Bathhouse made of aspen: the pros and cons of an aspen log house

In Rus', aspen has been used in the construction of wooden structures for thousands of years. It was valued for its magnificent properties - unique to this tree. Its strength, only gained over years of use, determined the use of aspen in the construction of houses, roofing systems, domes and temple roofs.

But this wood gained special respect as a material for the construction of Russian baths. To this day, the wonderful properties of aspen are in demand by lovers of strong and healthy steam.

Brief characteristics of aspen wood

Aspen's habitat is wetlands; these trees prefer places where there is no lack of moisture. This state of affairs affects the nature of the wood: it turns out dense, heavy and very wet. If the tree is old, then there is a high probability that its core has rotted, making it unsuitable for making aspen timber. The wood texture is uniform, the color is usually light yellow. When drying, the material acquires a characteristic shine and becomes lighter. Aspen wood is strong, and when it dries it becomes even stronger, as well as with increasing age (we are talking about a healthy, selected species). Raw materials with natural moisture are processed well, dried ones - poorly (the ax and saws become dull due to their dense structure). One of the reasons why a do-it-yourself log bathhouse is often built from aspen is its subtle, unobtrusive smell. In addition, like larch lumber, aspen beams are not afraid of moisture, perfectly withstanding the hell of a Russian bath.

Advantages and disadvantages of aspen timber

As for timber made from the type of wood we are considering, we can note the following advantages relative to the same pine material:

resistance to moisture;
lack of resin, which definitely affects the choice of wood for a bathhouse made from timber or logs;
lower heat capacity contributes to less heating of the material, more comfortable tactile sensations (applied to the same baths);
Over time, the characteristics of aspen timber only improve;
the material is resistant to natural external influences

Flaws:

really good timber is hard to find. As a rule, only 10% of the total mass has the necessary properties - the so-called selected aspen timber;
When constructing buildings, it is necessary to use only dried timber, because The natural humidity of aspen is high, and during subsequent drying it turns out strongly

Recommendations for use

Only selected aspen timber should be used in construction

In this case, special attention should be paid to the humidity of the material - it should not exceed a threshold of 20%. It’s also not worth building the whole house from it - it’s enough to lay the first crown of the house from timber of a given type of wood, because

it is very resistant to rotting.

On the question of prices

Prices for regular aspen timber are lower than for pine lumber. As a rule, they do not exceed 4500-5000 rubles. per cubic meter m. The only thing is that it will be a beam of natural moisture, which will bend during subsequent drying in stacks, and the yield of material suitable for construction will be relatively small. Prices for selected aspen timber start at 10,000 rubles. per cubic meter m.

conclusions

If you are ready for additional costs, then it is better to make the lower crowns of a wooden house from selected aspen timber. There is no point in constructing a complete building from such material - it is too expensive. Be sure to check its quality before purchasing timber!

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>Aspen log house for a bathhouse

Interior arrangement of a linden bathhouse

Wood such as linden is ideal not only for making walls, it can also be used for interior decoration. And it will be much better because you don't have to think about where to find another tree.

Linden makes very good doors. This tree is practically unable to absorb moisture that is present in the air. And this means the following: you don’t have to be afraid that the doors will swell. So you can even place them at the entrance to the steam room.
Linden is well suited for making bath furniture. This is especially true for shelves on which you have to sit or lie. Firstly, the surface of this wood is smooth. And secondly, although such wood heats up, it doesn’t heat up very much.
Linden windows are able to let air through and therefore promote natural ventilation. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about such a negative phenomenon as stuffiness. In addition, this is an environmentally friendly material that is not at all afraid of temperature changes.
If desired, the interior of the bathhouse can be decorated with linden lining. This is done even when the walls are made of other wood. She has a wonderful view.

Positive properties of aspen

Aspen is by no means a cheap material for construction. Building a bathhouse from aspen, subject to careful culling, drying and processing of the wood, can cost a decent amount.

Despite this, many lovers of Russian bathhouses are ready to spend money once and get in return a high-quality steam room and truly light steam. After all, the wood of this wonderful tree has the following positive properties:

Long service life - a timber frame made of aspen, dried using technology and correctly assembled, lasts for many decades. This structure is not afraid of pests and high humidity. Over the years, the wood of this tree only becomes stronger and acquires the hardness of oak.
Toning and healing effect - after visiting an aspen bathhouse, an improvement in well-being and general condition is observed. Staying in such a steam room is recommended for people with weakened immune systems.
Disinfecting effect - aspen does not rot in water, but, on the contrary, disinfects it. By itself, it does not emit decay products, and fungi and mold do not grow on it. This helps create a light, clean and pleasant atmosphere in the bathhouse.
Aspen does not heat up at high steam room temperatures and does not emit resin. Therefore, it absolutely eliminates the risk of sticking and getting burned during health procedures.

It is these basic qualities that make aspen so popular in bathhouse construction. And if it is not possible to make an entire aspen log house, then boards from this wood are used to make individual components of the steam room.

Aspen flooring, wall cladding with clapboard or boards, making shelves and benches will be much cheaper, but will allow you to get the full range of positive qualities of this wonderful material. But in order for the bathhouse to please with its durability and comfortable atmosphere, it is necessary to carefully consider the processes of harvesting, drying, selecting and processing wood - which are associated with a number of difficulties.

Disadvantages of aspen for construction

Aspen gravitates towards wetlands. Therefore, its wood has high humidity and is prone to rapid rotting in the butt part, which can only be determined by cutting. For industrial lumber, as a rule, the top of the tree is selected, and the bottom is used for the production of firewood.

High humidity also determines the “capriciousness” of lumber during drying and storage. The shrinkage rate of aspen is 40–50 percent—during drying, it almost halves in volume. And this is often associated with its curvature and twisting.

The process of drying and storing lumber is reminiscent of a lottery. Natural drying or chamber drying, it makes no difference - sometimes the amount of rejected wood is 80 percent. Moreover, the rejection percentage directly depends on the length of the board - the longer the board, the greater the likelihood of it being warped.

All this adds up to a high price for the product. Proper implementation of the stages of lumber production, from harvesting to processing, will help reduce the final cost of an aspen bathhouse.

Building dimensions

What size bathhouse is best to choose for construction? Let's start with the height of the ceilings. To make it comfortable to move around in the room, even if your family members are of average height, you should not make the walls lower than 2.1 m. After all, it is necessary to take into account that the shelves in the steam room are made at a level of 1 m from the floor. A person should sit on it without bending over. Plus, you need to leave free space under the ceiling for the sweep of the broom. You should not make the ceiling higher - it will take longer to heat the room.

Now let's talk about the length and width of the building. As a rule, a bathhouse consists of 3 rooms: a dressing room, where you can undress and relax after the bath, the steam room itself, and a sink. According to the standard, the ratio of such premises is 2:1.5:1. That is, the dressing room is made a little larger.

Steam room dimensions

The size of the sink should be sufficient for at least a couple of people to sit comfortably on benches with basins. There is 1 sq.m. per person. m of free space. It is necessary to leave free space for containers with water. If desired, a shower room or a small pool can be made.

The dimensions of the steam room are minimal. If several people will visit the bathhouse at the same time, then each of them must be allocated 1.5 m2.

The width of the steam room depends on the size of the shelf. Some people like to steam while sitting. In this case, it is enough to build a bench 40-45 cm long. For those who like to lie in the steam room, its length is 95 cm. You can use the space rationally if you build shelves in the letter “L”. In this case, even small benches can accommodate two people. You can make a couple of shelves on opposite walls. For free passage between them, you must leave 80 cm.

The dimensions of the steam room itself depend not only on the size of the shelf, but also on the type of oven. It is also necessary to take into account the recommended distance from it to combustible structures (wall cladding). This is done for fire safety purposes.

You should also focus on the length of the logs. As a rule, it is 6 m.

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Features and properties of aspen

This tree usually grows in swampy areas, due to which its wood is succulent and susceptible to disease and rot. The lifespan of aspen is 90 years, some trees grow up to 150 years. For the construction of baths and other buildings in Rus', trunks aged 45-55 years were used. The material was harvested at a certain time of the year, since the minimum humidity of the trunks is observed from August to November autumn.

Interesting fact! In Ancient Rus', a certain mystical image was placed on aspen. People believed that a tree of this species absorbs negativity and scares away evil spirits, so a bathhouse made from an aspen log is a symbolic place where one can obtain purity of body and spirit.

At different times of the year, the moisture content in wood changes by 50%. Moreover, the humidity indicator along the trunk is different; there is much more water at the top of the tree than at its base. Another feature of this tree species is that the degree of trunk shrinkage is 40-55%. Therefore, only high-quality logs are used for construction, which are dried and treated with chemicals.

Helpful information! To ensure the attractiveness and durability of a house or bathhouse made from aspen logs, antiseptics are used to treat lumber.

During drying, half of the trunk is deformed, and 4.5 m of the felled tree is used in construction. Longer timber, logs and boards from aspen are “twisted” more often than shorter lumber. Therefore, the harvesting of rounded aspen logs is not very profitable for domestic woodworking enterprises.

Helpful information! In production, aspen is dried using a special “water hammer” method; as a result of its use, moisture comes out slowly, the wood dries evenly and does not rot.

When drying wood yourself, you need to leave not many upper branches, and you need to make longitudinal cuts along the length of the trunk. The logs selected for construction can be used to build a bathhouse only after 6 months. For this reason, harvesting aspen is a technically complex and lengthy process. When purchasing, you need to choose dry and even lumber, checking each log for core looseness and rot.

Processing agents

Any wood with constant temperature changes, high humidity, or direct exposure to moisture gradually begins to deteriorate. To prevent this, it is recommended to use special means:

Antiseptics. These are chemicals that protect wood from insects, mold, mildew, and rot.
Protective and decorative compositions or paint and varnish coatings.

Any product loses its properties over time, and the film that retains moisture is destroyed. Therefore, it is recommended to regularly renew the protective coating (at least once every 6 months).

An aspen log house has many advantages. With proper processing, compliance with construction technologies, and consideration of operating features, it is possible to preserve the building in its original form for many decades.

Finishing a bath with aspen: pros and cons

If aspen as a building material has both pros and cons, then as a finishing material this wood is considered ideal.

Bathroom finishing with aspen

Firstly, aspen lining is very beautiful. White wood with yellowish veins is perfect for finishing a steam room and relaxation room.

Bathhouse made of aspen timber (overlap in the photo)

Secondly, aspen is not resinous. Unlike pine, which releases resin when heated and is not suitable for finishing a bathhouse, aspen, even when heated to 100 degrees, does not emit an unpleasant odor or resin. That is, the vaping procedure will be pleasant and safe.

Thirdly, it is quite difficult to get burned on aspen bath shelves. This wood heats up less than other popular woods.

Fourthly, the owners of aspen baths emphasize the special atmosphere in the steam room and the light, gentle steam. Most likely, the problem is again in the absence of pine resin and turpentine evaporation from the surface of the boards.

Washing room in an aspen bath

Chemical composition of aspen wood

Substances	Researcher: Komarov F.P. Percentage	Researcher: Stromberg A.G. Percentage	Other sources. Percentages
Substances soluble in ether	1,51	—	—
Substances soluble in hot water	2,96	—	—
Lignin	21,67	18,24	21,81
Pentosans	23,52	27,47	16,33
Cellulose	47,8	47,11	41,77
Ash	—	0,32	0,26

By bark

The bark of young Populus tremula is smooth, gray-green, darkens with age, and shallow cracks appear at the bottom of the trunk. You can recognize aspen by the olive tint of its bark; in most other types of poplars it is dark gray at the bottom of the trunk and light gray above. You can also distinguish aspen from alder by comparing the bark. Alder bark is dark brown, in rare cases gray. In the dark, the light bark of Populus tremula can be confused with birch, but the birch has a lighter, bright white trunk. However, in the southern zone of Russia there are single specimens of dark-barked aspen.

The bark is used in folk medicine; it contains large quantities of phenolic substances. According to modern research, the plant bark increases the excretory function of the kidneys, has a diuretic and antiulcer effect, and helps relieve inflammation.

Disadvantages of aspen

Like any lumber, aspen timber and boards have disadvantages. When choosing raw materials for the construction of a bathhouse and other buildings, the following disadvantages of wood should be taken into account:

High percentage of shrinkage. After drying, an aspen log house decreases in size by 40-50%, so when purchasing blanks you must choose seasoned wood, otherwise it will deform and the structure of the bathhouse will shrink.
Most mature trees have a trunk that is not tall enough or is rotten. If you do not notice this defect when purchasing logs, the structure will rot in 1-2 years.
More often than not, aspen trunks do not meet the required quality standards. This significantly complicates wood harvesting, since a lot of time is spent searching for suitable wood.
Aspen timber has a specific smell emanating from wood fumes. If you don’t like it, it’s enough to finish the walls of the room with clapboard made of a different material.
Lumber requires significant shrinkage. If the manufacturer sells timber that is not ready for use and is not fully dried, then after it dries, the structure of the bathhouse may be damaged.
The seasonality of aspen wood harvesting does not allow us to order lumber at any time of the year. It is better to process aspen in the spring, after the appearance of tree sap.
Unlike birch, pine and linden, aspen wood shrinks when dried. The trunk becomes thinner, and if drying is not done well, it can become deformed - curl or crack.

Helpful information! Recesses for aspen logs must be cut carefully, otherwise the wood materials may crack. The best option is to use the “paw” cutting method.

Owners of baths and saunas made of aspen often emphasize the positive aspects of lumber. It is recommended to take into account the disadvantages of this type of wood when choosing wood. This will avoid mistakes that affect the quality and durability of the structure.

How to choose the right boards?

When choosing aspen lumber, it is recommended to pay attention to the following parameters:

cutting workpieces made along the direction of the fibers is more resistant to warping;
material with the fewest knots is of higher quality;
there should be no cracks, stains, signs of rotting or changes in the uniform color of the wood on the board;
The humidity of the board should not exceed 18%.

Purchasing high-quality lumber allows you to reduce the amount of waste, since culling in this case will be minimal, which means it will save your money.

Sound conductivity

The relationship of wood to sound vibrations is determined by sound conductivity, sound absorption, soundproofness and ability to resonate.

Sound conductivity is characterized by the speed of sound propagation in it. Sound travels much faster than through air, and the speed of propagation along the fibers is much greater than across. If the speed of sound propagation in air is taken to be 1, then the speed in wood in different directions will be 2-17 times greater, as can be seen from the table. 5.

Table 2. Sound propagation in wood

Speed of sound*	Breed
Speed of sound*	Pine	Fir	Oak	Aspen
Along the fibers	15,2	10,9	12,6	16,7
Across the grain in the radial direction	4,4	4,6	5,0	5,3
in tangential direction	2,6	2,6	4,2	3,0

* Compared to air.

As you can see, sound travels most slowly through the annual layers.

Price for aspen timber

The cost of aspen timber in Russia varies. This is due to numerous low-quality products. It is not advisable to buy undried aspen for building a house. It can be dried correctly only by following precise technology. And dried aspen costs several times higher than its natural humidity.

The price of aspen lumber in Russia is presented in the table:

Types of material		Price per cube, rubles
ordinary	Natural humidity	4000-4500
ordinary	Chamber drying	10000-12000
profiled	Natural humidity	4500-5000
profiled	Chamber drying	12000-18000
glued		20000-28000

If you build a house from aspen, then you need to use only dried timber. And judging by the table, the price for such a house will be high. Therefore, it would be advisable to use aspen only for the lower part of the house. This will increase its resistance to moisture, and the price will be affordable for the average Russian. Of course, this will cause additional costs. But the quality will be appropriate.

conclusions

The type of wood itself is not a guarantee of quality. Much depends on the method of construction and processing on how long the bathhouse will last. Thus, it is advisable to treat linden with products that prevent the appearance of fungus or insects inside the wood. Dry logs will not require shrinkage; the bathhouse can be used immediately after construction. If they are not dried properly, you will have to wait several days or weeks, depending on weather conditions.

Linden baths may require more serious care than any other. Therefore, it is better to build them next to residential buildings, and not on a summer cottage. In any case, after each use of the room, it is necessary to thoroughly dry it. If you do this, the bath will last quite a long time.

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Log house made of aspen.

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Messages: 14 Registered: 06/19/2009, 10:37 From: Bashkiria

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Posted by lucienna » 03/05/2011, 00:10

Maybe yes. It is also thinner, but grows faster than spruce, pine, and oak. In our village there were many wooden houses, the forest was deciduous: birch, oak, maple, ash, linden, NO PINES or FIRS. But NOBODY has NEVER built from aspen.

Still, the associations are not good. Aspen. Judas. Aspen stake.

Reviews

Boris Nevelov, 42 years old, Novosibirsk

I hesitated for a long time between linden and aspen, but in the end I made the traditional choice: linden. It costs more, but for a steam room, I think, you won’t find a better one. The wood is warm, silky, and does not heat up. And the smell in the steam room will make you pumped.

Nikolay Morozov, 35 years old, Omsk

There used to be a bathhouse on the site - made of pine. The inside of the steam room was lined with linden. But something went wrong: it began to rot. And in the bathhouse there was always mold or something else. They dismantled and built a new one - from aspen. It has been standing for more than 6 years, nothing rots, there is no trace of fungus. But, of course, it took me a long time to choose a tree. I went to the base three times to take away the barrels.

Alexander Fedorov, 52 years old, Ufa

A bathhouse was started on the site as soon as the house began to be built. I chose aspen: the price is lower than cedar, and it is not afraid of water, if it is good. Banya is already 15 years old. The color, of course, is not the same, it has become gray, but the tree is like stone. During all this time there was never mold in either the steam room or the dressing room.

Reproduction

It is curious that seed germination takes several days. Soon after falling out of the boxes they die. Thus, young shoots appear only from the seeds of this year - in the summer, where they fell into fertile soil. Optimal conditions for germination are bare soil and high humidity (rain). Since the soil in forests is always covered with dry grass or fallen leaves, aspen seeds germinate quite rarely.

In a forest or open space, a mature tall tree is always surrounded by young and low growth. Digging deeper under a young tree, it is easy to discover a thick root, tending towards the parent plant almost horizontally. The abundance of shoots is amazing - each root produces 10 or more shoots, with a large distance between them. Reproduction of aspen in the forest is almost always vegetative.

Furniture

In addition to using aspen as a wall or finishing material, it has another application in the bathhouse - furniture and bath utensils.

Of course, tables and chairs can be made from it, but here, in our opinion, pine would be the best option. But aspen bath shelves are no worse than linden ones.

For bath shelves

For the shelves of a bathhouse, you can take aspen without hesitation - this is not such a responsible design that you need to look for more valuable wood for it. Aspen is not much denser than abasha , which means that its thermal conductivity is also low.

Its characteristics, as we have already said, are better than those of linden, but there is no linden smell and it quickly darkens from water. If you like the smell of aspen, then shelves made from it will be all right for you.

In sales, you can ask for either a board called “planken” or simply “shelves” - the sellers understand that you are asking for a board. The dimensions of such a board are on average 25x90 mm.