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

The door to the bathhouse should be as airtight as possible and have low thermal conductivity. Modern tempered glass products are airtight and beautiful. These can be seen in saunas. But a simple wooden structure will not be able to cope with the task of preserving heat. It will dry out and let the cold into the steam room. It is necessary to perform additional insulation of the bathhouse door. Our experts will tell you in this article how to insulate a bathhouse door with your own hands using various methods. The information will be useful to beginners and experienced professionals.

The door to the bathhouse must be insulated.

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.

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.

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

Effective door protection against moisture

Finally, we’ll tell you how to cover a wooden door so that it doesn’t swell from moisture and opens and closes normally. There are special moisture-resistant varnishes for this purpose. Depending on the material, one to three openings are necessary to achieve the desired effect. Application is carried out after removing the structure from the hinges, in a horizontal position and in the direction of the wood fibers. The room should be well ventilated. The previous coating must be completely removed. If there are potholes and scratches, you first need to treat them with putty and sandpaper, then remove dust and dirt and wipe with a damp cloth. The hydrophobic layer is applied after final drying. It is needed not only to prevent swelling, but also to prevent the material from drying out and to look attractive.

Old wooden doors are sometimes easier to replace than to repair, which is what many designers suggest doing. But very often it is possible to repair wooden doors, so do not rush to replace them - try restoring them first.

The reason for repairing an old wooden door can be either the loss of its original appearance or problems that have arisen with its functioning. Many of the reasons that lead to problems with the door are quite easy to fix with your own hands. Therefore, do not rush to save money to buy a new product; first make sure that repairing a wooden door will not save the situation.

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.

Door materials

Each owner of the plot can independently decide which design and style of the bathhouse to choose. Manufacturers made sure that everyone could choose the most suitable material for the job.

Design option for a wooden door with forged elements

Most often, the choice is made on the following raw materials for making doors:

1. Wood.
2. Glass.
3. Plastic.
4. Metal.

Each of these materials has its own advantages, disadvantages and features. Therefore, before placing a bet on any of them, you need to familiarize yourself with the nuances.

Wood

There are different materials for making doors leading to the bathhouse. People choose to finish the structure using eurolining prepared for the process, while other owners prefer to buy a solid frame and carry out the construction on their own.

Homemade wooden door for a bathhouse

In any case, wood is at the top of the list of materials for bathhouse doors.

Material advantages

1. Resistance to moisture.
2. Adaptation to temperature changes.
3. Wood itself is a heat insulator, so the owner of the site will not have to spend a lot of money on additional materials to insulate the canvas.
4. And of course, aesthetic characteristics. Wood fits perfectly into the overall interior of the bathhouse. A wooden door will look harmonious and create a pleasant atmosphere in the room where you can steam.

The material requires additional processing and not all types of wood are suitable for bathhouse door construction.

Important nuances

It is best to give preference to aspen or linden wood. Internal doors leading to the steam room can be achieved by installing a glass door.

Glass

To enter the steam room, as well as the shower room located inside the steam room, glass doors are often installed.

Advantages

1. This design looks harmonious in the opening.
2. The glass door is easy to clean.
3. The material tolerates high temperatures well, which are not uncommon in a steam room.
4. There are many designs of glass doors, so everyone will choose the best option for themselves.

• the cost of such a design is quite high, because the glass must be durable and quite thick if the question is about a door;
• You won’t be able to make such a door yourself, unless the owner of the site with the bathhouse has his own workshop for the production of glass products.

In any case, the glass in the doorway of a steam room or shower looks elegant and harmonious.

Plastic

If you prefer plastic, you need to choose a heat-resistant one; other options are not suitable for installation in a bathhouse.

The process of installing a plastic door to a bathhouse

Advantages

1. Heat-resistant plastic is a fairly durable material.
2. This door raw material is durable.
3. Withstands changes in air temperature.
4. Able to tolerate high levels of indoor humidity.

The material is not natural, which means it will not release aromas into the air that one would like to hear in a steam room or dressing room.

Design options for plastic doors for baths

Metal

If you wish, you can create an armored metal door with your own hands, however, this will require additional materials and tools.

Advantages

1. Such a canvas will certainly protect the dressing room from drafts.
2. This design looks harmonious.
3. A large selection of designs of such canvases will help satisfy the needs of even the most demanding apartment owners.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

Fabrication

The simplest version of a door to a steam room with your own hands is a shield made of solid wood. To make it, you need to select tongue and groove boards and lay them out on a flat surface. At the ends there are curved stripes - traces of the annual rings of the tree. Adjacent parts should be positioned so that the direction of the rings is opposite to each other. This way the door strips will not be damaged by moisture.

The grooves of the boards and their protrusions must be connected so that a minimum gap remains. Cut 2 bars, the length of which is equal to the width of the door leaf. The bars are mounted on a board panel at the top and bottom of the structure. The connection can be made in different ways:

1. Place the block on the surface of the boards in the transverse direction. Fasten with self-tapping screws, screwing them in from the side of the block so that there are no traces of fasteners left on the front side. Sometimes they do it differently and drive the fasteners into the front side of the door, recessing the heads into the wood. The recesses are covered with a special composition of glue and small sawdust. For the strength of such a structure, it is advisable to install a jib located diagonally between 2 parallel sections of the bar.
2. Connection without fasteners is more difficult. To make a canvas, connect the boards and place a 5x5 cm block on top, cut on both sides. Its profile resembles a trapezoid. The narrowing is 1.5 cm and is performed smoothly along the entire length of the part. Draw lines on the canvas corresponding to the profile of the bar. Cut out a groove, deepening it by ½ the thickness of the block and observing the angle of inclination of the side surfaces. Remove the wood from the groove with a chisel and level the surfaces. Push the bars in from the wide side of the groove. In a room with high humidity, the mount will not dry out.

From lining

To assemble a door from a lining, you need boards at least 2.5 cm thick, with selected quarters on the sides facing the inside of the panel. The length of the vertical bars of the strapping should be equal to the height of the canvas, and the horizontal bars - to its width. Connect the frame parts using the half-timber method, selecting part of the wood at the ends of the planks. Lubricate the recesses with glue, connect the parts and tighten them with clamps. After drying, drill through holes and insert wooden dowels into them using glue.

Cut the lining into equal sections. Their length is equal to the distance between the boards in the selected quarters (vertical or horizontal). Cut off the side with the groove at the outer lining, and place the part in the frame, in the groove of the selected quarter. The remaining elements are joined, pressing the tenons tightly into the grooves. Cut the last board so that it fits tightly into the remaining gap. Attach a wide glazing bead around the perimeter of the frame.

Frame-panel

When making such a sheet, it is worth considering that in order to insulate it, a heat-insulating layer must be placed inside the door. Therefore, you need to prepare an EPS sheet or other material in advance. Make the frame from a 3x3 cm block:

• choose ½ thickness at the ends for a length of 3 cm from the edge;
• connect long and short bars into a frame, placing the selected parts on top of each other so that the joining surfaces form one plane;
• screw the screws into the joints of the planks;
• make 1-2 transverse spacers, choosing a groove in the long planks in the same way as at the ends.

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.

Requirements for insulation

Due to the specific nature of the operation of the bathhouse, its high humidity and temperature conditions, high demands are placed on the thermal insulation of openings. The insulation must be fireproof, environmentally friendly, and vapor-permeable to prevent condensation, which causes rotting and deformation of the wood. The use of polystyrene foam and expanded polystyrene for thermal insulation of a bath door is not recommended, since these materials are non-flammable, but when heated, they actively release toxins.

Ecowool and felt treated with fire-resistant compounds are considered the optimal insulation materials. The modern market also offers the following effective materials:

• Extruded polystyrene foam;
• Basalt wool;
• Staple fiberglass;
• Foamed polyethylene foam.

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

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.

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.

Thermal insulation with energyflex

Another very simple way to make a door warm and airtight is to use energyflex, a heat insulator for pipes.

The material is cut in the same way as for insulation on the frame, pressed along the edge of the door and fixed with a construction stapler. To ensure reliable fastening, metal slats are installed on top of the insulation - thanks to this measure, even with intensive use, the insulation strips will not fall off.

Finally, you need to tightly close and open the doors several times - the insulation will spring back and take the desired shape.

What insulation should I use?

There is no shortage of offers of high-quality materials for thermal insulation, but not everyone is suitable for the specific conditions of the bath. The insulation must have the following characteristics:

• do not support combustion, ensuring fire safety;
• be light in weight so as not to weigh down the door leaf and cause distortions;
• be operated at low and high temperatures;
• have vapor permeability to avoid the accumulation and flow of moisture along the surface of the door.

Thrifty owners who plan to use old things to insulate a bath will have to abandon this idea. Combustible materials can cause a fire, because there is a hot stove in the room.

Expanded polystyrene boards should also not be used for thermal insulation of doors. The material is impermeable to water and steam. The accumulated moisture will turn into condensation and create constant dampness, destroying and deforming the wood. Expanded polystyrene, not treated with antipyrine, catches fire easily. This is another reason to abandon the material and insulate the door in the bathhouse with foamed polyethylene or felt.

Why insulate a bathhouse?

By choosing high-quality thermal insulation, you can achieve:

• quickly warming up the bathhouse premises and maintaining the heat for a long period;
• reducing heating costs due to reduced heat loss from the building;
• increasing the service life of the entire building.

Example of a multi-layer sealed thermal circuit

The “thermos” effect is achieved by creating a multi-layer sealed thermal circuit consisting of a wind barrier, hydro-vapor barrier and insulation itself. In bathhouses made of brick and aerated concrete, the thickness of the insulation “pie” can reach 10-15 cm on the walls and 20 cm on the ceiling. The thermal insulation function becomes especially noticeable in winter - in order to warm up an uninsulated bathhouse, you will have to heat the stove for at least four hours. It will take a little less time to warm up a log house. But to maintain a comfortable temperature, you will have to continuously add firewood. Baths with well-equipped thermal insulation, even in severe frost, warm up in much less time, saving not only time, but also fuel.

Operating an insulated bathhouse requires less costs, especially in winter

There is an opinion that bathhouses made of timber and logs should not be insulated from the inside, so as not to disturb the microclimate. This measure is permissible in thick-walled wooden buildings that are used exclusively in the warm season. In winter, prolonged heating of the log house is fraught with fire. Due to overheating, the wood heats up excessively, and already at a temperature of 300°C there is a risk of ignition. Installing thermal insulation and knowing the rules for using a bathhouse in winter will help eliminate the possibility of a fire.

Insulation of the walls and knowledge of the rules for operating the bathhouse eliminate the risk of fire

A responsible approach to insulation and vapor barrier also allows us to solve the problem of wet walls, the formation of mold and efflorescence, which negatively affect the condition of all structural elements of the building, which is located in rather harsh conditions of large differences in temperature and humidity.

In addition, fungal spores have a detrimental effect on health, so it is extremely important to prevent the growth of colonies on the surfaces of walls, floors and ceilings; to do this, it is enough to install a sealed heat and vapor barrier circuit

Mold on the walls is the result of constant exposure to condensation

Manufacturing and installation of glass doors

In the shower and steam rooms of the bathhouse, it is best to install doors made of tempered glass or triplex (glued together from two layers). To manufacture such structures, you need a specialized machine for processing the edges of sheets with large thickness, as well as a furnace for hardening the material after drilling the mounting holes, so it is impossible to make them in artisanal conditions. But you can order the canvas from a glass company and supplement it with fittings yourself and install it in the opening.

Glass doors are always a winning decorative solution, as they give the bath a modern and stylish look. It also maintains the temperature in the steam room well: when the inner side of the fabric heats up to 80°C, the outer side remains warm to the touch (about 40°C). In addition, a glass door is an additional source of natural light in a small, cramped steam room/shower room, where there is not always a separate window.

Photo gallery: glass doors for baths

The swing mechanism is the most reliable for a steam room

So that the steam room does not seem cramped, you can separate it with a glass wall

Glass for a bath door can be frosted, transparent, colored

The transparent glass door of the steam room looks good next to the same shower stall

The glass door can be decorated with any sandblasted pattern

Choosing glass

The thickness of the glass should range from 6–12 mm, but the most preferable is 8–10 mm. A thinner fabric will be easier to break, but a thick one will be too heavy and will lead to faster wear of the hinges. The width of the door is limited by the wear resistance of the fittings; experts recommend choosing door leaves no wider than 0.8 m. Such a wide, heavy door will last longer if it is hung on 3 hinges. If you want to enclose a steam room with a glass wall, the door can be made narrower or double-leaf, and the additional panels can be installed permanently. In such cases, the width of the paneling is limited only by the area of ​​the corridor (workers simply will not be able to carry a very wide and high panel inside).

The glass does not have to be transparent; it can be decorated with a sandblasted pattern, or completely frosted. In addition, manufacturers offer colored glasses painted in the mass (throughout the entire thickness of the material): graphite and bronze. There are options made of clear glass, without a greenish tint at the end.

Installation features

Glass companies produce doors of different types of opening: swing, sliding, pendulum. It is best to give preference to the swing version, since they use the most compact and durable fittings. The use of other mechanisms carries an additional risk of getting burned on the guide.

Required tools:

• a screwdriver for installing hinges in the box;
• building level to check the geometry of the box;
• handle with rubber suction cups for working with glass.

Such an inexpensive tool will make it much easier to move and support a smooth glass sheet in the desired position.

If you already know how wooden doors are installed, you only need to familiarize yourself with the main differences:

• When installing a glass door, you must carefully protect the glass from damage. Triplex and tempered glass withstand frontal loads well, but can break due to a blow to the end.
• A glass door of even a small width turns out to be very heavy; it is simply impossible to install it yourself, even if you skillfully change interior wooden doors without helpers.
• A glass door cannot be leaned against a wall like a wooden one. It should be installed horizontally on a table or wooden planks so that the load is distributed evenly and the canvas does not touch the floor.
• Hinges and handles must be specialized for glass.
  Other models will not stick to the canvas, and the ugly fastening mechanism will be visible to the eye. Only 2 bolts are used to secure the wooden handle in the glass.
• Make sure that the door sealing silicone is heat-resistant, otherwise you will experience an unpleasant odor, harmful fumes and heat loss the first time you use it.

We recommend installing a glass door for a steam room in a wooden frame. In the shower you can use mounts on the wall, to fixed glass or in a metal box.