How to insulate a bath door with your own hands: types of insulation, methods of thermal insulation

Modern bath doors must have an airtight and functional design, as well as reliable thermal insulation to prevent drafts and cold from entering the premises.

Let's look at how to insulate a door in a bathhouse to avoid heat loss, maintain optimal temperature conditions in a steam room, and what are the different ways to thermally insulate a door leaf.

Insulation for a bathhouse door with your own hands - thermal curtain

A thermal curtain will help to effectively ensure thermal insulation of the dressing room.
Make a sealing frame on the inside of the door block. Cut the insulation into strips (2 strips measuring 10 cm * 100 cm and 2 strips 10 cm * 200 cm are enough). Nail them along the perimeter of the door frame 2 cm from the edge, placing them towards the door.

With a standard door size, nail wooden blocks on top of the insulation: two measuring 2x2x184 cm, and two measuring 2x2x80 cm. Wrap them with strips of insulation, cutting off its excess and press it on three sides with cash.

From thick fabric, tarpaulin or leatherette, make a continuous screen measuring 120 * 200 cm. On one side, sew it along the entire height so that a block measuring 2x2x200 cm fits inside this flap.

The other side must be attached to the wall, 10 centimeters from the cash. Cover the edge with a decorative strip. Sew metal rings at the top of the fabric.

Now the final stage of making a thermal curtain for a bathhouse door with your own hands - screw a self-tapping screw above the rail, leaving a 2 cm end outside, to which you should attach a strong wire.

We stretch it through the rings of the screen and secure it with another screw above the door block parallel to the cashing. To the left of the door, attach two springs or rubber bands from a bicycle inner tube, providing them with hooks. Sew rings onto the screen at the level of these springs. The work is done.

When not in use, the screen is located to the right, behind the door. When you enter the bathhouse, move it to the left, securing it to the hooks; the fabric will fit tightly to the sealing frame, blocking the access of cold air.

Installation of a thermal circuit on a door

One of the most popular ways to insulate a door is to install a thermal circuit. The work is performed as follows:

1. Thin wooden slats 1.5 × 2 cm are placed around the perimeter of the door leaf with a space of 1.5 cm from the edge.
2. A hardboard filler is installed inside the contour and secured with metal construction brackets.
3. A two-layer insulation made of felt or foil insulation is installed on the circuit. A piece of material is first cut out with 6 cm allowances and fixed to the contour with aluminum nails.
4. Next, the counter-lattice is installed and the cladding is done with wooden clapboard.

When closing the door leaf, the insulated structure will protect against the penetration of cold air and retain heat inside the room.

Warming the bath from the cold

Insulation from the inside is a mandatory aspect when building a bathhouse. This step will help reduce heating costs, maintain the desired temperature and speed up the heating of the room.

Thermal insulation materials are usually divided into two types:

• organic origin;
• inorganic origin.

Not only the thermal insulation and moisture-resistant characteristics of the insulating material, but also its environmental friendliness are considered a very important factor. In order to prevent heat from escaping outside, the base is often sheathed with foam boards, secured with glue. To insulate the walls of the bathhouse, lathing made of bars is used. If necessary, insulation is sometimes placed not in one layer, but in several at once. Sheathing with clapboard is the last stage, in which a small gap is left to prevent the material from rotting.

Ceiling insulation should not be ignored, otherwise 15% of all heat will be lost. The ceiling in the bathhouse is insulated using foam boards, which significantly reduces heat loss. After the seams are sealed with special foam and vapor barrier materials are used, you can begin covering with boards.

Operation 'do-it-yourself insulation of bathhouse walls from the inside'

There is a fairly common, one might say traditional, scheme for insulating walls using fiber insulation and lining.

1. It is necessary to create a frame on the working surface of the load-bearing wall. A horizontal and vertical timber sheathing is attached to the wall. The thickness of the timber should exceed the thickness of the insulation itself by 20–30 mm. Such a reserve is necessary so that the insulation layer does not wrinkle, does not slip and retains its properties.
2. The wall is covered with mineral wool (or other material of your choice).
3. A layer of vapor barrier (foil vapor barrier, foil) is applied on top of the insulation. It needs to be overlapped, the joints are sealed with thin slats. There should be a distance of about 3 cm between the vapor barrier and the mineral wool.
4. The lining is placed on a vertical sheathing 30–50 mm wide. The remaining distance thus creates a gap for ventilation.

This method is proven, but labor-intensive. Now building materials can greatly simplify the entire insulation process. Modern heat insulators combine several properties at once: insulation and waterproofing. Foil foam is just such a material. This insulation has high fire resistance and is easy to use and install.

The described scheme is well suited for a timber bathhouse. Panel and frame buildings have their own characteristics of wall insulation. To insulate panel walls, light materials are used: polystyrene foam, reed slabs, mineral wool. An additional requirement in this case is to treat the heat insulator with lime milk and then dry it well. This will protect the material from rotting and increase fire resistance.

A bathhouse with frame walls in cold climates is insulated with fiberboard or reed slabs. If the area has a warmer climate, then you can use gypsum, sawdust, cement and shavings. To insulate walls, make a mixture, for example, of sawdust and gypsum (proportion 1 to 10). The resulting mixture is poured between the wall sheathing in a layer of 200 mm.

The photo shows the preparation for insulating the bathhouse, banyu-stroim.ru

In the photo, part of the bathhouse insulation has been completed, www.mkndom.ru

The photo shows the insulation of the dressing room, floor, ultra-term.ru

The photo shows the insulation of a bathhouse, strport.ru

The photo shows the thermal insulation of a bathhouse, ultra-term.ru

Several ways to insulate a bath door

Staple fiberglass can be used as insulation for a door block in a bathhouse; expanded polystyrene, incl. extruded; foamed polyethylene foam or basalt insulation. Each of these materials has its own characteristics in terms of flammability, vapor permeability, and environmental friendliness. But, in principle, any of them can be used.

Depending on the initial design of the door block, the insulation method is chosen:

• Manufacturing an additional wooden frame from timber and then installing it on an existing structure using insulation and decorative coating.
• Laying insulation into the inner chamber of the door.
• Installation of thermal insulation on top of the canvas using nails or screws, followed by covering the material with decorative finishing.
• Thermal curtain.

Let us consider in more detail the above mentioned insulation methods.

Popular insulation materials, advantages

Conclusion:

Having spent money on insulation materials once, the owner will gain peace of mind and comfort for many years! If the work is done correctly, the heat in the bath will remain!

The most important task of a door in a bathhouse is to keep out the outside cold. And, of course, not all doors can cope with it - that’s why they need to be insulated. And the modern market offers a lot of insulation for this purpose: staple fiberglass, basalt, various types of polystyrene foam... But not everything is suitable for a bathhouse. In general, in terms of insulating a bath door, two main methods are practiced today: either the insulation is placed in the inner chamber of the door, or it is mounted on a wooden door using dowels, covered with some kind of decor for aesthetic purposes.

But the first thing you need to pay attention to is the vapor permeability of the insulation, because polyethylene foam and expanded polystyrene do not allow steam from the bath to pass through them, and therefore immediately create an unpleasant “greenhouse” effect. Because of this, a wooden door with such insulation quickly becomes damp and loses quality

By the way, many bathhouse attendants speak extremely negatively about foam rubber with a sticker for insulating a bathhouse door - they say that this is a completely unworkable option. The article will talk about those materials that have been tested over the years.

The door to the bathhouse is swelling

With high humidity, high temperature and poor ventilation, the door may swell. This is not a good sign, but it is not necessary to replace the door with a new one:

• Provide good ventilation in the room and allow the wood to dry thoroughly;
• After complete drying, when the door returns to its previous size, apply a special water-repellent solution to it. It will prevent moisture from seeping into the wood in the future.

Tip: When treating the door with a water-repellent solution, do not forget about the door jamb. It must also be isolated from excess liquid.

The solution for treating doors can be polyfluid. It is very easy to apply and penetrates well into the very depths of the fibers, creating a protective layer. Read the instructions on how to choose a sauna stove

Materials recommended for thermal insulation

Having determined the basic criteria of insulation, you can select a material that meets all safety requirements.

Foamed polyethylene with a layer of foil does not burn, allows steam to pass through and retains moisture. The aluminum layer of the material repels heat waves back into the room, which allows you to maintain a high temperature inside the bath. Polyethylene foam is safe, durable, and easy to nail or staple.

Felt is a proven wool insulation material; it does not lose its heat insulating properties even when wet. Natural material does not burn, is resistant to high and low temperatures. Felt is used for the outer door and for the entrance to the steam room.

Ecowool is a cellulose-based material; antiseptic and antipyrine are added to its composition to increase resistance to rot and fire. Natural insulation dries easily from moisture and has natural vapor permeability.

Option with additional wooden frame

Materials you need to prepare:

• wooden beams 20 x 20 mm;
• insulation;
• aluminum and construction nails with heads or self-tapping screws;
• sheet of fiberboard or wooden plywood.

For ease of operation, the bath door must be removed and laid on a flat, solid base.

Wooden blocks must be nailed along the entire perimeter of the canvas, so that their edges protrude beyond the boundaries of the existing canvas by 10-15 mm. Using aluminum nails, it is necessary to nail the insulation onto the frame, folded in half so that it protrudes beyond the edges of the frame by 10-15 mm.

The mechanism of action of this design is that the door itself becomes warmer, and when closed, additional sealing is provided due to the insulation bent outward, nailed with an overlap.

Laying insulation into the inner chamber

If the bathhouse has a three-dimensional door, then it must have insulation in its cavity. If cold drafts appear in the bathhouse, the insulation must be replaced. In all likelihood, it has fallen into disrepair. To do this, the door removed from its hinges must be disassembled and the old insulation removed from its cavity. Having laid the new material, the canvas must be re-assembled and installed in place. All wooden parts must fit very tightly to each other, and there must be an air gap in the cavity of the canvas.

Old proven method - frame

The most common option is to nail a frame of 15-20 mm thick bars onto the door. Moreover, the outer border of such a frame should be at a distance from the borders of the canvas by a quarter of the rebate (this is about 15 mm) plus another 1 cm. It is on this frame that the insulation, folded in half, is nailed with small aluminum nails.

And if you wish, you can also insert a sheet of hardboard into the resulting void inside the frame - it won’t hurt. And this is what happens: the door closes, and the insulation rests against the door block - it bends slightly outward and thereby completely blocks the access of cold air. This is how the door remains dry, and the cold does not penetrate inside the bathhouse. And the whole job will take no more than 1.5 hours.

What should a door to a bathhouse be like?

It is most rational to use a low and narrow entrance for a bathhouse; air exchange through such a structure will be difficult and therefore the heat in the bathhouse will be better preserved. The door must open outward; this must be provided for safety reasons. After all, pushing it out, if necessary, is more realistic than opening it by pulling it towards you.

Since a resin door can release resin during operation, a more suitable material for making a door block for a bathhouse would be hardwood.

To avoid swelling of the door and subsequent damage, it must be thoroughly moisture-proofed. All parts of the door block must be carefully adjusted to each other. A whole door leaf is always more airtight than a prefabricated one.

Specifications

Usually the entrance door to the bathhouse is slightly smaller than the one installed for the steam room.
Usually the entrance door to the bathhouse is slightly smaller than the one installed for the steam room. Its standard sizes are:

• Canvas = 80 cm;
• Doorway height = 150 cm.

It is important to take into account the fact that the door will necessarily open outward, and not inward. Read the guide to choosing an electric sauna stove on this page

When choosing a wooden door for a bathhouse, you should definitely consider the following factors:

It is important to use only high quality wood; The door should only be located in the southern part of the room (to avoid slanting rain); It is worth paying attention to veneered doors, as they have a fairly high thermal conductivity and making them yourself is much easier.

Choosing a door size

The door will be exposed to extremes of heat and humidity. It is very important that steam not only does not escape when the door is closed, but also that it escapes to a minimum when people enter and exit. Therefore, the door to the steam room is traditionally made low. Its height depends on the height of the finished ceiling of the steam room itself, and it, in turn, depends on the height and number of “floors” - shelves

But the ceiling in the bathhouse is never very high - usually it is at the level of 220–230 centimeters

Its height depends on the height of the finished ceiling of the steam room itself, and it, in turn, depends on the height and number of “floors” - shelves. But the ceiling in the bathhouse is never very high - usually it is at the level of 220–230 centimeters.

We calculate: 230–60 = 170 centimeters, subtract the “margin” of 10 centimeters, result: the optimal door height is 160 centimeters.

Materials suitable for baths

A bathhouse is a place where all structural elements constantly endure temperature changes and their contrasts. In conditions of moist heat, the evaporation of many synthetic substances and polymers is activated; tactile contact with heated building materials can result in burns.

These operational features determine the mandatory technical characteristics of materials used for insulating baths: thermal conductivity, moisture resistance, fire safety, natural components, environmental friendliness.

In order for the bathhouse to become a place for improving health, it is preferable to assemble a log house from wood from Siberian forests (cedar, larch, pine), harvested in winter. For cladding premises, hardwoods are chosen that do not release resins and essential oils when heated.

Since ancient times, popular insulation materials have been organic and natural: clay, peat, expanded clay, flax fiber, moss, jute, tow.

New synthetic - non-flammable mineral insulation, magnesite boards, gypsum fiber, polystyrene foam, honeycomb.

Waterproofing agents are often bitumen mastic, glass hydrosol, euroroofing felt (except for use in steam rooms), and polyethylene film with a density of 140 microns.

The optimal types of vapor barriers for bathhouses are kraft paper, aluminum foil, and at the same time insulation - foil penotherm (NPP polypropylene laminated with foil).

And this article tells you how to make a picket fence from corrugated board.

We insulate the door in the dressing room

In cold weather, going to the bathhouse is a special pleasure; after warming up in the steam room, the body is in a comfortable, healthy state for a long time, so you want to stay in the bathhouse longer. In order not to overheat, you need to periodically enter the dressing room, and then continue the thermal procedures.

It’s good when the dressing room is built taking into account the lowest temperatures and is comfortable in it, because if the cold comes from the floor, then you won’t sit in such a dressing room for a long time, you can easily catch a cold and the impression of such a trip to the bathhouse will remain negative. Most often, the cause of discomfort in the form of a cold draft is the loss of sealing of the entrance door to the bathhouse.

Hanging blankets on the door or installing a second block do not solve this problem, but, perhaps, aggravate it by the fact that frost forms on the inside of the door and in some places the canvas freezes to the jamb. Then it becomes impossible to open the bathhouse without an ax; mechanical impact can lead not only to the formation of even larger cracks, but even to breakage of the block.

Installation

The door is installed in the usual way:

Installing a door frame in an opening requires special precision, because the functioning of the door will depend on it

Installation of platbands completes the installation and shapes the appearance of the bath door

Installing a sauna door in a log wall

If the bathhouse is being built in a log house, then it is important to learn about the features of installing a door into the wall of such a structure. Two circumstances must be taken into account:

Reinforcing the opening is done as follows:

To prevent weakening of the connections between the logs in the opening, their ends must be fastened together

It is necessary to mount the door frame in a log bathhouse on an additional beam built into the opening

Video: how to properly cut an opening in a log wall (part 1)

Video: how to cut a groove and install a door frame (part 2)

Double-chamber entrance door to the bathhouse

The presence of a vestibule prevents cold air from penetrating into the dressing room, but a very humid environment is created between the doors, which damages the structures, so the entrance door to the dressing room should be insulated as much as possible. The most optimal option for arranging the entrance is to install a two-chamber door.

The design should include 2 hollow chambers isolated from each other; inside each chamber there should be a certain volume that must be filled with insulation.

The manufacturing process consists of:

preparation of materials: wooden blocks 20 x 20 mm, 3 fiberboard panels, two of which will act as the outer and inner surfaces, and the third will act as a partition between the chambers and insulation. It is not necessary to use purchased insulation; outerwear that has gone out of use (natural fur coats, batting from coats, padding polyester, etc.) will do just fine.

manufacturing two identical frames from bars according to the size of the door leaf; making the door and installing it in place.

The sequence of work is as follows: first, a sheet of fiberboard is laid on a hard surface, face down, and a prepared frame of bars is nailed to it around the perimeter. Fill the resulting trough with insulation and cover it with a middle shield (it can be made from two components with careful adjustment of the parts).

Next, a second frame is attached to the resulting structure; it is also advisable to fill the second trough with light insulation and cover it with a third shield with the front surface facing outward.

Nails with heads or self-tapping screws must be chosen of such length that they go halfway into the cavity of the part to be joined. The end surfaces must be cleaned with medium-coarse sandpaper. It is advisable to prime the entire door and cover it with varnish or paint.

How to treat wooden doors before varnishing

In principle, the technology for preparing a wooden door for varnishing is no different from that described above in the first section. Of course, if the door is old and needs to be re-varnished, then several additional operations are added, which increases the restoration time. How it all happens.

First of all, you need to get rid of the old layer of varnish. This can be done manually by sanding the surface of the door leaf with sandpaper, or use a sander. The main thing in this matter is to use fine-grained sandpaper.

Please note that you cannot use a special solution, which craftsmen call a remover, to remove varnish. The liquid will begin to soak into the wood and change its color.

If the door were to be painted later, then the remover could be used. Then the product is examined for the presence of small and large defects, which must be repaired with wood putty. After the putty solution has dried, the sealing areas are sanded to give a smooth surface. After which an antiseptic is applied to the canvas, preferably in two layers. Next, the door is treated with a primer. If there is a need to change the color of the wood, to make it darker, then now it is covered with stain. And the last stage is varnishing, which must be carried out in two layers.

Please note that all applied layers must dry before laying the next one. This is a guarantee of the quality of the final result

Another point - varnish, impregnation and primer must have the same base. If this rule is not followed, then there is a high probability that the materials will peel off from each other. Therefore, it is necessary to purchase them from one manufacturer.

A mandatory requirement for any door system is ease of opening and closing. But what to do if the doors are swollen and in order to enter or leave the room you have to spend a lot of time and make enormous efforts? This is a common problem for wood products, so even if everything is fine now, there is no guarantee that there will be no problems in the future. Our review will make it possible to find out why it occurs, what methods can be used to combat it, and what preventive measures exist.

We solve the problem comprehensively

Proper layout of the premises is also important.

Many people, having spent good money on complete insulation of their bathhouse, suddenly discover that for some reason the desired insulation does not occur. Yes, it’s warmer, but where is the promised bliss, and why are there drafts across the floor?

The answer usually lies on the surface and whistles with pleasure - the door, the ordinary door to the bathhouse becomes the cause of this final inconvenience.

The solution to this problem can be very simple, or it can be a little more complicated, namely:

• Insulation of the door leaf itself;
• Insulation and sealing of joints where the door meets the jamb;
• Installation of thermal curtain;
• Installation of a second door.

Today we will go through all the points and be sure to solve two basic questions: how to insulate the door to the bathhouse and how to insulate the door to the bathhouse.

Let's get busy with the canvas

Photo of foamed polyethylene foil.

Any carpenter will tell you that it is not advisable to make the door structure heavier; moreover, this is fraught with distortions, and considering where the door is located (meaning in a bathhouse), then making it heavier is a completely unnecessary undertaking.

Therefore, in this section we solve the problems:

• Which insulation to choose so that it does not absorb moisture, can withstand low temperatures and is not very heavy;
• How to layer this insulation onto the door leaf.

We will not transmit the entire flow of information that the Internet is replete with about insulating fabric; we present a very simple method and its rationale:

As door leaf insulation, we offer you polyethylene foam with a foil layer. The material itself is quite resistant to cold weather, has the invaluable advantage of being wind and moisture impermeable, in addition, the foil layer will return heat flows back to the bathhouse. And the weight of the material will be slightly more than the total mass of the paint and varnish impregnation layers. The hinges will not experience a large load and the canvas will not move.

Regular door covering with this material.

From canvas to jamb

After insulating the door leaf, let's work on the jamb

The simplest thing is to trim the inner perimeter of the jamb with the door tightly closed (and note, already insulated)

In the old days, the most popular insulation for the front door was felt, but now you can use any other method. Basic requirements for the material: it must be soft enough, and at the same time fit tightly to the door leaf, thus preventing the access of air, and also not lose its qualities when in contact with water, not cake or tear.

The technology has not changed:

• The insulation is cut into thin narrow strips at least 5 cm wide;
• A 20x20 mm strip is marked and sawed off in such a way as to completely and tightly cover the internal perimeter of the jamb (taking into account the thickness of the insulation itself);
• The insulation is folded in half and installed with a fold to the door leaf as close to it as possible, pressed and fixed with a strip to the jamb;
• Thus, the entire perimeter of the doorway is covered.

Full guarantee

If you already want to get a full guarantee of protection from the cold, then you can finish insulating the door to the bathhouse by using a curtain made of dense material. You don't need instructions to cut and make the curtain. We chose the material, cut it, cut it, stitched the edges, thought out the fastening system and hung it. In this case, the fastening system can be under the rings on the pipe, simply overlapping the valve and stitching the valve under the pipe, or you can even make a cloth for clothespins (clothespin fastenings). There is also a simple way to attach between two planks. Therefore, we do not limit you in fastening and choice of material.

A few words about the second door

That's the point.

The second door is a method that has been tested and proven to be positive. Place your bet. To implement this, it is necessary to either install a jamb in which it will be technically possible to install two doors, while the adjustment of the two panels must be carried out before installation in the opening, which sometimes requires financial costs, time, and the warm season.

You can install an additional jamb and canvas to the existing ones, but you need to think about fixing the new structure to the existing one. A positive quality of the second door is the layer of air, which plays a buffer role and prevents the cold from quietly passing into the dressing room.

Outside

It does not allow water to pass through, is resistant to temperature changes, durable and has low thermal conductivity.

Next, about insulating the walls of a bathhouse from the outside with your own hands.

This is why penoplex is considered one of the best synthetic materials.

To insulate walls made of logs and logs, natural materials are most often used; in turn, for a frame or bathhouse made of blocks, penoplex is ideal.

Attention! Penoplex has average fire resistance, and during combustion it releases toxic substances. That is why it is unacceptable to use it for internal insulation of a bathhouse.

Let's look at the process of insulating a bathhouse from the outside step by step:

Let's look at the process of insulating a bathhouse from the outside step by step:

1. The first step is to clean the walls of any kind of contamination, such as paint residues, dust or dirt;
2. Next, the surface of the wall should be coated with a primer in two layers;
3. When the applied layers have dried, the vapor barrier layer can be fixed;
4. Next, glue is applied to the foam sheet; the thickness of the insulation layer should be at least 7 cm;
5. The sheet is attached to the wall and additionally secured with “fungi”;
6. After the wall surface is completely covered with the first layer of insulation, you can proceed to arranging the second layer. To do this, the foam sheets must be placed in such a way as to overlap the seams of the first layer;
7. When the glue is completely dry, you can begin sealing the gaps with sealant or foam;
8. Next, you should strengthen the structure with a fiberglass mesh attached on top of the second layer with glue;
9. The final stage is plastering the walls, as well as further finishing.

Don't forget about wind protection.

To protect the walls and the thermal insulation itself from precipitation, wind and condensation, waterproof, windproof membranes are used.

This protects the wall and thermal insulation.

They are laid on the outside of the insulating layer directly under the building's cladding and secured using a construction stapler.

Indications for insulation

Door insulation serves several purposes:

• First of all, this is to prevent heat loss. The bathhouse is especially susceptible to heat loss. It is always very hot in the steam room, and in winter, with a sufficiently large temperature difference, heat loss increases significantly.
• Protecting the door from drying out and rotting. A simple wooden door will begin to increase and decrease in size under varying humidity conditions. This will affect the door frame. As a result, situations often occur when the door simply stops closing or opening, and mold forms on the surface of the door leaf
• A big problem with wooden doors is drafts. Especially above the floor of a steam room without door insulation, a cold breeze will always be felt. This is unlikely to result in illness, but it will certainly ruin your vacation in the steam room.

It is necessary to insulate the doors in the bathhouse when there is heat loss.
Therefore, it is definitely necessary to insulate the door to the bathhouse. To simplify the process, the door to the steam room and the dressing room are insulated according to the same scheme.

Making a door

The manufacturing process consists of the following stages:

You can also arrange the boards in horizontal rows rather than vertical, so you don’t have to cut them along the edges

To glue the board from the boards, only high-quality furniture glue is used, which does not turn yellow and does not emit harmful chemical fumes into the air.

Using a plane, the surfaces of the assembled shield are given the necessary smoothness

Angular connection of bars with grooves is more reliable, but requires skill in the manufacture of such fasteners

Pre-assembly of prepared door elements is carried out without the use of glue

Impregnating a wooden door with an antiseptic helps protect the wood from rotting in damp conditions

It is necessary to install and mount the door frame strictly level, maintaining verticality and horizontality

Video: restoration of a bath door

What happens if you don't insulate your doors?

I will share the experience of friends who let everything take its course in their bathhouse. They did everything beautifully, without thinking about frost or cold weather.

Any tree swells from contact with water, these are the laws of physics. During the cold winter season, frost forms on the doors. The doors do not close and are covered in ice. The long-awaited warmth arrives, the ice melts, the doors absorb moisture and swell so much that they can no longer be closed.

Spoiled wood begins to rot, and mold and rot form. In the bathhouse there is not the aroma of a broom and the heat of the bath, but the persistent aroma of old age and disrepair.

Don’t be lazy, take the time to insulate your entrance doors, because they are the main protection not only from prying eyes, but also a barrier to the winter cold!

Well, who doesn’t like to take a steam bath? Bath procedures are unlikely to ever lose their relevance, especially in cloudy and cold Russia. What could be nicer than taking a dose of warmth in winter? In order for a visit to the bathhouse to be absolutely comfortable, it must be built taking into account all the requirements. Insulating the door in a bathhouse is an important stage of construction; it determines how well heat will be retained inside the room. Today we will talk about how to insulate the doors to the bathhouse. Here you will find step-by-step instructions and useful tips.

Technology for creating a suspended ventilation façade

If the bathhouse is just being built, then it needs to be insulated during construction.

Before you properly insulate a bathhouse with your own hands, you need to carefully understand the technology of construction work. Installation of a suspended ventilated facade includes the following steps:

• installation of insulation;
• processing of joints;
• waterproofing;
• installation of additional fasteners for facing material.

The insulation boards are attached to the wall between pre-installed metal brackets.

Important! The distance between them should be slightly less than the width of the heat insulator. The joints of the insulator plates are sealed with construction tape or filled with foam.

The joints of the insulator slabs are sealed with construction tape or filled with foam.

Using mineral wool to insulate a bathhouse is the most optimal option: thanks to it, the room remains warm for a long time, and no extraneous sounds enter there. The material is non-flammable and environmentally friendly.

Insulation materials and their properties

There are special requirements for materials for insulating bathhouse doors:

• First of all, the thermal insulation material must be resistant to high temperatures. There is always hot air in the steam room, which enters the dressing room. There are a number of insulation materials that in normal situations behave more than adequately, but at elevated temperatures they begin to release harmful substances into the room. These include most mineral wool slabs.
• The requirement for moisture resistance of the material is also important. No matter how you protect the insulation, water will still find a way to get into the thickness of the material and destroy it. Therefore, you cannot use materials like foam rubber for insulation. But the moisture resistance parameter is fully met by polystyrene foam.
• The last factor is vapor permeability. Any tree must breathe and a wooden door to a bathhouse is no exception. Complete moisture insulation will cause the wood to begin to rot and the door will quickly become unusable. Among other tasks, insulating the door should maximize the service life of the structure.

Among the suitable materials are the following options:

• Felt. An ideal material because it meets all the above requirements. At the same time, the insulation is environmentally friendly. But there is a huge disadvantage: natural felt is not cheap, and the market is filled with its synthetic substitutes. It is strictly prohibited to use material even with a minimal admixture of synthetics; such an analogue can catch fire from one spark.
• Mineral wool basalt slabs. This option meets all the stated requirements, while being inexpensive and easy to install. But in such situations there is always a “but”. Recent research by scientists has shown that when heated, insulation releases harmful substances. These studies have not yet been confirmed by a large series of experience; accumulation of information is required, so you should not discount mineral wool slabs. Whether to use this material or not is the decision of the bathhouse owner alone.
• Izolon foil. Today it is the most popular material in Russia for insulating bathhouse doors. This is an affordable insulation material, easy to install and easy to use. This material has no negative aspects in a particular situation. Izolon cannot be used for external insulation, but we are talking about internal structures, so this drawback is not critical.

Felt is one of the materials for insulating doors in a bathhouse.

Glass wool based materials should not be used. This is a rule that cannot be broken. Insulation based on glass wool is a rather capricious material; it is better not to use it in recreational facilities such as bathhouses. It is very difficult to get rid of glass dust, which is a natural product of the installation process. After installing the insulation, glass dust will continue to cause inconvenience for a long time, remaining on the wooden floor of the steam room. The main criterion for choosing from the presented insulation materials should be the price. Insulation should be as cheap and accessible as possible. If you are hesitating between felt and isolon, it is better to choose a material that is cheaper in the construction region.

Which material to choose

The modern market offers many types of thermal insulation materials:

• mineral basalt wool;
• staple fiberglass;
• hardboard;
• expanded polystyrene, etc.

Which one is better to choose for a bath? One of the main criteria is fire safety. The insulation must be highly resistant to fire and not emit harmful substances when heated.

Vapor permeability also matters. We must not forget that the door, like the bathhouse itself, is made of wood, and this is a natural, “breathable” material. If air access is blocked on at least one side, the wood will become damp and rot, and this will significantly shorten its service life. Therefore, it is extremely undesirable to use adhesive-based polystyrene foam boards for baths.

One of the best options based on the above requirements would be foil-coated polyethylene foam. It is a lightweight, non-flammable material that can reflect heat back.

Methods and technology for insulating a door block in a bathhouse

There are only 3 methods and technologies for insulating a door. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages, so it makes sense to talk about each option in more detail.

Additional wooden frame

An additional wooden frame is a design that is aimed at combating the main source of heat loss - heating of incoming air and drafts. The point of modernization is to reduce the distance between the door frame and frame as much as possible.

To do this, perform the following steps:

1. The platbands are removed, and felt is laid between the platbands and the wall. Instead of removing the box, you can install an additional one. To do this, you just need to lay felt over the entire area of ​​the door frame, and then cover it with a second layer of platband. The felt is nailed down with a construction stapler.
2. The pie made from platbands must be covered with facing material: slats, clapboard or fiberboard
3. The door is adjusted to the new dimensions of the casing
4. The space between the door and the platband is laid with strips of felt or rubber sealant. The main task is to get rid of drafts

Thermal curtain

A thermal curtain is more of a temporary solution than a real solution to the problem of drafts and heat loss. The curtain is used in regions with particularly low temperatures in winter or as a temporary shelter in newly built baths. In essence, it is just a curtain made of heat-insulating fabric: leatherette or felt.

To arrange a curtain, you need the material itself, a block or baguette on which the material is hung.

There are two arrangement options:

1. In the first case, simply nail the fabric to the block with a lath, or use the bar itself to press the fabric against the wall. Thin nails are used to press the strip. The advantage of this method is more efficient heat retention. The curtain will close on its own after entering the steam room. The disadvantage is obvious: entering the room will be extremely inconvenient.
2. The second option is to hang the canvas on rings, which in turn are placed on a baguette. It's more convenient, but not as productive.

If we are talking about a temporary curtain, then it is better to use the first option, since temporary inconvenience can be tolerated for the sake of thermal efficiency.

But talking about constant discomfort when going to the steam room is stupid, so the second option is often used as a permanent solution.

Double chamber door

A two-chamber door or double door is the most popular and technologically advanced way to insulate a bathhouse door. The point is to replace the door leaf with a cake in which the insulation sheets will be sandwiched with fiberboard slabs.

To make a two-chamber door you will need:

• Fibreboard boards
• Bars for creating a frame. The width of the bar must correspond to the width of the insulation sheet. The same value is the future thickness of the door
• Insulation
• Nails or self-tapping screws for securing fiberboard sheets.
• Door fittings: hinges and handle.

Double chamber door to the bathhouse

First, a frame is created. As a rule, these are just bars around the perimeter of the door with one lintel in the middle. A sheet of fiberboard is attached to the frame on one side. The space between the bars is filled with insulation, and then the pie on the other side is covered with the same fiberboard. Additional insulation of the door around the perimeter will allow you to forget about the cold and drafts in the steam room forever.

To summarize, we can say that insulating the door to a steam room or dressing room is a fairly simple task

It is important to choose the right material and carefully carry out insulation. But implementing even the most complex decisions does not present any particular problems

Replacing or repairing a door frame

Often cold air from the street enters the dressing room, since the door threshold has already rotted.

The moisture that accumulates in the bath contributes to this. Replacing or repairing a bathhouse door with your own hands, if the log house was assembled according to all the rules, will not be easy. But this operation can also be simplified, making repairs easier for yourself.

Saw the threshold and the top beam of the door frame without touching the fastening tenons of the frame. If the side posts are also damaged, you need to saw them too.

Now you can easily remove the damaged parts and replace them with new ones, cut to size. And the strength of the door frame, the evenness of the walls and stability will not be affected.

There are two ways to make a new bathhouse door with your own hands, it all depends on the available material.

If there is a beam with a thickness of 100 mm and a depth of 150, then it is enough to cut out the parts required in size, which are then inserted in place of the old door frame.

It should be inserted from the side of the vestibule, collecting the parts into a tenon. The space between the box and the wall is filled with insulation (moss, tow, foam, etc.). Make sure that it is no wider than 5 mm, otherwise the influx of cold air will not be avoided.

If there is no timber at hand, use a 50 mm thick board to repair the bathhouse door. With your own hands you need to choose a quarter of its depth for the porch. The remaining operations are performed in the same way as in the first option.

Ensure a tight connection between the sawn parts and the rest of the door frame using self-tapping screws.

Adviсe

Experts have prepared several useful recommendations.

To ensure maximum comfort in your bath room, you should pay attention to some recommendations from experienced professionals. For example, it is better to install a sauna on the south side, since in winter, when you sometimes want to take a steam bath, it will be easier to get to the entrance due to the fastest snow melting on the side closer to the south

In addition, it will be preferable if the windows face west, since in the evening the room will be illuminated by rays for much longer. Also, for constant air circulation and excellent heat maintenance, it is recommended to build a bathhouse from wooden logs.

Application of Thermal Insulation Curtain

And, probably, the easiest way to insulate a bath door is a thermal curtain attached to the frame. Typically, this method is used as an additional method, after first insulating the door structure itself.

Material cutting

A canvas is made from dermantin or tarpaulin that will serve as a heat-insulating screen. The dimensions are calculated as follows: the length and width of the door plus 20 centimeters for fixation.

The screen should completely cover the door and be securely attached to the walls above and on the sides of it. Several eyelet rings are sewn onto the top edge of the curtain.

Installing curtains

A “pocket” is made in one of the sides, into which you need to insert a block 20 mm thick. A cornice should be built above the door from a metal rod or wooden block.

The material is hung on the cornice. The free side edge of the resulting screen is attached to one side of the door using self-tapping screws with a distance of approximately 10 cm from the casing.

Hooks are attached to the opposite wall. Rings are sewn on the free edge of the screen, which are put on the installed hooks when the screen needs to be closed. The thermal curtain is ready.

After all the measures, you get an insulated frame on the door frame, which ensures that the door is tightly closed, and a heat-insulating curtain, which, when not in use, is located on the side of the door in a shifted form, and, as necessary, moves apart and is fixed, pulled on the opposite side with hooks.

What you need to make your own wooden

Anyone can make their own wooden steam room doors. You need to follow simple instructions. First of all, you need to prepare the necessary tools:

1. screwdriver;
2. roulette;
3. plane;
4. pencil;
5. level;
6. saw or hacksaw;
7. milling cutter

Important! Making the door to the steam room with your own hands must be done on an absolutely flat surface to avoid inaccuracy

What wood to make it from?

The choice of wood type is individual; there are no clear boundaries. The main requirement is resistance to high temperatures and durability. Conditionally wood for making doors for steam rooms. Can be divided into two categories:

• deciduous species - alder, linden, aspen and oak;
• conifers - larch, cedar, spruce, pine.

Information! Conifers can produce resin, which may not be pleasant. However, this feature goes away on its own after a couple of years of using the steam room. .

The main advantage of the latter is the low price, ease of processing and manufacturing of the necessary structures. The most common is linden. It is used not only for the manufacture of doors, but also for the internal lining of the steam room. Compared to others, linden is simple and easy to process, and does not warp or shrink over time. The aesthetic appearance of the wood is also important - a delicate creamy shade, without knots or wormholes.

Making a box

When making a door to a steam room with your own hands, you need to know how to make it and install the door frame. To do this, you will need a wooden beam with a cross-section of 6x15 cm; the material should be selected in such a way that the thickness of the door leaf is at least 5 cm less than the width of the frame.

The elements are fastened using the tongue-and-groove method. The bath door must necessarily swing outward, so the joining grooves must be cut out on the outside of the crossbars. They are cut out on the top and side posts in the doorway.

Before the box is assembled, it is necessary to sand the entire surface with sandpaper to remove all irregularities and chips. Then connect the lintels and corners, and then check the assembled structure with a level to avoid future distortions and sagging of the door.

Making canvas from treated boards

After the dimensions of the door to the steam room in the bath are determined, we begin to manufacture the canvas. A board with a length of at least 164 cm is used; the protruding tenon is cut off from the first board with a circular saw to form an even end. All manipulations are carried out only on a flat surface, assembly using the tongue-and-groove method, and the width of the workpiece should be greater than the size of the future door.

After everything is prepared, the final assembly of the canvas is carried out using PVA glue. First, it is recommended to lay out the prepared boards together and make sure they are the same length.

During the assembly process, it is necessary to knock the boards with a hammer so that the grooves are better secured, after which it is necessary to leave it for several days, first securing it or creating a press effect. Then you need to cut a piece of the required size from the canvas and process it with a plane.

If gaps appear, they can be immediately sealed using a mixture of glue and sawdust. The final stage will be attaching the strapping and installing stiffening ribs, which are located outside across the canvas. After that. Once the door is ready, it must be coated with special protective compounds that will protect it from the formation of mold and rot.

Using moldings, you can give the room a finished look, especially in cases where the size of the doorway differs from the door. All necessary materials are baseboards. Thresholds and other things can be purchased in specialized stores.

conclusions

The dimensions required for a bathhouse door with a frame can be made by anyone. To do this, you don’t have to be a specialist, the main thing is to select all the necessary materials and follow simple instructions. In order for it to serve for many years, it must be done efficiently, taking into account all requirements and safety.

The requirements for the front door are a little simpler than for the door to the steam room; the dimensions of the latter differ significantly from the generally accepted ones. This is necessary to retain heat. Door fittings must be exclusively wooden, except for door fastenings. Bathhouse doors should only swing outward, this applies to both the entrance door and the rest of the bathhouse doors.

Tools

To complete each stage of work, you need your own tools, but if the farm does not have complex instruments, you can rent them. To assemble the entrance or interior door to a bathhouse with your own hands step by step, you will need the following:

1. hand saw or circular saw for cutting wood;
2. plane and sandpaper;
3. jointer (for selecting quarters);
4. chisel and hammer;
5. drill with screwdriver;
6. hand router;
7. fasteners (screws, nails);
8. measuring instruments and building level;
9. polyurethane foam.

The fittings for bathhouse doors may differ from those used to hang doors in the house. The hinges serve as a decorative element, and the design of the wooden bath allows the use of forged and shaped products. You can make your own handles from wood. When buying ready-made ones, you should prefer the same material, because in a steam room it does not heat up as much as metal.

Technical requirements and parameters

Requirements:

1. Retaining heat in a steam room.
2. The entire box is sealed.
3. Resistant to moisture and temperature changes.
4. The canvas, box, handles should not burn your hands when touched.
5. The doors should open to the outside of the steam room. This makes it easier to leave the premises in an emergency.

Bath door dimensions:

• height - up to 180 cm;
• width - up to 75 cm.

For outdoor entrance doors in the bathhouse, the parameters have been increased.

Before you start making bath door panels, you need to choose a material. Most often, such structures are made of wood, glass, metal and plastic.

Tree

Advantages:

1. Environmental friendliness. Wood does not emit harmful substances when heated strongly.
2. Strength, durability.
3. Attractive view.
4. Pleasant aroma.

Flaws:

1. The tree begins to rot, become covered with fungus, and mold when exposed to moisture for a long time.
2. Short service life.
3. The material may burst into flames when exposed to an open flame.

Wood expands and shrinks when temperature and humidity levels change.

Glass

Glass door panels are often installed in bathhouses with modern finishes. Advantages of the material:

• high strength;
• unusual appearance;
• easy cleansing;
• additional lighting of the room due to the transparency of the material.

Thick glass sheets have a lot of mass. To install them, you need to make more fastenings on the box.

Metal

This material is used in the manufacture of entrance doors. Advantages:

• high strength, durability, reliability;
• impact resistance, increased service life;
• easy cleaning of dirt.

Flaws:

1. Metal without anti-corrosion coating quickly becomes covered with a layer of rust due to high humidity.
2. The surface of the structure heats up quickly and you can get burned if you touch it.

Metal structures are reliable, but are not suitable for internal placement in a bathhouse.

Plastic

Plastic structures are very popular. Advantages:

• resistance to prolonged exposure to moisture and temperature changes;
• easy cleansing;
• durability, low weight;
• low price.

Products should not be installed near very hot surfaces as they will melt.