Finnish bath: features and ideas of arrangement

Finns as a northern people have long used the sauna for hygienic purposes and health improvement. For many decades, the Finnish sauna has changed and improved, people have adapted it to modern conditions and even install it in city apartments.

Historically, the Finnish sauna is a low, closed, small space from 2 to 6-8 square meters. m, designed for 2-3 people. Formerly, such baths were heated by a hearth set in the center of the room with hot stones. The chimney itself was absent, ventilation was carried out through the open door and the inflow near the floor. The room was very dry and hot.

Instead of washing one, there was a barrel with cold water or a natural reservoir was near.

Modern technologies have allowed to get rid of suffocating smoke and soot using the ventilation system and new versions of stoves with a chimney. Barrel of water replaced the font, pool or shower. The absence of windows is compensated by electric lighting.

The climate of Finland is very close to the climate of our Russian northern and temperate latitudes. Much in the way of life of our peoples in common. Very reminiscent of the device of the Finnish sauna method of kindling the sauna in black, which was used until recently in Russia.

The stove in such a bath was done without a chimney., hot smoke warmed up the room, destroying bacteria. Before entering the steam room, the bath was ventilated through a small window and an open door.

Soot disinfected surfaces, and black smoked walls became completely sterile. Here there was a tub or a trough with water, where the bather washed out from the soot, which in its properties replaced soap.Water gave moist steam that penetrated the pores and cleaned them. More hardened ones plunged into an ice-hole or a small river, therefore a bathhouse was placed on the edge of the village, preferably near the pond.

Great today Russian bath enjoys popular love; its heart is hot, up to + 60-70 ° C with up to 90% wet steam bath. Nearby there is a washing room and a dressing room with a dressing room.

Modern private house construction has enabled almost every household to acquire its own bath, which has expanded the list of necessary premises. A rest room was added for breaks between hot procedures. The veranda under the canopy of the bath turned into a place for family evening tea in the summer.

A steam room in a sauna takes up very little space, since an electric oven is heated to maintain dryness of the air, and there are enough seats, since they are not steamed with brooms. For cooling and bathing use a shower or pool. As such, the technical room of the sauna occupies a very limited room, so it can be accommodated in a special glass cabin in the bathroom of a city apartment.

You can equip a dry steam room in a traditional Russian bath with a lounge and a washroom.

For the Finnish sauna, the main equipment is a stove, preference is better to give electric. Electric oven with thermostat allows you to create the desired microclimate in the steam room. It is better to purchase a specialized sauna stove.The stove has a built-in system for air circulation, which ensures fast and uniform heating of the room.

Humidity is regulated by a special steam generator, separate or built-in.

An electric stove is good for city apartments or for a small sauna in a country house. To save electricity, the sauna is equipped with a conventional solid fuel stove.In this embodiment, you will have to manually maintain the desired temperature and humidity. The advantage of a solid fuel stove is the ability to arrange either a dry Finnish or a wet Russian steam room with brooms at the same time at different times.

Stones for the stove picked up for medical reasons. Specialized stores sell sets of stones with the characteristics of minerals, among which popular are jadeite, soapstone, gabbro diabase, quartzite, Himalayan salt. For the outer lining of the stove these minerals, brick or tile are selected. Building mixes for finishing should not contain harmful impurities.

The second necessary equipment in the steam room is the supply and exhaust ventilation. In a house or apartment for air inflow, 5 centimeters are left under the door to the steam slot, the hood joins the ventilation duct of the house. If the draft is not strong, then install additional electric fans in the exhaust holes..

In a log bath, a fresh-air inlet is arranged in the lower part of the wall of the bath next to the floor, and the exhaust hole is on the opposite wall under the ceiling. Both openings are closed with flaps that regulate the flow of fresh air.

Shelves for soaring - is an integral part of the equipment of the Finnish sauna. Since the movement of steam is absent as in the Russian steam room, the shelves can be at any convenient height, the length is not important, there are no brooms here, but mostly they sit.

In the case of using the room periodically as a sauna and a Russian steam bath, you should focus on other sizes. The bottom shelf should be at a distance of 40 centimeters from the floor, the top should be at least 1 meter from the ceiling in order to give room for arm span with a broom.

It will take a shower or a bath to cool the body. This zone is separated from the room by a pair of glass or wooden doors. The apartment has these functions in the bathroom, in a separate building you can make a pool or a shower room.

The organization of lighting plays an important role for the safety of using bath procedures, since attention is dulled by the high temperature,and sit in the dark uncomfortable. Thermometers are installed in each compartment and a barometer in the steam room to eliminate excessive moisture..

Build your own bath is the dream of most homeowners. A Finnish sauna with an electric stove allows you to equip it with your own hands in your apartment. On sale there is a wide range of ready cabins for a home sauna. The size is designed for 1-2 users, occupies no more than two square meters of space and is placed in the bathroom or separately.

These saunas are fully equipped with all necessary equipment and have detailed installation instructions. A specialist from the manufacturer will help to assemble the cab and mount all the components.

Construction of saunas on a country site provides ample opportunities for creativity. The budget small-sized bath is fully able to build their own hands. On the area of ​​10-12 square meters. meters fit everything you need, the small size will save on heating, a small lounge in the summer period expands at the expense of the veranda. The simplest project of a bathhouse with a veranda includes a steam room, a shower room and a relaxation room or changing room and a terrace under a shed.

It is worth spending additional funds and increase the size of the veranda.Open space under a canopy will allow you to admire the landscape and relax after hot procedures in the summer. Placing near the barbecue area will make a comfortable evening rest in any weather. For year-round use of the bath is used panoramic glazing of the terrace.which is made of aluminum, wooden or plastic sliding or swing structures. Glazing perform and soft materials - polycarbonate or film.

Particular attention should be paid to capital facilities with a barbecue terrace under one roof with a bath. The firebox is installed in such a way that the smoke does not get into the windows or at the dining area. To do this, maintain a distance of at least two meters from the table and windows. The wall around the brazier is trimmed with a refractory material - stone or bricks. For such a building you need to have free space on the site and significant financial investments.

Lovers will equip a dry sauna in the sauna complex, where there is a comfortable shower room, a swimming pool, a relaxation room, a billiard room or a room for training and spa treatments.These are elite complexes where modern hydraulic structures are used under the roof or in the fresh air, which require the availability of communications and appropriate maintenance.

The main focus of such a bath can be a glass roof., which will allow to admire the starry sky while swimming in summer and in winter. The bath project with a swimming pool in front of the terrace will allow you to combine a relaxation area with a wellness treatment area.

Budgetary and convenient option for country construction are baths in the form of a barrel. This is the perfect option for a Finnish sauna. They are easily mounted, have the necessary set of premises, quickly melted, made of natural materials, occupy a minimum of space on the site.

The heart of the Finnish sauna, and sometimes the only room is the steam room. The finishing material must have good moisture resistance and a pleasant non-slip surface, do not burn, do not emit harmful substances when heated, have aesthetic qualities. All these requirements are met by natural wood.

Cedar and larch have durability, resistance to moisture, produce a good healing effect, and also have high decorative qualities of the cut.

The most expensive and valuable type of wood for finishing of a sauna is african oak abash. It allocates healing essential compounds, has a smooth solid texture. Because of the high price it is often used fragmentary, for shelves and handrails. Racking the sauna is the best option for a small room.

Much attention is paid to the insulation of the heated body of the stove from wood. For this the stove and the wall around it are trimmed with natural, decorative stone or ceramic tile. These materials have a high heat-resistance coefficient and a beautiful appearance. At the choice it is worth not to forget about the stones recommended for a sauna.

The shower and the swimming pool are finished with moisture-resistant materials: tiles, plastic panels or natural stone. The material must be hygienic and comfortable to maintain to keep the room clean.In a limited area, instead of a pool, a bathing barrel is installed; in this case, the whole room can be made of wood.

The building of the bath is built from any building materials available in the region and appropriate to the budget. The quality of durability and performance in the first place is a natural stone. The structure of stone looks brutal, will last more than one hundred years, practically not exposed to weathering, has a low thermal conductivity.

Similar properties has a traditional building material - brick. Ecological safety is combined with excellent technical characteristics and aesthetic appearance. Brick allows you to build complex architectural forms. The brick bath is a symbol of solidity and good quality.

The disadvantage for an unheated bath is that the room warms for a long time, but also retains heat for a long time.

The classic material for building and finishing the sauna is a natural wood. The wood for the log has the appearance of a log or timber.The log is more suited to rural style, and timber easier to mount. Both that and other material possess identical decorative qualities.

Felling can be erected from affordable and inexpensive pine. Pine has a beautiful color and pattern knotty wood. But from heat begins to stand out resin and harden ugly drips, so the room steam room must be sheathed with another breed of wood. The pine rest room will be an inexpensive and excellent base for decoration of hunting trophies, carvings and paintings with hunting scenes.

These are inexpensive materials available for self-erection, the installation process does not take much time.

• Sauna in the house with walls of heat-resistant glass looks beautiful and stylish.
• The decoration of the walls of the steam room with cuts of the wood gives the interior originality.

• Sauna in a modern style is appropriate even in a small apartment.
• Inserts of Himalayan salt are very beautiful with light, perfectly ionize the air.

How to equip the Finnish sauna with your own hands, see the video below.