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Operation of a cedar barrel sauna
What kind of foundation is needed for a barrel sauna?
Before purchasing and installing a barrel sauna on a site, you need to take care of the foundation or site where the structure will subsequently be installed. All manufacturers of mobile products claim that a full foundation is not required. In fact, this is true, but it is still necessary to prepare a level area. We recommend paying attention to several options for lightweight foundations:
1) The barrel can be installed in a place paved with paving slabs or filled with gravel.
2) If this option does not suit you, then you can prepare a concrete foundation for the building. 3) Also, one of the fastest options for a mobile barrel can be considered a columnar foundation. To make it, you will need to pour 2-3 pillars under each support of the structure. Pillars can be made of concrete, brick, concrete blocks, stone. It is not recommended to make supports from wood due to rapid rotting. Even if wood is treated with an antiseptic, over the years it will still lose its properties.
The main thing in any foundation is to maintain the level and the correct technology! A good foundation is the basis for the longevity of any bathhouse! It will protect the structure from the excessively moist environment of the earth, and therefore will not allow the wood to rot.
What needs to be done after installing the barrel sauna?
1) The barrel-shaped steam room should be installed at a distance of 5-6 meters from the nearest buildings.
Most owners of mobile baths install them very close (1-3 meters) to houses and other buildings. In this case, none of the manufacturers will provide a guarantee for the safety of the buildings. 2) Any cedar product is supplied to the client with detailed operating instructions. Accordingly, it is necessary to familiarize yourself in detail with all the recommendations from the manufacturer before commissioning the steam room. 3) After installation, you must also carefully read the operating instructions for the stove from the manufacturer (Termofor). 4) Next, you should heat the stove for 4 hours without stones. This can be done outside or, if the stove is already installed, then directly in the bathhouse itself. In this case, it is necessary to open the windows in the bathhouse to create conditions for ventilation during the burning of the stove. 5) During combustion, the water tank must be filled at least 2/3 full. 6) The faucet (size 3/4) for the water tank is not included in the kit; you need to buy and install it yourself. 7) The stove should be heated with dry non-coniferous wood, and also ensure that the pipe is not red and the temperature in the steam room does not exceed 110C. To avoid sudden fire, keep the oven door closed at all times.
9) The stove chimney must be cleaned once every three months. 10) After the stove has burned out, you can add firewood again and prepare the sauna for steaming, making sure that there is no unpleasant odor. 11) To increase the service life and preserve the appearance of the product, we recommend impregnating the product inside with oil and outside with special paint for wood. 12) Immediately after installation, it is necessary to loosen the hoops, allow the wood to gain moisture and increase in size. After this, the hoops can be tightened. 13) Connection to the 220V electrical network must be made by a specialist with the appropriate permit. Grounding required. It is important to remember that after installation, the first few weeks of the barrel sauna may leak at the bottom of the product, this is due to the design features. When the tree collects the necessary moisture from the environment, all leaks will stop.
Prohibited in the barrel bath:
1) Leave children and elderly people unattended. 2) Being drunk. 3) Leave a burning stove unattended or let children heat it. 4) Allow water to get on the glass of the stove, windows, lampshades due to the threat of glass destruction due to temperature differences. 5) Heat the stove without stones (the exception is the first start of the stove at idle, when it is necessary to burn and get rid of the unpleasant smell) 6) Use unauthorized types of fuel. 7) Leave water in the tank after taking bath procedures. Make changes to the product design!
In this case the warranty will be void! 9) In winter, leave the bathhouse premises undried. This can lead to freezing of the water inside the steam room, which will subsequently negatively affect the performance properties of the barrel. 10) Pour out unextinguished coals and ash near buildings. If you follow the rules and recommendations from the manufacturer, the product will serve you faithfully for decades! Enjoy Your Bath!
Design Features
A barrel sauna is a cylindrical structure with round or oval ends. There are also species whose outlines tend to be parallelepiped. The walls of the bathhouse are assembled from boards. For reliability, they are fastened with iron hoops.
Barrel sizes may vary and are determined individually for individual models. The maximum length of the bath is 6 meters. The height of all models is 2.2 - 2.3 meters. The weight of the structure is from 500 to 1600 kg.
Barrels are made from the following types of wood:
Oak
High strength wood. It is characterized by durability and increased resistance to moisture.
Linden
When heated, boards made from this wood begin to emit vapors with a healing effect, which has a beneficial effect on the human body.
Aspen
This type of wood is good for health, especially for the skin and respiratory system. At the same time, aspen is quite resistant to moisture.
Cedar
One of the densest woods, it is not susceptible to the formation of fungus and mold, since the wood contains natural antiseptics. When heated, cedar planks begin to emit a fragrant aroma.
Shelves in barrel baths are installed along the walls. The oven is located on the opposite side of the entrance. The location of a hot water tank and shower room is acceptable. Tempered glass doors are often used to partition off compartments, which helps to visually expand the space. Entrance doors are usually installed at the end, but can also be built into the side.
Expert opinion
Lovkachev Boris Petrovich
Bath master who knows everything about steaming
Cheaper wood is widely used for the manufacture of equipment and bath furniture: alder, fir and birch. But they are not suitable for the construction of walls and interior decoration of the barrel. Coniferous species, except cedar, are not used in the bathhouse. They contain a huge number of resins, which, when exposed to high temperatures, will begin to actively release.
Let's sum it up
In our article we tried to talk about how to treat a bathhouse inside and outside? The best chemistry , with what means you can treat the bathhouse from the outside and inside. You also learned about the differences between chemical preparations and in what cases they are best used. Precautionary measures were not left unattended.
Based on all of the above, only one conclusion can be drawn: treating the internal and external surfaces of the bathhouse should become a mandatory procedure. If you disinfect wood from time to time, its service life will increase. If you have any questions and did not find answers in the article, you can contact our managers for clarification by calling them at the phone numbers listed in the site contacts.
But we can say unequivocally: treatment is required if you wish health to your family and friends. After all, in a disinfected bathhouse the air is clean, healthy, and helps make the immune system even stronger. It is precisely for this reason that hygiene procedures in the bathhouse must be carried out regularly.
Types and configurations
Manufacturers offer the following types of barrel baths:
Russian
The most popular model, consisting of a washing room and a steam room - sauna. But you can additionally organize a rest room. The stove in such a bath is located between the washing room and the steam room. Part of the heating equipment is equipped with a tank for heating water. A container with stones is installed in the steam compartment.
Finnish
Dry steam sauna. Such a bathhouse is installed near a pool, natural reservoir or font in order to have direct access to water. Many experts emphasize that it is easier to organize a round sauna than to arrange a steam room.
To do this, you will need to ensure tightness and make sure there are no cracks. On the roof of such a bath there is a small hole that is closed with a valve. No drainage required. Inside the room there are benches and a stove with a heater that will heat up.
Japanese
This variety is called “ofuro” and is also very popular because of its simplicity and main feature - the complete absence of a roof. Thanks to this, vacationers can enjoy the fire, fresh air in winter and even the starry sky.
This barrel has a slightly elongated shape, is made of wood and is installed on the flooring. Inside the room there are benches and a stove. The latter must be taken to a safe distance and equipped with a partition to prevent burns.
The only drawback of the Japanese barrel bath is the high fuel consumption, since you will need to maintain the water heating level.
A sauna stove will speed up drying of the room
The sauna stove not only provides good steam, but also helps to quickly overcome humidity in the sauna room.
When the bathhouse is equipped with a brick stove, drying the room is quite quick and easy. The heated brick heats the air in the room for a long time, which promotes the evaporation of moisture. Additionally, you need to create cross-ventilation of the room using windows and doors.
If there is a stove in the bathhouse made of a different material, then it will have to be allowed to work a little more after the bathing procedures. To do this, you need to additionally throw a few firewood into the stove, open the ashpit, while simultaneously closing the windows and the front door. When the firewood has successfully burned out, you need to ventilate the room well, creating a draft.
Advantages and disadvantages
The advantages of a barrel sauna include:
- Original appearance. The unusual design serves as a real decoration for a suburban area.
- Construction speed. A barrel sauna can be purchased ready-made and installed on a pre-prepared base. Self-assembly from an ordered kit requires no more than 1 day. There is no need to build a capital foundation for the bathhouse.
- Fast warm-up and economical. In summer, the structure warms up in 15–20 minutes, in winter – 1–1.5 hours. To achieve the optimal temperature you will need no more than 10 logs.
- Compactness. The small dimensions of the bathhouse allow it to be installed even in the smallest area.
- Low cost. The price of a barrel is several times less than that of a permanent building.
- Mobility. The structure can be moved around the site and even transported over considerable distances.
- Easy to use and maintain. The bathhouse only needs to be dried after washing procedures and the walls need to be impregnated with protective agents at certain intervals.
- Environmental friendliness. The baths are made of natural wood, so staying in them has a beneficial effect on human health.
The design has few disadvantages:
- If the outflow of water is not organized correctly, the wood begins to rot.
- There is a small space inside the bathhouse, so a large group of people will not be able to relax in it.
- Walls should not be treated with aggressive chemicals.
- The walls do not retain heat perfectly and in severe frosts it is problematic to operate the bathhouse. If you slam doors frequently when entering or leaving, the interior quickly cools down.
Lighting up the oven
Those lucky people who have a brick stove can take good care of their bathhouse. A heated brick accumulates heat and stores it for a long time after the room has cooled. Soft “residual” heating of the room together with cross-ventilation helps get rid of excess moisture without any tricks. I can’t boast of such a thing, so I make do with other drying methods.
My steam room has a standard Finnish stove.
It cools down quickly.
To achieve the brick oven effect, you need to put in extra effort. After entering the steam room, I throw firewood into the stove and open the ash pan. To keep the warm, dry air “concentrated,” I close the windows and doors. You can open them after the wood has completely burned out.
Criterias of choice
To choose a suitable barrel bath model, it is important to decide on the following parameters:
Number of branches
This criterion depends on the size of the barrel: 1 compartment - steam room - 2 - 3 m; 2 compartments – steam room and relaxation room – 3.5 – 4.5 m; 3 compartments - washing, steam room, rest room - 5 - 6 m.
Form
The cost and size of the usable area of the bathhouse depends on this parameter: round – tight design. Square - has more usable area due to a more even floor and ceiling. Its cost is slightly higher than that of the round one. Oval - the largest usable area due to the entrance from the side (wide part). The corridor does not go through the entire rest room and frees up useful space.
Bake
There are 2 options for installing the stove: internal - supplying firewood from the inside, the fire burns directly in the steam room, but you have to carry the firewood into the steam room; external - firewood is loaded outside, there is no garbage, but you need to go outside to throw it in, so most buyers prefer to install an internal stove.
Roof
The most reliable and durable roofing material is flexible tiles. It fits well on the roof of any type of bathhouse. There are models covered with polycarbonate. This is not a very suitable material for roofing. Polycarbonate is very fragile in the cold and is not resistant to mechanical stress.
Floor construction
It is preferable to take a model with a sloped floor. This ensures that the water drains away. If the floor is straight, make sure there is a drainage system.
Board thickness
High-quality models are made from boards from 30 to 40 mm. The barrel’s ability to retain heat and overall durability depend on this parameter.
For your information! You should be especially careful when buying cheap baths. They are most likely not made from solid wood. There are manufacturers who make baths from the cheapest types of lining. The walls are a sandwich: 25 mm board, OSB sheet and again lining. This is a wall of dubious quality. Moisture will destroy the structure in a year. Black fungus will appear on the material, the inner lining will warp and begin to crack.
What is wood?
Wood is classified as a natural building material that has specific properties:
- Speaking about mechanical properties, it is assumed that wood is a strong and solid material that is almost not deformed. It has excellent operational and technological qualities; this building material is able to withstand heavy loads.
- Physical properties are understood as the external data of wood (texture, color), its thermal conductivity, sound and electrical conductivity, and humidity.
- If we talk about chemical properties, it should be noted that this is a natural anisotrope, since differently oriented fibers have their own special characteristics. For example, when drying, fibers behave differently: longitudinal fibers take much longer to dry than transverse fibers. Radial fibers, in turn, dry faster than tangential fibers.
You should carefully consider the features of this building material in order to make the right choice of special protective compounds for wooden buildings and products:
- The strength of wood is the most important characteristic of the material. Thanks to it, it has the ability to resist various aggressive mechanical loads.
- To determine the hardness of wood, special tests are used, in particular the Janka test. In simpler terms, this is the degree of resistance of wood to the effects of bodies much harder than itself.
- The wear resistance of wood refers to the ability of the material and structures made from it to resist various impacts associated with operation.
- As for humidity, it can be absolute or relative.
Therefore, to decide how to treat the bathhouse inside and outside? better chemistry specifically designed for this purpose. But first you need to understand the characteristics of wood. If we talk about the operational parameters of this building material, they have a lot in common with properties, but may differ slightly in their purpose:
- Hardness and stability.
- Level of oxidation and resistance to mechanical stress.
Tree species from which various products are made, each of them has its own special physical, mechanical and chemical properties, as well as performance indicators. Naturally, the means for processing and impregnation cannot be the same. Although there are compositions that can be used for any breed. Thus, the question of funds practically disappears.
How to assemble a barrel sauna
The ideal option for arranging a barrel bath on the site is to purchase a ready-made model from a manufacturing company.
In this case, the structure will be delivered to the site and installed in literally 1 – 2 hours. Some companies carry out assembly directly on site.
There are also companies that sell ready-made kits for self-assembly. The work consists of several stages.
Preparing the base
The barrel bath does not require the construction of a capital foundation. The support can be cement blocks or screw piles. The installation site must be level and rigid.
The ideal option is a concrete screed. You can fill an area the size of the selected model with crushed stone and fill it with a cement-sand mixture in a ratio of 1:2. The thickness of the concrete layer is from 100 mm.
On the prepared site, supports are mounted from boards with semicircular cutouts. The thickness of the boards is 40 – 50 mm. Their number depends on the length of the body. Minimum - 3 pieces. As holders for them there are bars with a section of 10X10. The rigidity of the structure is ensured by metal corners. They are fixed to all the knocks of beams and boards.
Assembly of floor and walls
The assembly of the frame begins with securing the floor parts. They have grooves for the ends. End panels are inserted into the front and back of the floor. They are attached with corners. High-quality installation requires rigid fixation, since the ends will be the basis for installing wall boards.
Transverse boards are attached to the end shields in a circle. This stage is the most critical, since the elements must fit as closely as possible to each other. The boards are mounted sequentially on both sides at once. It is not permissible to assemble one side first and then the other. In this case, the barrel may turn out to be crooked.
The main and worrying moment in assembling walls is installing the last board at the top. If everything is done correctly, it will fit perfectly. But it happens that the top bar does not fit into the grooves or there are gaps on its sides. In this case, everything will have to be redone!
Hoop tie
Before installing and tightening the stabilizing metal elements, all wooden parts are impregnated with antiseptic agents. This will protect the wood from precipitation and insect pests.
After the impregnation has dried, you can install hoops around the barrel.
When installing them, consider the following points:
- The wood will definitely shrink, so the tapes are initially tightened only until they fit snugly.
- After about three weeks, the tapes will need to be tightened.
- The final tightening must be done after the wood has settled.
Finishing
The final stages of assembly are installing doors, windows and covering the top with flexible tiles. The sheets are fastened with nails. Shelves are installed inside the bathhouse. Some models have outer seats. They are installed last. Ventilation is installed in the steam room.
Installation of the furnace and water tank
The heart of any type of sauna is the stove. If a wood stove is used, it is installed on a fireproof board. The same stove is installed on the back wall of the bathhouse. You need to cut a hole under the chimney in the ceiling using a jigsaw. The distance between the stove plate and the wall must be at least 30 centimeters!
A water tank is connected to the stove. Water pipes are being installed. If the design includes a shower, a tray and the necessary set of plumbing equipment are installed.
Finally, the electrical wiring is laid in a waterproofing box with a connection to the distribution board.
If you are planning to make a barrel-shaped sauna with your own hands, then keep in mind that this is not such a simple matter. You should think 7 times before starting work. It’s easier and often cheaper (taking into account the mass of possible errors during the manual installation process, for which you will need to pay) to contact a professional.
Where to go to purchase drugs for treatment and how to place an order?
The GoodHim company can be called a leader among enterprises engaged in the production of products for the chemical treatment of external and internal surfaces of wooden buildings and wood products. All products have an acceptable price, which is not affordable even for Russians with average incomes. Any antiseptic, impregnation, bleaching compounds that protect against fire and biological pests can be ordered while sitting in your apartment from our website, using online services.
Both individuals and legal entities can order products. In addition, the corporation has a new manufacturing facility called contract manufacturing. Under this service, you can apply for production by submitting your recipes. Then the released product will have your brand.
If you are interested in our products and new service, you can find out more on the website. Find information in the section on “Contract Manufacturing”
Rules for operating a barrel bath
The process of heating the bath is standard. However, to maintain the longevity of the product, it is important
follow some rules:
- During the first two years you must monitor the condition of the barrel very carefully. From time to time the metal straps must be tightened or loosened. The individual front panel strips must have a 5mm gap at the joints, which must be checked after each tightening. If the bath door gets stuck after tensioning the tapes, they need to be loosened a little.
- The outside of the bathhouse must be coated with a protective compound every year. It is not necessary to do this inside. But the inside of the wood should be periodically disinfected, depending on the frequency of use.
- Maintain a constant level of humidity inside, for example by leaving a bucket of water in the sauna even when it is not in use.
- After each washing procedure, the bathhouse must be dried.
You need to know about this!
There are many facts that are interesting and educational. For example, Finns are big fans of saunas. In this state, 2 million saunas have been built for every 5 million people. This is simply amazing! Even in a multi-storey building, where it would seem impractical to build a bathhouse, it is still installed in the area of the ground floor or in the basement.
Residents of Finland love their country, as well as its ecology. They put human health in the foreground, because in the sauna you can improve your health and strengthen your body as a whole. The Finns treat sauna premises with care; they have long used all kinds of chemicals, and the Russians have learned a lot from them, having adopted the experience of caring for wooden structures.
User reviews
Maksim. Krasnoyarsk
In our climate, it is not possible to heat a barrel sauna all year round. In severe frost it is difficult to heat it, there is too much wood, and the desired temperature is not obtained. But from spring to late autumn, and even at the beginning of winter, as long as it is not below minus 15 degrees, we heat without problems. The barrel, of course, is a bit cramped, but 2–3 people fit in it quite comfortably.
Natalia. Moscow region.
We ordered a barrel 3 years ago. They made it in 2 weeks, delivered it disassembled and installed it in 5 hours. We are very happy, we heat it once a week. In winter too.
Andrey. Ryazan Oblast.
I ordered the smallest barrel, it only contains a steam room combined with a washing room. I already regret it. Undressing on the street is somehow not very pleasant. Although in other respects the bathhouse is quite satisfactory. I'm already thinking about changing it to a more comfortable model so that there is a rest room/dressing room. If funds allow, I advise you to take a more spacious barrel so that it looks more like a real bathhouse.
Maria. Chelyabinsk.
We read positive reviews and decided to buy a barrel sauna. My husband suggested it and said that building a real bathhouse would be expensive and take a long time. I gave in to persuasion and regretted it in the first year. This building is just for washing. For true connoisseurs, baths are not an option. For me the main drawback is the cold floor. Grandma had a real bathhouse, it was so hot there. And here my feet are cold all the time. I also don't like the low shelves. You can only steam while lying down.
Vladimir. Nizhny Novgorod.
I installed a barrel sauna 2 months ago. The manufacturer is not Nizhny Novgorod. So far very pleased. Compact 6X2.15 m, but roomy, 8 people can enter the relaxation room, 6 people can enter the steam room. It fries as it should, warms up quickly and with a minimum of firewood. Costs less than traditional stationary. I'm happy.
Treat surfaces with linseed oil
The final stage of bath care is treatment with linseed oil. Everyone also knows about the miraculous “essence,” but almost no one uses it in practice. Personally, I have made it a rule to treat wooden surfaces after steaming. When the steam room dries out, I distribute the composition over the walls, benches and floor.
For your money, linseed oil is an indispensable protection against rot, cracks, darkening and traces of mold.
Of course, the product has a specific smell that not everyone will like. But with subsequent airing it disappears without a trace. The oil dries within 24 hours. After this, the bathhouse is heated again. If I see residue on the wood, I remove it manually.
Source of the article: https://zen.yandex.com/media/banya_expert/3-soveta-ot-opytnogo-banscika-kak-prosushivat-baniu-chtoby-dolgo-slujila-5f0850e77ec36d6f956cd215
Common Questions
After 2 months of use, the barrel sauna began to resin from the inside. What to do?
You will have to remove the resin manually. Heat the bath to a temperature of 130 degrees. The resin will begin to actively release. Scrape it off with any device. Repeat the procedure several times. Gradually all the resin will come out of the wood.
I have been using the sauna for 5 years. The functionality does not fail, but the appearance has suffered. Is it possible to somehow restore the light tone of wood?
You can lighten wood with a special chlorine-based bleach.
Is it possible to take away a sauna in your gazelle?
The minimum weight of the barrel is 500 kg. The gazelle will survive, but for loading and unloading you will need a crane.
Is it necessary to insulate a barrel sauna?
If the assembly technology is followed, the barrel does not need insulation. If this is done, increased humidity is created inside, which means conditions for the development of fungus in the wood. Such a bathhouse will gain heat faster and retain it, but its overall service life will be reduced.
A barrel sauna is an excellent solution for anyone who dreams of having their own sauna on site with minimal investment. With the right choice and compliance with the rules of operation, it will last for many years and bring lovers of this type of recreation a lot of pleasure.
How to wash floors?
Detergents will help thoroughly clean the floor from dirt. To prevent fungi and mold, it is recommended to use hydrogen peroxide or “Whiteness”. They will permanently relieve the wooden covering from the formation of mucus. However, after treatment with these substances, the bathhouse must be ventilated so that a specific odor does not remain.
After each visit to the washing machine, the floors are washed with water and a liquid soap solution. This will allow them to remain clean and shiny for a long time.
Darkened floorboards that are resistant to cleaning liquids are cleaned with an electric planer. After removing and drying the wood, treat its top layer from 5 to 10 mm deep. Any sharp edges that appear are sanded using a machine. The thin darkened layer of the board is sanded off with sandpaper, and the corners are passed through with a drill.
To prevent severe contamination, mold, mildew and pests, the bathhouse is constantly kept clean. After each visit, it is thoroughly washed from the inside, not forgetting about all the components. Periodically, the internal surfaces are treated with antiseptics, and protective compounds are applied to the wood. If any element becomes unusable, it must be replaced immediately. Such care will allow you to enjoy comfortable rest for many years. Additional information about the proper maintenance of bathhouses can be found in our blog banya-guru.ru.
Modul Prom
Basic rules for operating a barrel bath:
Controlling the degree of tightening of the hoops is also important . Before transporting the bathhouse, it is necessary to tighten the hoops. In the autumn-winter period and rainy spring, the hoops are constantly tightened, while in the summer it is possible for them to sag, which is not a structural defect, but is associated with the loss of internal moisture in the wood. Subject to additional tightening in the summer, it is possible that they will have to be loosened in the fall, when the tree begins to gain moisture again.
Tank operation.
The supplied tank is made of stainless steel with increased heat resistance and sufficient thickness of the sheet used. Its operation should be based on the manufacturer's recommendations. Structurally, the tank is equipped with a fitting, which, by rotating the body, allows water to be directed along the entire circumference of the stove. Before starting to light the stove, it is necessary to ensure that there is at least two-thirds of the water in the container. If there is a lack of water, the tank may burn out and become damaged. Upon completion of bath procedures, the water should be drained, regardless of the season and street temperatures. It is also recommended to wash the tank two or three times annually, cleaning the walls from the inside of various deposits.
Oven operation. The stove is used based on the manufacturer's instructions. The model is equipped with draft control capabilities to optimize combustion. Control is carried out through the ash pan, the door of which is located below the firebox door. Under the influence of excessive draft, a significant increase in combustion temperature is possible with the metal glowing red-hot. This mode of operation negatively affects the service life of the product.
When igniting the stove, the optimal position for the ash pan is to open it to a quarter of its length. Next, the ash pan is closed. In the future, it is regulated as necessary to maintain the optimal temperature inside.
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