Do-it-yourself glass door installation in a bathhouse and sauna

When arranging modern baths, glass door structures are increasingly being used. Glass goes well with wood and is not afraid of moisture and significant temperature changes. They are installed both in the shower and directly in the sauna. In this case, it is possible to independently install a glass door in a steam room without involving a specialist.

Glass doors to the steam room: installation instructions

Content:

• Advantages
• Kinds
• Preparation
• Installation

A modern bathhouse may well look stylish and original, without losing its direct functional purpose. One of the elements that can significantly “refresh” a bath complex is a glass door to the steam room. Moreover, such a construction innovation is in many ways even superior to its classic “brother” - a wooden door. If you see your sauna in a modern design, we invite you to try your hand at installing a glass door to the steam room with your own hands.

Advantages of a glass door for a steam room

The main requirements for a glass door for installation in a steam room are no different from the requirements for a wooden door - safety and tightness. Keep this in mind when choosing a product and consider only heat- and impact-resistant tempered glass options.

Now let’s find out what properties make glass steam room doors a serious competitor to wooden structures:

Resistance to aggressive steam room environment

Tempered glass is not susceptible to deformation by high humidity and temperature, so it will retain the shape and functionality of the door for a very long time.

Ease of use

. Glass doors can be easily cleaned and washed with ordinary detergents, and with regular care they do not lose their appearance for a long time.

Safety

. Tempered glass structures are durable, and if they break, they do not form fragments, but crumble into small, non-sharp pieces. They are fireproof and, thanks to their transparency, allow you to help the person in the steam room if necessary.

• Design scope
  . Installing a glass door in a steam room can solve several design problems at once: create a modern interior, expand the space and make the premises brighter. Such products are made of frosted and transparent glass, onto which you can optionally apply any pattern or pattern that can become a “feature” of your bathhouse or sauna.

A few words about aesthetics

Each of us wants to surround ourselves with beauty, make our personal space stylish, cozy, and non-standard. This is easy to do in a residential building or apartment. Baths, for the most part, are similar to each other in both arrangement and decoration.

Doors for steam rooms made of glass help to add zest to the interior of the bathhouse, let in more light, and expand the space. They look “lighter” and have a huge variety of designs.

Look how interesting these baths look:

Glass doors and partitions are a real salvation for those who suffer from claustrophobia or are simply not in good health. Through them, even if the glass is colored or frosted, you can distinguish silhouettes and, if necessary, come to the rescue.

Types of glass doors for steam rooms

Today, the construction market offers a fairly wide selection of similar products, so you can choose any glass doors for a steam room - the size, color of glass, type and presence of decorative elements can solve a design problem of any complexity. Thus, in the assortment of many manufacturers you will find doors made of tempered glass in transparent, matte, mirrored or decorated versions of different colors (gray, green, “bronze”). Even if you don’t find a ready-made model suitable for your idea in terms of size or decor, they will make it for you to order.

In terms of structural elements, the glass door to the steam room can be pendulum or hinged. Pendulum products open both inward and outward, and can be used for steam rooms. They are installed with mounting in the floor and ceiling with the obligatory mounting of the closer. A swing door made of glass opens only in one direction (in the case of a steam room, only outward) and is mounted in the door frame using hinges.

Removing transparency

Glass doors for a bath confuse some with their transparency, then we will tell you how to quickly eliminate this drawback, and without reducing the quality of the material.

• A bathhouse door with glass can be made matte and not transparent using a sandblaster. The price of the work is not so high, so anyone can afford it;
• If you have a talent for drawing, then you have the opportunity to apply a drawing on the surface (see Doors for painting: we prepare and paint). There are many waterproof paints available in retail stores;
• It is also possible to tint glass; there are many films available in the retail trade that are designed just for this;
• It is possible to spray on the surface; there are a large number of companies that can easily and quickly carry out this work. It is possible to give a shade of gold and silver.

Preparation before installing glass doors in the steam room

To ensure that the installation of a glass door in a steam room is successful and of the highest quality, consider the following points in advance:

Measurement accuracy

Please take into account the fact that a finished product made of tempered glass can no longer be “tweaked” during installation, like a wooden one. Therefore, take your measurements seriously: if you are setting up a sauna, then the door to the steam room should have a small gap at the bottom (about 5 mm).

Readiness of the installation site

. Ideally, it is better to install the door in a place already prepared for this (frame or walls and floor). Also decide in which direction your doors to the steam room will open - left or right, not forgetting that in any case - only outwards, in order to determine where to install the jamb.

Availability of an assistant

. Since glass door products intended for installation in a steam room have a “heavy” mass, you will need additional help.

• Accuracy in work
  . Even tempered glass with a thickness of 8 mm is still glass, so when installing doors, be careful not to damage the panel.

The requirements for fittings for glass doors to a steam room are the same as for wooden ones. They must be resistant to moisture, not burn and be comfortable to use. However, aesthetic requirements in the case of glass products also become important. Therefore, before installing a glass door in the steam room, pay attention to the choice of fittings. Here, the priority will be materials with anti-corrosion properties (for hinges) and hardwood (for handles and door frames), which can withstand a heavy door leaf.

Compliance with safety regulations

The selection and installation of a glass door to the sauna should be carried out taking into account safety precautions. This applies to both the characteristics of the material and the design. It is recommended to purchase thick glass (from 7 mm) so that it cannot be damaged by mechanical impact. A hardwood box is preferred. If the structure is made of coniferous wood, this can be dangerous - when heated, resin will begin to be released that can burn human skin.

Also pay attention to the material from which the fittings for the glass doors to the sauna are made. Handles and other elements should not overheat so as not to cause burns when touched.

Photo No. 5: fittings for glass doors

Technology for installing glass doors in a steam room

When you have prepared a place for installing a glass door in the steam room, selected and purchased the door itself, and enlisted the support of an “assistant,” you can proceed to the process of installing the door leaf. When unpacking the doors, we recommend that you do not put the wooden strips far from the packaging - they can be used to lay the door leaf on the floor for more convenient lifting it from the floor.

Now lift the canvas and place it in the doorway, securing it with wedges. After checking the parameters necessary for the normal functioning of the doors (geometry and gaps), position the product and slightly tighten the screws on the top of the frame from the hinge side. After re-checking the verticality, perform the same operation with the fasteners on the other side. Check the geometry again and tighten the screws as tightly as possible.

Having installed the frame, insert the glass door panel into the hinges (with the help of an assistant) and tighten them, not forgetting that excessive efforts can lead to the glass cracking. Check the result for symmetry, gaps and tightness, after which you can proceed to installing the latch and handle.

Do-it-yourself glass door installation in a bathhouse and sauna

The traditional material for a bathhouse is wood, but this does not mean that other materials cannot be used. It is even possible if their characteristics are not inferior to or superior to wood. A fairly striking example of a worthy replacement is glass doors for a bathhouse or sauna. When using glass doors in a steam room, there are practically no negative aspects.

Glass doors to the steam room

There are three main disadvantages:

• Great price (it's justified).
• Thermal conductivity is higher than that of wood, but special doors for baths and saunas use tempered glass, which not only withstands high temperatures, but also has reduced thermal conductivity. It is impossible to get burned by touching such doors.
• Fragility. This problem is partially solved by tempering: the treated glass is not so fragile, and when it breaks, it breaks into many fragments without sharp edges. Also, to increase strength in the manufacture of glass doors to the bathhouse, glass with a thickness of at least 8 mm is used. Both hardening and thickness affect the cost, so good glass doors cost a lot, but they are not easy to break.

Glass doors to the steam room with a pattern

These are, perhaps, all the shortcomings. But there are plenty of advantages:

• Through the glass door you can see people in the steam room. From a safety point of view, this is great: you can come to the rescue in a timely manner if you suddenly feel sick.
• It becomes lighter in the steam room and this light is dim, diffused, pleasant to the eye and conducive to relaxation.
• The service life of a glass door to a bathhouse made of tempered glass is almost unlimited, unless it is broken.
• Cleaning glass doors in a bathhouse is much easier than cleaning wooden ones. Any detergent is suitable.
• The glass doors in the steam room are not threatened by fungi and mold; there is simply no place for them to multiply on a timely cleaned glass surface.
• No deformation under any operating conditions: neither temperature, nor humidity, nor their changes and differences in any way affect the dimensions of the glass door leaf.
• Modern glass doors for a sauna or bathhouse are beautiful.

Glass door for a bath

Despite all the advantages of glass doors, not everyone recommends installing them in a bathhouse. This is due to the fact that it is important to retain steam in the steam room of a Russian bath. To do this, make a high threshold - at least 10 cm, and a door leaf that fits tightly to the jamb. In a sauna, on the contrary, they often make a gap under the door leaf to ensure air flow. Therefore, you can safely install glass doors in the sauna.

For lovers of high quality, we can recommend products from the Finnish company Harvia. We have previously talked about Harvia sauna stoves, but in addition to stoves, the company produces a large assortment of glass doors for saunas and baths.

Glass doors for baths and saunas from the Finnish company Harvia. Glass color (from left to right): bronze, gray, white, satin (matte)

Having read the reviews of those who have a glass door installed in a Russian bathhouse, we came to the conclusion: it is also possible to install glass doors in a bathhouse. And this will not interfere with retaining steam at all. The doors should open outward “from the steam room” (to the right or left, as is convenient), and they can be installed so that it is possible to fill a threshold on the side of the steam room, which perfectly retains all the moisture inside. Good glass doors are made in such a way that they practically do not allow steam to pass through at the points of contact with the frame (the kit includes a seal that is inserted into the frame). So they install a glass door in the bathhouse and don’t complain.

Glass door with a pattern

According to reviews from bath attendants, some use the glass door to determine the humidity in the steam room - they say it “works” no worse than a hygrometer, some are pleased with the ease of care, but everyone unanimously claims that they have no regrets. And the main advantage of a glass door to a Russian bath is that it does not react to changes in humidity: it does not swell or shrink, because any wooden door either swells or shrinks. Because of this, it is difficult to open/close, which is not good, or large cracks appear through which the same steam escapes and heat loss increases. Everyone who has installed glass doors in their bathhouse or sauna definitely advises, in addition to the quality of the glass, to pay attention to the fittings.

Standard sizes

Doors for baths in a store

The main inconvenience associated with non-standard dimensions is the price of the product. In addition, it must first be made to order. It’s much easier to come to the store and buy something ready-made.

In principle, there is no significant difference between the doors in a bathhouse, residential or public place. The standards for them are the same, and all the nuances relate only to high humidity and temperature changes, which are characteristic of baths, but this is a separate topic.

Previously, it was necessary to focus only on GOST, but now, if it is possible to order products from abroad, you need to take into account the sizes of bath doors according to Western standards

According to GOST

Let's start with the fact that inside the bathhouse you can install doors made of wood, glass and plastic. However, wood in this regard turns out to be decisive, because companies that work with plastic are ready to make any size of bathhouse door, and glass models do not differ in size from standard wooden ones.

Wooden

The regulatory document according to which doors for residential and public buildings are manufactured is GOST 6629-88.

Below are two plates that give the width and height of the door leaf without the frame in millimeters, and at the intersections of the rows and columns - the designation of the dimensions of the doorways in decimeters.

ATTENTION! The opening is quite significantly larger than the size of the canvas - 10 cm.

Table 1. Wooden doors for a bathhouse: dimensions of glazed panels

Table 2. Dimensions of blind panels

According to European standards

In general, the standard dimensions of a bathhouse door can be specified in three ways: the door leaf itself without a frame, with a frame, and the size of the light opening. However, there is nothing difficult in independently calculating the entire trinity, knowing one of the values ​​and how much less or more the other values ​​are, because the opening and the box are larger than the canvas by constant amounts.

Table 3. Interdependence of the opening, frame and leaf

Fittings for glass doors to the sauna

When choosing a glass door for a bathhouse or sauna, try to find a model with three or more canopies. The thickness of the glass for a door to a sauna or bathhouse must be at least 7 mm, and such a monolith weighs a lot. And two hinges often don’t hold up and break. Even if there are two holders, pay attention to the possibility of replacing them or installing additional ones. Hinges for a glass door to a sauna must be made of stainless steel or any material that is not subject to corrosion.

Fittings for glass doors to the sauna

It is worth paying attention to the latch. Glass sauna doors, which cost less, often have a ball latch installed. The disadvantage of ball latches is that they often jam and can cause unpleasant moments at the most inopportune moment (you were about to jump out of the steam room and knock over the douche device on yourself, but the door does not open). The most ideal option for a steam room door is magnetic latches made of three or four elements. They are always functional.

Glass door with magnetic latch

Door fittings also include handles. Wooden handles are usually installed on glass doors to a sauna or bathhouse. When purchasing, make sure that they are comfortable and located at the desired height. For greater comfort and reliability, special silicone gaskets are often placed between the handles and the glass door - this is not an unnecessary precaution.

Fittings for glass doors to the sauna

Methods for attaching the door leaf to the frame

First, let's go through the structure of the door structure. Yes, they are different and when choosing, this should be taken into account - both in material and in structure, but the basics are preserved: it consists of a canvas and a box, which are connected by hinges and locks.

Doors with frames on sale

The box is what we commonly call joints. U-shaped structure framing the doorway. If you look closely, you will notice that it has a ledge into which the closed door rests. It's called a quarter. This creates a tight seal.

Please note this diagram shows a “quarter” - the selected ledge in the jamb

Doors can be made of wood, metal, plastic, glass. And also from their combinations. The easiest way to connect panels and frames is on wooden doors. There are several types of loops for this. You can learn more about the types of loops from this article.

Here it is enough to say that the owner can still select hinges and awnings for a wooden door himself. But the glass bathhouse door, plastic and iron, will come to him with hinges already installed. Well, the plus is that you don’t have to choose.

Installation of external overhead hinges and canopies will not cause problems - just position the canvas and the box exactly horizontally and mark the fastening points, which are done with ordinary screws. Then you can put the box in the opening, the door in it, and all that remains is to screw in the screws according to the markings.

The card loops have to be cut in - you will need a chisel for this. Outline the markings with a pencil, then carefully remove 2-3 mm (it is better to measure the thickness of the immersed part of the loop in advance).

Screw-in hinges require fusion on the canvas. Such doors are very rare in bathhouses. Therefore, we will not consider them.

Internal butterfly trims are easy to install - they are thin and do not require chisel work.

IMPORTANT! The box is placed in the opening without any canvas. In some cases, it can be hung almost immediately after leveling, because it is used to resist the expansion of the polyurethane foam

But most often the canvas is hung according to the markings made in advance after installing the box in the opening.

Inserting a lock is a rather complicated procedure, for which you need to have a special cutter, although you can also work with ordinary chisels. However, inside the bath you only need a latch or magnetic lock. The latter is located on the handle; there is no need to cut it in. The process of installing the latch can be seen in the following video:

Installing a glass door in a sauna or bathhouse

There is one fundamental difference in installing a door in a sauna or bathhouse:

in the sauna there is no threshold in the steam room, and the gap between the door leaf and the floor does not close. In a bathhouse, a threshold is desirable - it will help retain moisture in the steam room. This should be taken into account when choosing a glass door and determining its size.

Glass sauna doors can have a metal or wooden frame. The steel frame is installed before finishing the walls, the wooden frame – after. This is their main difference.

If you decide to install it yourself, you will need an assistant - the canvas weighs a lot (a square meter of 7 mm thick canvas is about 25 kilograms) and it will be difficult to hold it alone without installation experience.

When disassembling the packaging, place wooden strips from it next to it: it is convenient to lay the glass sheet on them and you will not need to solve the problem of how to lift it from the floor later.

In order to detach the glass from the frame, you need to loosen the fastening screws on the hinges and bend them on the opposite side. After this, the glass can be lifted and placed on wooden slats.

Glass doors for sauna

During installation, you can change the direction of door opening - left or right - by changing the location of the jamb. Having chosen the direction of opening the door, install the box in the opening. Use wedges to secure. Be sure to check that the installation is vertical. This determines how easy it is to open/close the door and how long it will last.

Once positioned, lightly tighten the screws at the top of the box on the side where the hinges are located and check again that they are vertical. Repeat the procedure with the fasteners on the other side. Once you have finally installed the box, tighten the screws as tightly as possible. The box is installed.

The next step will be installing the glass. It needs to be inserted into the loops and tightened. At this stage, an assistant is simply necessary: ​​one holds the glass, the other tightens the fastener.

It is easy to check whether the door is installed correctly or not: you need to close the doors and check the gaps. If everything is done correctly, the gaps are the same, and the canvas fits tightly to the seal. Now you can install the latch and handle. The installation of a glass door in a sauna or bathhouse is completed.

Having some skill, installing doors will not be difficult, otherwise it is better to entrust the installation of a glass door to professionals: buying a new one will be much more expensive...

A professional can install a glass door alone.

You can install glass doors not only in a bathhouse or sauna. They will fit perfectly into the hammam: modern technologies allow you to apply a variety of designs of varying complexity and theme. The rules for choosing a glass door and installing it in a hammam are no different.

Glass door to hammam

Advice: it is better to install either a frosted glass door or one with a pattern in the steam room. There were cases when they simply did not notice the transparent one and “opened” it with their heads

Disadvantages of glass doors for a bath

Although the glass door is practically devoid of disadvantages, here are the most significant of them:

• Cleaving ability . At its core, glass is a rather fragile material, however, when tempered, it becomes quite durable, and it is not so easy to break. In addition, the glass door to the steam room is 8 mm thick, so it can be considered quite reliable and practical.
• Thermal conductivity . Of course, this figure for glass is much higher than for wood. However, for baths and saunas, tempered glass is used, which is not afraid of sudden changes in temperature and humidity, and their level of thermal conductivity is much lower than in ordinary glass.
• High price . It is justified by the good quality and reliability of such products.

By and large, these shortcomings cannot be taken too seriously, because most of them are easy to fix. But the advantages of these products should be discussed separately.

Advantages of glass doors in a steam room

The advantages of glass doors are as follows:

• Since glass transmits light, the steamy room creates an environment with diffused, dim lighting, conducive to relaxation and rest.
• Through the steam room door with glass you can see what is happening inside. This is very important, because if one of the visitors becomes ill, they will see it and be able to help.
• If you do not expose the glass door to direct impacts and do not break it, such a product can last for more than one year.
• Glass doors are much easier to care for than wooden ones, because you can use any household chemicals (pro

How to choose fittings for a glass door

Since the thickness of the door leaf is usually at least 7 mm, the weight of the entire structure is quite large. Therefore, when installing canopies, this fact should be taken into account, that is, there must be at least three hinges for a glass door so that they can hold it and not break. In cases where only two canopies are provided in the kit, you need to make sure that the possibility of adding hinges is provided.

As for the material, it is better to choose stainless steel hinges, which do not rust or wear out too quickly.

The fittings also include door latches. In inexpensive models of glass doors, ball latches are often installed, however, they are short-lived, wear out quite quickly and can jam at any time. It is unlikely that anyone will object that it is not particularly pleasant to be locked inside a steam room when you urgently want to get out and cool off. But magnetic latches are the best option for a sauna. They are very durable and never jam.

It’s worth mentioning the handles separately. Basically, wooden handles are mounted on glass doors, which do not heat up so much under the influence of high temperatures in the steam room. The only requirement for them is convenience of location. Sometimes silicone gaskets are placed between the glass and the handles to prevent scratching the glass.

Material

By default, doors are made using 8mm tempered glass. It is similar to ordinary glass in appearance and has a similar manufacturing technology, with the exception of additional processing under high temperature conditions. The tempering procedure boils down to heating the glass to 500-600°C and sharply reducing the temperature, when the creation of compressive stresses inside the particles helps to increase its strength. What does heat treatment provide:

• Increased resistance to mechanical stress.
• High resistance to temperature fluctuations in the range -70°C-250°C.
• Health safety. If the integrity of the canvas is damaged, the risk of injury is minimal, since it is quite difficult to cut yourself on large fragments with no sharp edges.

The service life of doors largely depends on the quality of the supporting structure, which, in turn, is influenced by the material of manufacture.

Boxes are made from different types of wood:

• Spliced ​​linden with low density, high strength, lightness and external softness. It smells very pleasant, does not contain resins, and has a beautiful light color.
• Aspens are the best solution for operation in conditions of intense steam generation and high temperatures. It has a high density, low content of resinous substances, provides a disinfecting effect and does not lose its beneficial properties over the years. The strength characteristics of aspen are almost similar to oak.
• Pines – pine boxes are found in products from Scandinavian manufacturers. It has a high resin content, which explains its immunity to wood diseases, is heat-resistant, strong and durable.