passes through it almost without resistance, the large diameters of individual balls create significant free spaces between them. Since the air passes almost freely, the heat loss due to convection increases significantly and, accordingly, the effectiveness of thermal insulation deteriorates. After covering the expanded clay from above, efficiency improves - warm air does not have the opportunity to leave the insulator.

What is expanded clay

It's good that the expanded clay is covered, the ceilings retain heat better, but another danger appears. The material can absorb a large amount of moisture, wet insulation not only worsens the initial thermal conductivity, but also becomes much heavier. And this threatens to increase the load on all structural elements of the ceiling, there are risks of their deformation or complete violation of stability. Experienced builders recommend at least once a year to open the top film for several days to ventilate and dry expanded clay.

Work on insulation with straw and sawdust is almost no different from those described with expanded clay. But there are a few additional downsides. The first - the weight of the insulation layer increases significantly. The second is liquid clay, it takes time and conditions for the water to dry. Third - the thickness of the ceiling boards must be at least 35 mm. Fourth - the low efficiency of this method of insulation.

Wooden floor insulation

Just before starting, you should carry out some preparatory work, namely:

• Carry out the dismantling of the flooring, remove all the logs, and if you plan to use them after insulation, we recommend numbering all the boards;
• All floorboards must be inspected for defects, chips, cracks and fungus. If this was found, it is better to replace the floorboard completely;

*Advice! When you lay the flooring back after all the manipulations, do not forget to leave a gap of 3-4 cm between the top layer of insulation and the wooden blocks. This will prevent the boards from deforming, and there will also be an additional layer of ventilation.

The structure of the wooden floor in the bath

If the bath was built on soil with a high level of moisture, an ordinary roofing material is suitable as a waterproofing material. It must be laid so that the insulation layer does not have gaps and partially extends onto the walls.

Although wood is less durable than concrete, it is most often used to cover the floor in baths because of its environmental friendliness and high thermal insulation performance. The most popular trees for decking are:

*Important! If the boards in the dressing room and other rooms are covered with an antiseptic to prevent the wood fibers from being allowed to grow by fungal growths, then due to the high level of toxicity in the steam room itself, this should by no means be done. .

All layers of insulation in the section

The best choice as a heater would be a material with closed cells that do not allow moisture to pass through. The best option is expanded polystyrene, as well as its modern counterparts:

This material is light, so it practically does not affect the weight of the entire wooden structure.

And so, the second step after the dismantling of the flooring. To lay a layer of insulation, it is necessary to create a support for the draft floor, increasing the lower edges of the log with bars smaller than the distance between the beams.

A layer of waterproofing is laid on the support of the subfloor, represented by a special membrane, which simultaneously protects against moisture and steam. If the bath is built on water soil, then a layer of roofing material is laid, which must necessarily cover all the boards and climb the walls to a height of twenty centimeters along the perimeter of the steam room. It is better to seal the formed seams with a vapor barrier tape, you can buy it in a specialized store, the average price is 520 rubles per 10 meters (strip width 70 mm), and the joints with a construction stapler.

Floor insulation in the dressing room

Next, either another subfloor or insulation is laid on top of the waterproofing layer. The thickness of the total layer is usually 200-250 mm, depending on how much it is necessary to reduce heat loss, and on the financial capabilities of the owners.

Another layer of hydro and vapor barrier is laid on top of the insulation. At this stage, the membrane can be replaced again with roofing material, and the resulting seams can be sealed with mastic.

At the final stage, the space near the drain pipe is filled with mounting foam. A finished floor is already laid on top.

*Interesting! In the shower room, you can not nail the finished floor to the base, but leave it as it is. This will allow from time to time to easily remove it and dry it from the moisture accumulated there.

Warm floor. His device

The invention of warm floors (liquid and air) is a merit of ancient civilizations. Nowadays, only some improvements are made due to technical progress (heating with electricity).

The essence of underfloor heating is that under the finishing coating there is a wiring for heat carried by water, air or a heating element. Such a floor is relevant for small rooms with a low bearing load.

1. A heat insulator is laid on the leveled surface of the subfloor (rough screed) - mineral wool mats, expanded polystyrene. To enhance the effect, aluminum foil is laid.
2. On the reinforcing mesh with a certain freedom fit ("snail" or "snake") pipes for heated water, no closer than 10 cm to the wall, when laying, the probability of deformation is taken into account.
3. Through the outlet manifold, the pipe system is connected to the heating system. The joints are fixed with a coupling and a winding.
4. A leak test is being carried out.
5. A rough screed is poured, and then a self-leveling one.
6. An absorbent layer is placed under the top coat.
7. Facial finish - tiles.

Homemade metal stove for a bath. Read about it here.

And here is an article about warming the ceiling of the bath with expanded clay.

In this section of our site http://ru-house.net/postrojki/banya/ you will find a lot of useful and interesting information about the bath.

Working with a wooden base

The method by which insulation is laid in a steam room with a wooden floor is similar to the algorithm of actions described above. See also: "How to make floor insulation in the bath with your own hands - a guide from the master".

Work is carried out as follows:

1. Mineral wool is laid under the logs.
2. A rolled roofing material is laid on it.
3. All wooden elements in the floor structure are treated with special antiseptic agents.
4. A subfloor is laid on the roofing material.
5. The work is completed by finishing the surface with a finishing floor covering.

After the insulation for the steam room is embedded in the floor from the inside, the “pie” of the floor looks like this:

• foundation;
• wooden beams;
• vapor barrier material;
• lining and thermal insulation material;
• floor board.

Also, in the process of laying floors, care must be taken to create a high threshold under front door. This is the most important functional measure aimed at protecting the steam room from cold air masses entering it. Naturally, the complete preservation of water vapor inside the room can only be ensured when the door leaf fits as tightly as possible to the frame and sill.

We must not forget that a separate area in the room should be allocated for the installation of the furnace and the subsequent chimney outlet. A separate foundation base is mounted under the furnace with a height greater than that of the main foundation.

When equipping the walls and ceiling, it must be taken into account that a chimney will exit through one of the ceilings, for which a square hole will have to be cut out and a frame equipped in it. Regulations require that the chimney from the stove be placed at least 20 centimeters from any wooden elements in the structure of the bath. This hole is closed with a stainless steel sheet.

The article describes in detail the procedure for insulating walls, floors and ceilings in the steam bath compartments

Also, the work can be entrusted to specialists who will take responsibility for all stages - from procurement necessary materials before installation and commissioning of the bath.

insulation

So we got to the consideration of the main materials that can be used for floor insulation (which, by the way, applies not only to the bath, but also to private houses). In fact, insulating the floor with your own hands is not so difficult. The main thing is to approach this matter with all responsibility and choose the right material.

• Polystyrene. Differs in the low price, small weight and good rigidity. It is very convenient to cut it with a clerical knife, leaving a minimum of waste. Suitable for both wood and concrete floors.
• Styrofoam. It has low thermal conductivity (which is what is needed for insulation). Can be used to insulate floors of any design. Last time
• Glass wool (mineral wool). Ideal for wooden floors. They have the most luxurious thermal insulation properties, but absorb moisture. That is why a powerful and reliable layer of waterproofing is required on top of them.
• Expanded clay. The most luxurious material for warming concrete floors. Can serve as a simple base (poured and all), and as a filler concrete mix for the first pour layer (I have a separate article on the arrangement of concrete floors). the only significant shortcomings of this material can be considered its relatively high cost and delivery options (it’s not for you to bring a couple of sheets of polystyrene on the “Mikrik”).

• Perlite. Another quality insulation for concrete floors. After mixing in appropriate proportions with water and cement, it forms an original expanded mixture, which, after being poured between the base and the top screed, reliably stores heat and, at the same time, is highly durable.
• Penoplex. Absolutely moisture resistant. In fact, this is one of the modifications of polystyrene, obtained by foaming it and produced in the form of plates. It has high strength and density, which makes it convenient to use for warming both concrete and wooden floors.
• Vermiculite. Not the most common material for insulation, which, however, does not deprive it of its merits. Pressed slabs of this mineral not only retain heat well, but are also very resistant to open fire. That is why they are often used as a filler for fire-resistant doors. Accordingly, it will not be bad for a bath. The only drawback is the cost, which the buyer may not really like.

Several alternatives

All of the above heaters have long been known and enjoy well-deserved popularity. But, of course, there are other options for floor insulation. They are mainly designed for concrete structures and are not suitable for wooden floors. But, nevertheless, it is simply necessary to mention them.

First, (if you have such an opportunity) you can use ordinary slag from the boiler room. In fact, it can serve as a good alternative to expanded clay. Well, and secondly, bottles can be successfully used to insulate a concrete floor. Both glass and plastic containers are suitable for this. The main thing is that they are tightly sealed. on this occasion.

Peculiarities

In the good old days, bathhouses were built of round wood and did not get off with insulating materials. An indicator of warmth was a carefully selected wood, a high-quality log house and tightly caulked grooves between the crowns. The replacement of the insulation at that time was carried out with the help of moss, tow or jute and caulked in two steps - when felling a log house and after shrinking it.

Many people today prefer natural heaters., although drying is required before its use, but it is an environmentally friendly material. This process of warming is very laborious and lengthy, it requires a certain skill and skill. Poorly caulked seams will allow heat to pass through and moisture will begin to accumulate in the grooves, which will contribute to the decay of the tree and the rapid release of heat from the steam room.

Modern technologies have made it possible to find more than one alternative method of insulation.

Thanks to thermal insulation, well-insulated baths have a number of undeniable advantages:

• such a bath warms up longer, but also cools down for a long time;
• has the lowest heat consumption;
• it achieves the desired microclimate;
• there is a control over humidity;
• protected from mold and mildew.

And in order to achieve such results from the bath, you must first of all competently approach this process, although, at first glance, there is nothing complicated about this. For greater efficiency, the bath is insulated both from the inside and outside. External placement of thermal insulation helps protect the material from which the bath is made. But one external insulation will not be enough. In different rooms of the bath, you need to maintain a certain temperature regime and humidity level. For this, internal insulation is provided, and suitable material is selected for each individual room.

Warming the walls of the steam room with your own hands

High-quality thermal insulation of the walls of the steam room from the inside is a "pie" of three layers - vapor barrier, waterproofing and heat-insulating. The vapor barrier provides protection from the effects of steam and is a kind of "reflector" of heat, creating the effect of a "thermos" in the room.

The scheme of insulation of the walls of the steam room in the bath

To do this, a vapor barrier film is laid on a constructed wooden crate using a construction stapler. If moisture penetrates the insulation, this will lead to the formation of condensate and the loss of heat-saving properties. All joints and edges must be overlapped and taped. The vapor barrier is laid from the side of the warm room, excluding the ingress of moisture into the insulation.

The second layer of waterproofing eliminates the possibility of moisture ingress, protects against condensation and the formation of fungus and mold, preventing the process of decay of the structure. The material used is polyethylene film or foil. Waterproofing is laid from the inside between the insulation and the walls in the steam room.

The third layer - the insulation is placed between the vertical guides

When installing the guides (frame), please note that the width between them should be 1-1.5 cm less than the mineral wool slab so that the insulation sits tightly, without gaps. If you use slab insulation, then make the width end-to-end, all slots must be carefully foamed

The subtleties of warming individual bath rooms

Since the purpose and intensity of use of the bath rooms vary, many are wondering what kind of floor insulation is required in the dressing room. Since this is a rest room, the insulation in it can not be supplemented with waterproofing. Basically, water is poured directly onto the floor only in the washing room, where waterproofing is indispensable.

The steam room is used most intensively in the bath, where heat preservation is very important. But whether it is necessary to insulate the floor in the steam room additionally - everyone decides for himself. It is recommended to raise the floor in the steam room by 10-15 cm above the general level, which will make it possible to lay another layer of thermal insulation on the finished floor and put an additional floor on the logs. This approach will reduce heat loss and speed up the heating of the steam room.

Thus, the technique of floor insulation in the bath is briefly described by us in this material, so that everyone can roughly imagine the expected volume and complexity of the work. It should be noted that when calculating the amount of thermal insulation materials, you need to rely on the weather conditions at the location of the bath.

Properties of materials used for arranging a steam room

Since ancient times, in order to insulate the steam room from the inside, only natural materials have been used. They were environmentally friendly, easy to use, well performed their main function - keeping warm. But at the same time, such materials had a number of disadvantages, for example, rotting. Therefore, today they are popular for warming a steam room or sauna. modern materials that combine most positive qualities. Materials for warming a Russian steam bath or, for example, a Finnish sauna must withstand high temperatures, high humidity, do not emit harmful substances and at the same time be aesthetic, otherwise all the charm of visiting this place will come to naught.

Aluminum foil is used to insulate buildings with high temperatures.

To insulate a steam room, the following materials may be required:

• aluminum foil or penoizol;
• polyethylene film;
• mineral wool or glass wool;
• expanded polystyrene;
• reinforcing mesh;
• perlite;
• concrete mortar;
• wooden slats for the crate.

For the performance of insulation work, materials will be required:

I would like to say a few words about the facing materials of the steam room. These materials are lining, board or wooden slats. What materials to use, everyone decides for himself. The tree is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also meets all the operational requirements of the steam room. Any hardwood of low density is suitable: linden, maple, aspen, alder. Coniferous trees will release resin when heated.

For many years, bath builders did not pay special attention to floor insulation, because they did not have sufficient knowledge about thermal insulation. The materials used at that time quickly deteriorated, which entailed numerous repairs to the baths - at the present time, everything has changed dramatically.

Why is it so important to insulate the floor in the bath

Old bathhouses with a leaking floor are still actively used by summer residents and residents of the southern regions. For those who happened to be born in the middle and northern regions, it is better to think about floor insulation. Even though warm air naturally rises, much of it is lost when it comes into contact with a cold floor.

A large temperature difference between the upper layers of the steam room and the cold floor in a room intended for taking periodic bath procedures can adversely affect human health. To eliminate heat losses, as well as to speed up the heating of the bath room and create an obstacle to the cold from the outside, it is required to put a quality insulation for the floor in the bath.

How floors differ in design

Warming should be carried out on "dry" floors with wooden or concrete base, which means that they should not have leaks. Water drainage is carried out by making the floor surface at a slope of 10 o towards the drain gutter or hole for draining dirty water. After that, water runoff enters the water collector, and then into aeration places or sewers. If everything is done correctly, then water will not spoil the insulation in any way, and the thermal insulation will last a very long time.

Materials used for insulation

So, everyone can ask themselves the question - “What is the best way to insulate the floor in the bath?”. In service with modern masters and those who want to do floor insulation in the bath with their own hands, there are both new schemes and new materials. As a foundation for familiar buildings country cottages concrete floor slabs or logs are often used. In both the first and second cases, the insulation will be laid, taking into account the features of the base. Based on its technical characteristics, the type of insulating material will be selected.

Expanded polystyrene (polystyrene) is a versatile material, so it can be used to insulate wood and concrete bases. However, floor insulation in the bath with foam plastic is often carried out on a wooden base. This ultra-light material does not absorb moisture accidentally leaking through the wood. As a result, the bases are light in weight and the material itself is very easy to process, while waste is kept to a minimum.

Glass and mineral wool are most often used for insulating concrete floors. If you apply them to wooden floors, you will need to lay an additional layer of waterproofing after the warming layer. If this is not done, the insulation will begin to accumulate moisture, which will lead to a deterioration in thermal insulation.

The floor insulation in the bath with expanded clay is carried out according to the same principle as when using mineral wool. They have similar warmth specifications. If the floor for the bath is wooden, then you will need to lay an additional moisture-proof layer. Bulk material is quite difficult to use as a heater on oblique surfaces. Therefore, so that the expanded clay does not roll down the floor with a slope of 10 o, it is moistened with a liquid cement mortar (in more detail: ""). Another method: to fill the mixture of expanded clay insulation proposed above, followed by pouring cement screed.

To insulate floors on logs, Aisinin foam heat insulator is used. Another option is to use boiler slag. It is covered with a 30 cm layer, on top of 25 cm of foam concrete, and after -10 cm half a pan. The height of the thermal insulation layer is determined based on the climatic conditions of the area in which the bath is being built.

Another good insulation is perlite. This dusty sand insulation is combined with water and cement before use. It acts as a light layer between two layers of concrete screed.

Preparation of perlite insulation

To mix pulverized sand, you need to choose a room where all doors and windows can be closed at the time of preparation of the solution.

• The material is mixed in a deep container with water in a ratio of 2 to 1 until smooth.
• In the resulting solution, you need to slowly pour cement (grade M300 or higher), with a volume that is half the measured from all components. An ordinary bucket can act as a measuring bucket.
• After that, you need to pour in an additional half a bucket of water. Each step must be accompanied by sufficient agitation. At the finishing stage, another half-liter of water is added.

The resulting solution must be different from conventional plastic mixtures designed to smooth out irregularities and finishes. The output should be a crumbly plastic mixture, which can cover the bottom layer of concrete screed with a continuous 10 cm layer. The perlite insulating layer hardens after 5-6 days, after which it is possible to start pouring the top finishing layer from cement mortar. The waterproofing layer and the reinforcing mesh are laid as desired before the finishing leveling layer, they are not mandatory.

And yet, it is important to choose the most suitable insulation for the floor in the bath - which one is better - opinions differ. According to numerous reviews of experts and home craftsmen, polystyrene foam does its job best. It is easier to handle, stack, inexpensive, and leftovers can always be used for other purposes.

The technique of laying insulation on the floor

The method of warming the wooden floors of the bath

It is optimal if the floor insulation in the steam room and other rooms of the bath is carried out during the period of its construction. But provided that the floors were laid with high quality and do not leak, it is possible to perform thermal insulation after. How to insulate the floors in the steam room of the bath?

The procedure is carried out in several stages:

• To begin with, you need to remove the finishing layer and fill the cranial bars around the entire perimeter of the room at the bottom of the beams. A draft floor will be attached to them in the future.
• Low-quality unedged boards are sawn into pieces in such a way that when they are laid on bars, small gaps remain between the board and the beams.
• The fixed boards form a rough floor, on which a waterproofing layer is subsequently laid - when working with wooden floors it is a required element. best choice will become a membrane that performs the functions of a vapor barrier. The film is laid in such a way that the entire surface of the subfloor with beams is protected, as well as walls to a height of 20 cm. The film can be fixed with a construction stapler, and the edges of the insulation sheets must be glued with vapor barrier tape.
• There are two options for further action - lay another rough layer of the floor on the vapor barrier and then insulate, or immediately lay the insulation.
• The decision on how to insulate the floor in the steam room of a wooden bath will depend on which vapor barrier to lay on top under the finishing flooring. As an option, roofing material can become an alternative to the membrane, the joints of which are scrupulously fastened with mastic based on bitumen.
• Mounting foam is used to isolate the gap around the drain pipe from the insulation layer.

When all the manipulations with the location of the insulation are completed, you can lay the finishing layer of the wooden floor, remove the remaining insulation and close the joints with skirting boards.

To ventilate the wooden floor, a small gap should be left under the finishing layer - about 3-4 cm.

How to insulate a concrete floor in a bath

The concrete floor can be poured either directly onto the ground or onto the concrete slabs below the floors. A waterproofing layer is laid on this rough screed. For these purposes, either a roll coating or 3 layers of coating mastic are used. Alternatively, both types of insulation can be combined.

Styrofoam, expanded clay, mineral wool sheets or other heat-insulating materials at the choice of the owner are placed on top of the insulation. In this case, it is worth considering the technical characteristics of a particular type of insulation in order to correctly calculate the layer thickness and the required amount of material.

Next, reinforcement is performed - that is, a reinforcing mesh is installed on top of the insulation on alabaster-cement or plastic fasteners into which a layer of cement screed is poured. The subsequent finishing of a concrete floor is made at the request of the owner.

The subtleties of warming individual bath rooms

Since the purpose and intensity of use of the bath rooms vary, many are wondering what kind of floor insulation is required in the dressing room. Since this is a rest room, the insulation in it can not be supplemented with waterproofing. Basically, water is poured directly onto the floor only in the washing room, where waterproofing is indispensable.

The steam room is used most intensively in the bath, where heat preservation is very important. But whether it is necessary to insulate the floor in the steam room additionally - everyone decides for himself. It is recommended to raise the floor in the steam room by 10-15 cm above the general level, which will make it possible to lay another layer of thermal insulation on the finished floor and put an additional floor on the logs. This approach will reduce heat loss and speed up the heating of the steam room.

Thus, the technique of floor insulation in the bath is briefly described by us in this material, so that everyone can roughly imagine the expected volume and complexity of the work. It should be noted that when calculating the amount of thermal insulation materials, you need to rely on the weather conditions at the location of the bath.

A Russian bath is the place where a person relaxes, rests his body and soul, therefore, even during construction, it is necessary to think about the insulation of walls, ceilings and, most importantly, floors in all rooms, because experts say that good insulation can reduce heat consumption by almost half. In addition, it takes much more time to heat rooms without proper insulation, and they cool down in a matter of hours.

The floor in the bath often serves not only as a place on which you walk, but also as a drain of water, which, in the absence of insulation and waterproofing, can rot very quickly and become covered with mold that is dangerous to health.

To visit the steam room to be as effective, useful and comfortable as possible, you need to know how to insulate the floor yourself. After all, the microclimate that forms in the bath itself, the dressing room and the rest room is so different that such a sharp temperature drop can adversely affect health, especially if you have small children.

*Important! If during construction the issues of thermal and waterproofing were not taken into account, or if you got an already finished building for a bath, then you will have to completely dismantle the floor covering and re-equip the floor.

In this article, we will consider several options for thermal insulation, the choice of which depends on the material of the flooring (the most common are wood and concrete) and its structure (screed on the ground, on the floor, and so on). Usually use modern technologies or folk methods that have not lost their relevance among the owners for many years country houses and dachas. We will also give you a couple of practical tips and recommendations for warming the floor in the bath with your own hands.

Material selection

Since a bath is a place where an increased level of moisture and temperature is observed, professional builders recommend that you take the choice of heat-insulating material very seriously, because its quality and correct installation depends on whether the steam room will be in operation for many years, without causing unnecessary trouble.

*Important! The main characteristic when choosing a heater is the level of its hydrophobicity, that is, the level of water absorption.

The choice of insulation depends on the material from which the floor is made. There is also a universal insulation with an excellent price-to-quality ratio - polystyrene foam and its twin brother - polystyrene foam. Due to their lightness, they can be easily cut into pieces of the required size, while both materials do not absorb moisture and have low thermal conductivity. In addition to these two, there are a large number of other materials:

• Mineral and glass wool. They are used only for warming concrete floors. When used for wood decking, it is important to wrap the wadding in a thick layer of waterproofing because the wadding absorbs moisture very well and quickly loses its thermal insulation properties. And when wet, the structure quickly collapses;
• Expanded clay. It is used only for warming concrete floors. It has similar characteristics with glass wool, requires an additional layer of hydro and vapor barrier. Expanded clay is used both in pure form and in the form of a mixture with cement. After the solution, the space between the lower and upper cement screed is poured.
• Perlite. Material in the form of sand or dust, which is mixed with cement, water and poured between cement floor screeds. After hardening, it has a porous structure. Less commonly used for wood flooring. After hardening, perlite acquires a cellular structure, allowing to reduce heat loss in the steam room.

*Interesting! As a replacement for the above raw materials, no less high-quality analogues are sometimes used - building felt, cinder block and foam concrete.

Wooden floor insulation

Immediately before starting, some preparatory work should be carried out, namely:

• Carry out the dismantling of the flooring, remove all the logs, and if you plan to use them after insulation, we recommend numbering all the boards;
• All floorboards must be inspected for defects, chips, cracks and fungus. If this was found, it is better to replace the floorboard completely;

*Advice! When you lay the flooring back after all the manipulations, do not forget to leave a gap of 3-4 cm between the top layer of insulation and the wooden blocks. This will prevent the boards from deforming, and there will also be an additional layer of ventilation.

If the bath was built on soil with a high level of moisture, an ordinary roofing material is suitable as a waterproofing material. It must be laid so that the insulation layer does not have gaps and partially extends onto the walls.

Although wood is less durable than concrete, it is most often used to cover the floor in baths because of its environmental friendliness and high thermal insulation performance. The most popular trees for decking are:

• Poplar;
• Pine;
• Fir;

*Important! If the boards in the dressing room and other rooms are covered with an antiseptic to prevent the wood fibers from being allowed to grow by fungal growths, then due to the high level of toxicity in the steam room itself, this should by no means be done.

The best choice as a heater would be a material with closed cells that do not allow moisture to pass through. The best option is expanded polystyrene, as well as its modern counterparts:

• Ecowool;
• Pena Aisinin.

This material is light, so it practically does not affect the weight of the entire wooden structure.

And so, the second step after the dismantling of the flooring. To lay a layer of insulation, it is necessary to create a support for the draft floor, increasing the lower edges of the log with bars smaller than the distance between the beams.

A layer of waterproofing is laid on the support of the subfloor, represented by a special membrane, which simultaneously protects against moisture and steam. If the bath is built on water soil, then a layer of roofing material is laid, which must necessarily cover all the boards and climb the walls to a height of twenty centimeters along the perimeter of the steam room. It is better to seal the formed seams with a vapor barrier tape, you can buy it in a specialized store, the average price is 520 rubles per 10 meters (strip width 70 mm), and the joints with a construction stapler.

Next, either another subfloor or insulation is laid on top of the waterproofing layer. The thickness of the total layer is usually 200-250 mm, depending on how much it is necessary to reduce heat loss, and on the financial capabilities of the owners.

Another layer of hydro and vapor barrier is laid on top of the insulation. At this stage, the membrane can be replaced again with roofing material, and the resulting seams can be sealed with mastic.

At the final stage, the space near the drain pipe is filled with mounting foam. A finished floor is already laid on top.

*Interesting! In the shower room, you can not nail the finished floor to the base, but leave it as it is. This will allow from time to time to easily remove it and dry it from the moisture accumulated there.

concrete floor insulation

Concrete flooring is very popular because of its durability. Due to its high strength, annual refurbishment of the floor can reduce costs. It usually consists of concrete slabs, blocks of mineral wool, polystyrene, as well as the aforementioned expanded clay are used for insulation. It is necessary to start warming only after carrying out work on the preparation of the lower cement screed (subfloor).

We lay the first layer of waterproofing. The easiest to install and inexpensive option would be to use a durable layer of polyethylene or roofing material. We spread the film around the entire perimeter of the steam room (it should protrude 5-6 centimeters onto the walls, later the extra edges can be easily cut off).

Insulation is laid on the waterproofing layer. For a more reliable fixation, you can fasten a wooden frame to the semi-draft using self-tapping screws or other fasteners.

As with the insulation of a wooden coating, we lay another waterproofing layer on the thermal insulation layer. When laying, the sheets are laid with an overlap of 10 cm and connected with a stapler.

On this stage the last layer is poured with a special solution no more than two centimeters thick, then a reinforcing mesh is placed, which is located on special plastic supports.

After complete drying, using a self-leveling mixture, lay the final rough screed 5-8 centimeters thick. It is leveled using a special device - a needle roller, which removes all air bubbles. Sometimes, at the request of the owners, instead of a finishing screed, a layer of ceramic tiles or porcelain stoneware is laid.

Other premises

In addition to the steam room and shower room, there is also a dressing room in the bathhouse. The amount of moisture in it is several times less, therefore, when insulating, you can not lay a layer of hydroprotection, that is, it is enough to insulate the space between the rough and finish screed.

In the case when the bath has already been built, professional builders recommend not dismantling the floor covering, but simply performing insulation on top of the existing one. Of course, the volume and height of the room will decrease by raising the floor by ten to fifteen centimeters, but the room will heat up faster and stay warm longer.

Folk methods

• Straw. For floor insulation, you can also use straw, but only rye. It must be mixed with liquid clay in a ratio of 1x1. You have to mix the clay manually or with your feet. With the resulting solution, fill the earthen base in the bath, level it and wait for it to dry completely.
• Sawdust. The processing process is identical to that of straw. Sawdust can be used for any tree species, but coniferous are best. Because they contain special resinous substances in their fibers, which, when heated, are released into the air and thereby slow down the process of decay and the spread of moisture.
• Bulk heaters. As a heater, you can use expanded clay, slag from factories, and so on. Raw materials are poured, usually on an earthen base 5-10 cm thick. From above, the layer must be compacted and poured with a thick layer of clay (10-15 cm, or more).

*Interesting! If it's cold for you to stand on the floor, then the easiest and cheapest option would be to buy special wooden gratings. You can easily make them yourself, just make sure that there are no nails sticking out of anywhere, and also process the boards to get rid of knots. In stores, you can also buy special rubberized mats.

Let's summarize

If you have your own sauna, so that nothing interferes with a friendly warm atmosphere, in order to reduce the cost of fuel for heating the room, in order to reduce the time it takes to warm up the bath to the required temperature, you should think about insulation initially, during construction. But even if this issue was not taken into account, then it will not be difficult to dismantle the floor covering, and then insulate it.