We reveal the secret of strong steam - insulating baths and saunas with Penoplex!

Is it necessary to insulate a brick bathhouse?

But this material has decent thermal conductivity, which makes brick baths poorly protected from the penetration of cold air. Therefore, such a process as insulating a brick bathhouse is a prerequisite for the construction of this building. The best option is insulation from the outside.

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Insulation for baths and saunas

general information

Reliable thermal insulation is one of the key factors in the construction of any bathhouse: Russian steam room, sauna, hammam.
The quality of the chosen insulation determines how easily the bathhouse will be heated and retain heat. Traditionally, Russian baths were insulated from the inside with natural materials, since there were no others at that time. However, they are short-lived, quickly become damp, are susceptible to rotting and require constant treatment with special protective compounds. Aluminum foil is often used as insulation for baths and saunas, however, from the point of view of the energy efficiency of the room, this is not the best choice. In particular, aluminum foil for thermal insulation of a steam room is a rather fragile material, so for this purpose it is best to use foil fabric, paper and insulation. Nowadays, bathhouses and saunas are insulated from the inside with high-quality, eco-friendly materials of the new generation - PENOPLEX® thermal insulation boards. Thanks to the dense cellular structure, the material does not allow moisture to pass through, so the slabs retain their thermal insulation properties throughout their entire service life.

Non-flammable insulation for baths and saunas PENOPLEX® is completely safe, does not contain harmful substances, small fibers and dust. Children's toys, disposable tableware and medical packaging are produced from the same grades of polystyrene. Insulating baths and saunas with natural materials takes a lot of time and effort, while PENOPLEX® slabs are installed easily and quickly.

Floor insulation in a PENOPLEX® bathhouse

Concrete floor Install sequentially on the foundation slab:

• Penoplex® boards;
• concrete screed reinforced with building mesh;
• any decorative coating.

ATTENTION! When installing thermal insulation for a sauna or steam room using PENOPLEX®, it is necessary to avoid contact of the insulation with elements of the stove and pipes that heat up to temperatures above 75°C.

Insulating the floor in a PENOPLEX® bathhouse will significantly reduce heat loss and significantly increase the cooling time of the steam room. Bathhouse insulation PENOPLEX® is also widely used for thermal insulation of walls, attic floors, ceilings and roofs of bathhouses.

Baths insulated with PENOPLEX® slabs retain heat even in extremely cold climates. An example is a bathhouse made of wooden beams, built in 2006 in Antarctica. On a continent where the night temperature drops below –50°C, the sauna inside warms up to 120°C. To insulate the floor, walls and ceiling of this bathhouse, 25 cubic meters of PENOPLEX® slabs were used. This is the only bathhouse and the only wooden building in Antarctica! She is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

Thanks to their exceptional technical and operational characteristics, PENOPLEX® slabs are the most optimal thermal insulation solution for a sauna or steam room.

Underfloor heating system

Another option for insulating the flooring in a bathhouse is installing a heated floor system. In this case, you can choose a design based on electric heating elements or water pipes.

Such floors can not only make the floor warm, but also heat the entire room. Therefore, if they are used in a steam room, they can participate in creating the necessary environment. Their location in other rooms of the building will make it possible to move comfortably barefoot.

They are installed in the same way as other insulation materials under reinforced lattice and screed in a concrete floor and between joists under boards in a wooden floor. An important addition is the need to install heat-insulating material under the system to prevent heat loss into the ground.

Ceiling insulation with penofol

To effectively protect living space from external thermal influences, it is important to thermally insulate all surfaces in contact with the external environment.

This also applies to ceilings, especially in private houses, on the top floors of multi-story buildings, on balconies and loggias. After all, a fifth of the heat exchange of the entire house occurs through ceilings that are not insufficiently insulated from external temperatures. Therefore, a high-quality insulated ceiling significantly reduces energy consumption to maintain a comfortable microclimate in a living space both during frosty winters and on hot summer days.

Production of vapor barrier

We take rolled foil polystyrene foam approximately 3-5 mm thick. and shoot it with a furniture stapler on the ceiling from the side of the steam room. We install the foil with an overlap of 5 centimeters. All joints must be glued with foil tape. Be sure to lower the foil onto the walls, 10 centimeters down. The foil will protect the ceiling well from the effects of steam.

You need to sew bars onto it, and then on them some kind of decorative finishing (for example, lining). a gap (1.5-3 cm) between the foil and the final finish ,

since the air in this gap is a very good heat insulator.

Technology

No matter how good the material is, failure to adhere to the accuracy of the installation technology can, over time, negatively affect the quality of heat conservation.

Frame installation

Required:

• foam sheets;
• metal profile or wooden blocks 50x50;
• film for vapor barrier.

Stages:

1. Clean the ceiling from dirt and dust, eliminate unevenness, if any. Treat the surface with an antiseptic.
2. Remove electrical wiring. To do this, use a special protective corrugation.
3. Attach beams or a profile to the ceiling at a distance of 50 cm. Make sure that the shape of the attached beams takes on the appearance of a large cage, each cell of which should correspond in size to the foam sheet.
4. Install foam plastic using dowels or glue.
5. Treat joints and cracks with polyurethane foam.
6. Attach a vapor barrier layer to the insulation.
7. Finally, start installing drywall, wood or other material that matches the overall interior.

Adhesive mounting option

Required:

• sheets of foam plastic in an amount corresponding to the total area of ​​the ceiling;
• adhesive composition.

Stages:

1. Clean the ceiling, treat it with an antiseptic and prime it for a better bond between the glue and the surface.
2. Prepare an adhesive composition or use a ready-made one.
3. Apply glue to the foam sheet (in continuous lines along the edge and in splashes in the center of the board). Press the foam sheet as firmly as possible against the ceiling and hold for a few seconds.
4. If you are insulating the ceiling using polystyrene foam, then all the sheets should be prepared in advance: scratch with an iron brush along the working side (the one on which you will apply the adhesive).
5. Start gluing the sheets from the middle of the ceiling in a checkerboard pattern.
6. For greater reliability, the foam sheets can be additionally attached with dowels after the glue has dried.
7. Glue the reinforced mesh on top of the foam and putty.

And here is an article about insulating a bathhouse ceiling with mineral wool.

In this section of our website https://ru-house.net/postrojki/banya/ you will find a lot of useful and interesting information about the bathhouse.

Organic raw materials

Insulating the bathhouse with natural materials will provide a high level of vapor barrier.

The following types of raw materials are distinguished:

• flax tow;
• cellulose;
• felt;
• wood sawdust.

When the question arises of what is the best way to insulate the ceiling in a bathhouse from above, it is worth remembering that some samples of animal or plant origin cannot tolerate high temperatures. They can only be used in the waiting room or rest room.

Method of insulating a bathhouse ceiling with sawdust

Among other techniques, the leader is the procedure for improving the roof of a room using compressed wood shavings. It gained such popularity among the people because of its accessibility and ease of installation.

Photo from the website Tomsk.fis.ru

Considering the fact that thermal insulation should not only prevent hot air from passing out, but also promote the accumulation of steam, it is necessary to lay two layers of blocks. To better distribute the wood processing product between the upper beams, a binder is used, so the bathhouse ceiling is insulated with clay with sawdust or with cement.

Synthetics

Natural gaskets are superior in terms of benefits and the absence of harmful fumes, but man-made materials are considered more durable. They can be used to upholster the attic of a room once and forget about updating the renovation for several years; this procedure will not cause harm if you follow safety precautions and follow the correct scheme for insulating the ceiling in a bathhouse.

There are the following categories of synthetic insulation:

• polymer;
• mineral wool;
• glass wool;
• foil.

The choice of inorganic materials is very wide. Therefore, in order to find out what insulation to use to insulate the ceiling in a bathhouse, you need to look at its thermal conductivity. Products of chemical synthesis, as a rule, have a higher ability to retain heat than organic matter.

But there are ways to arrange structures by combining materials, for example, laying a peat slab or a layer of earth on top of the foam.

But it is necessary to take into account that when the room becomes too hot, inorganic raw materials emit harmful and even toxic substances. Therefore, the answer to the question whether it is possible to insulate the ceiling in a bathhouse with penoplex foam will be negative.

These slabs are ideal for equipping technical, utility rooms (dressing room) or rest rooms where the temperature does not reach high limits.

Insulating a bathhouse ceiling with mineral wool

The main advantage of this material is its cost-effectiveness. Due to low thermal conductivity, very little raw material is required - 10-15 cm. Slag fiber boards are especially convenient for installation, as they lend themselves well to cutting and transformation.

Unlike natural raw materials, such blocks are not attractive prey for rodents.

The choice to insulate the bathhouse ceiling with basalt wool will be the most optimal, since the material:

• does not deform;
• does not absorb moisture (with special treatment);
• does not burn;
• does not require replacement for many years.

Photo from the site Uvk.vn.ua

There are several subtleties in how to insulate the ceiling in a bathhouse with mineral wool. Without protection and special impregnations, a pressed mineral slab is hygroscopic, so first of all you need to think about protecting the blocks.

• Before laying the sheet on the boards, it is necessary to lay a layer of vapor barrier (polyethylene or foil with metallized layers to the coating).
• Then a pliable material is pressed between the beams.
• Another sheet of foil protection is attached on top with the metal layer facing out.

Several other types of wool are also used - diabase, dolomite, slag. They are superior to folk remedies in terms of their effectiveness and modernity.

Photo from Mastergrad.com

Insulation of a bathhouse ceiling with expanded clay

A competitor to other options can be a lightweight porous material that is obtained by processing clay or slate with an open fire. It is environmentally friendly and economical. But it has a special feature - it perfectly absorbs moisture. Therefore, before you learn how to properly insulate the ceiling in a bathhouse with expanded clay with your own hands, you need to carry out preparatory procedures:

• Two sheets of dense polyethylene or roofing felt are overlapped on the ceiling boards.
• Particular attention should be paid to the seams - they are sealed with mastic, thick tape or sealed.
• Then a layer of expanded clay 30 cm high is poured, and a lattice with windows 50 by 50 cm is laid on top of the embankment.
• The final layer is again protection - a thick film.

Photo from Banyabest.ru

It is important to use foil-coated vapor barrier material for additional protection from moisture and fungus.

You have learned about the most common options for how to insulate the ceiling in a bathhouse inexpensively. But it is important to remember, no matter what material you choose, installation must be carried out in compliance with safety precautions, as well as taking into account the technical properties of the raw material.

How to insulate a ceiling with penofol from the inside

As noted above, foil insulation is not plastered, so it can only be placed under the sheathing. It is advisable, if you want to get a good effect from the thermal insulation of ceilings, to use penofol in combination with other insulation. Therefore, we will consider two options for combining insulation.

• We insulate the ceiling with penofol and mineral wool from the inside.

In this case, the sheathing is assembled under the plasterboard and mineral wool is laid between the profiles.

Penofol is fixed on top of the frame and fixed with self-tapping screws (fleas) to the supporting profile, and the foil should be directed into the room. The insulation strips should be laid end-to-end (without overlapping) and taped with special foil tape. Then the frame is sheathed with plasterboard and subjected to subsequent finishing.

You can also use two layers of penofol. The first is attached to the ceiling with the foil facing out, the second, as described above. This makes it possible to achieve excellent insulating and soundproofing effects; in addition, the foil material simultaneously functions as a vapor barrier for mineral wool.

2. Thermal insulation of ceilings with penoplex and penofol.

First, sheets of extruded polystyrene foam are glued to the ceiling, and then secured with dowels.

In this case, you need to try to ensure that the horizontal plane comes out as even as possible. Penofol is glued onto the penoplex, the seams are closed with tape. Thin (about 1.5 cm) wooden slats are secured on top of the foil with dowels, to which plasterboard sheets or PVC panels are attached.

Read also:  Typical projects: Two-story baths made of timber

You can use penofol yourself, especially when sound insulation is a priority. This situation can arise in a city apartment, where the ceiling is warm (there is a heated living space above), but the noise from the neighbors above is disturbing. In this case, before constructing the sheathing under the cladding, you need to attach foil material to the ceiling slab, with the aluminum film facing up.

By insulating the ceiling of a bathhouse, you will always be in the black. In any case, a warm ceiling guarantees the preservation of that notorious forty percent that so easily evaporates through thin surfaces and cracks.

Table of contents:

• Polystyrene foam as an insulation option
• Pros and cons of the material
• Are polystyrene foam and polystyrene foam the same thing?
• Technology
• Frame installation
• Adhesive mounting option
• So is it worth it to insulate with polystyrene foam?

And a bathhouse is a room in which even one percent of the required temperature disappears noticeably, so insulating the ceiling here becomes a priority.

How to perform insulation

Thermal insulation of bathhouse walls is carried out comprehensively, always insulating the building from the inside, and in some cases, both from the outside and from the inside. Log and lumber bathhouses, as a rule, are not insulated from the outside, and only from the inside - a steam room and a washing room. Baths made of bricks and foam blocks - materials with high thermal conductivity - must be insulated from the outside to ensure the necessary temperature conditions inside the building. To insulate the bathhouse externally, first install the sheathing, secure the thermal insulation, wind and moisture-proof membrane, and at the final stage - the outer cladding.

Stages of insulation of bathhouse walls from the inside

• Cleaning, sealing and filling of cracks in the base base. The walls of a bathhouse made of logs or timber are caulked with jute or linen insulation, minor defects in brick and foam concrete planes are corrected with sealants.
• Treatment with antiseptics that prevent the spread of pathogenic microorganisms and fire retardants that reduce the likelihood of fire.
• Installation of wooden sheathing for installation of heat insulator. The width of the lathing step is selected based on the width of the insulation (1 cm less), and the thickness of the bars is based on its thickness.
• Installation of insulation. By cutting a roll of mineral wool into strips of the required width or using slabs of a certain standard size, you can ideally install the material in the wooden frame of the bathhouse - in the spacer between the guides of the sheathing.

• Installation of vapor barrier. The optimal material for quickly insulating a bathhouse with your own hands is a rolled or slab mineral wool insulator with a foil layer. It’s like a “2 in 1” - a material that can significantly reduce installation time and acts as an effective heat protection and vapor barrier. If the insulation does not have a metallized coating, then it is recommended to cover it with a vapor barrier film with an overlap of at least 5 cm, for example, Ondutis R Termo - a vapor barrier with heat-saving properties that can withstand temperatures up to +120 degrees and returns 80% of the heat back into the room. After installation, all joints of the insulator are glued with foil (aluminum) tape.

Waterproofing: what is it for?

The final point in insulating the ceiling is waterproofing. What is it and what is it for? And it is needed in order to release into the attic that steam or moisture that nevertheless got into the insulation and not let it in from the outside. For this purpose, there are special anti-condensation films, as well as polymer films - membranes (a topic for a separate discussion). An example of such material is isospan. You can view and navigate prices here.

We spread such a film over the TechnoNIKOL insulation and shoot it with a stapler around the perimeter and at the bases of the trusses. We seal the joints with tape. Well, the very last stage - this film must be protected. To do this, we lay down edged boards so that you can safely walk around the attic without damaging the waterproofing. All.

What is the conclusion from this? Insulating the ceiling of a bathhouse with your own hands is not such a difficult task. The main thing is to have a desire, a certain amount in your pocket, hands growing where they should be and... I’ve said a lot of things, I’ll finish. And finally, an interesting video about another method of insulating a bath ceiling.

Wisdom Quote: Verbosity usually breeds boredom.

Insulation under the screed

If the bathhouse is built of brick, most likely the ceilings are made of reinforced concrete. Also, sometimes there is a need to make a floor on the ground. In this case, insulation is performed under the screed. When using this technology, the load on the insulation increases, so you should follow the following recommendations:

• choose material grade PSB-S 35 (foam plastic) or EPPS 35 (penoplex);
• the thickness of the screed is prescribed 30-50 mm (when using the “warm floor” system - more);
• when using polystyrene foam, the screed is reinforced with wire mesh with a diameter of 3-4 mm and cells of 50 by 50 mm.

If it is necessary to insulate the floor on the ground, then the base is not only leveled, but also compacted. The floor pie in this case looks like this:

• compacted soil;
• sand-gravel mixture or medium-sized sand (20-30 cm);
• concrete preparation from lean concrete B7.5—B12.5;
• waterproofing;
• insulation;
• vapor barrier;
• screed with reinforcing mesh.

The concrete floor consists of the following layers:

• reinforced concrete slab;
• waterproofing;
• insulation;
• vapor barrier;
• screed (with or without reinforcement).

Insulation of a bathhouse begins with clearing and leveling the base. All cracks in the concrete floor must be covered with cement mortar. After this, special leveling mixtures can be used. A line is drawn on the wall to mark the finished floor. This is required in order to control evenness.

Waterproofing is placed on the prepared base. It is mounted with an overlap of 10 cm (including on walls), gluing the joints with a special film.

Polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam is laid on glue. The solution is applied only along the edges and to several points in the center. When purchasing glue, it is important to check that it does not contain solvents or other substances hazardous to the insulation. The slabs are installed with the seams bandaged (in a staggered manner). A gap of 1-2 cm is provided between the polystyrene and the wall, taking into account the expansion of the material during operation; this space is filled with damper tape. Before pouring the screed, the slabs are secured to the base using disc dowels.

Are polystyrene foam and polystyrene foam the same thing?

The insulation of the ceiling of a bathhouse with foam plastic can be somewhat diversified, while remaining faithful to the choice of this particular material.

You couldn't help but hear about an improved type of polystyrene foam - polystyrene foam. Essentially, these are the same plates made of capsules filled with a gaseous substance, only stronger, stronger, better.

Let's analyze the qualities of polystyrene foam

:

• it is not as fragile as polystyrene foam; even with not very careful transportation, the corners of the polystyrene foam plate remain intact;
• this material does not ignite as quickly as polystyrene foam filled with highly flammable gas;
• The service life of expanded polystyrene is from 15 to 35 years, polystyrene foam is from 10 to 20.

As for the price, expanded polystyrene is only 5-10% more expensive than its “big brother”.

Important rules for insulating a bath that everyone should know

• Competent calculation.
  This is the first and most important rule for ensuring the most effective insulation results. Only an experienced specialist will be able to correctly calculate thermal insulation depending on the total area of ​​the bathhouse or sauna, the number of rooms, building material, heating system, number of people who can simultaneously visit the steam room, etc.
• Complex insulation.
  According to professional builders and bathhouse experts, insulation should be both external and internal. Thermal insulation work begins with insulation of the foundation, walls and roof, and only then can you safely proceed to the internal insulation of the ceiling, walls and floor.
• Effective insulation.
  The requirements for insulation for baths and saunas are: high thermal insulation properties, durability, resistance to temperature fluctuations and direct exposure to moisture.