The procedure for insulating a brick steam room. How to insulate a brick bathhouse - diagram and method of thermal insulation

Insulating the inside of the steam room allows you to improve the quality of bathing and health procedures and save on paying for fuel for the stove. Therefore, every bathhouse owner should plan such work. And in this article we will look at step-by-step instructions that allow you to equip internal insulation with your own hands.

What needs to be insulated in a bathhouse

First of all, the seams between logs or beams. Even a rounded log allows air to pass through at the joints, which will cool the room and prevent the steam room from heating up to a high temperature. But this work is performed during the construction of the log house.

After assembling the log house, it is necessary to insulate the window and door openings by installing reliable and heat-resistant enclosing structures based on double-glazed windows and heat-resistant panels. Well, in the end, the steam room is insulated from the inside. Moreover, this work can be divided into three stages:

  • Insulation of the floor, because the bathhouse is located on freezing ground, and the base alone will not be enough to protect the room from frost.
  • Increasing the heat resistance of the ceiling. All the heat accumulates in this zone, so low heat resistance will destroy the entire microclimate of the bathhouse.
  • Insulation of walls. During construction, only the seams between the logs are insulated. And this is quite enough for comfortable living indoors, but not at all enough for a bathhouse. In this case, you will have to add an additional layer of insulation to the walls.

As you can see, this is far from an easy job, but there is nothing particularly difficult in this matter. You just need to study the technology of arrangement and choose the right insulation.

Before insulating the steam room, the owner of the bathhouse must select the correct thermal insulation material, focusing on the following recommendations:

First, the insulator must demonstrate high stopping power. The heat transfer coefficient should not rise above 0.2 W/(m K). And this is only for flooring. And for better use a material with a coefficient of 0.2 W/(m K).

Secondly, the insulator should not react to moisture. Especially the flooring material. For walls and ceilings, we can use a membrane or reflector that cuts off moisture, but in the case of the floor, this material will not work.

Thirdly, the open (floor) insulator must have high mechanical strength. There are no special requirements for walls and attic floors. Here the characteristics of the material can be improved through external finishing.

Fourthly, insulating a steam room requires constant contact of the material with an area of ​​high temperatures. Some amateurs manage to heat the room up to 100-120 degrees Celsius, and 75-80 °C is considered a normal temperature. Therefore, the insulation should not melt or catch fire even after a long, many-hour stay in this temperature range.

Fifthly, the material must be absolutely neutral to the human body. The release of harmful substances and the provocation of allergic reactions is excluded in principle. People go to the bathhouse for health, not for new illnesses.

As a result, granulated expanded clay should be considered the optimal insulation option for the field. It is not afraid of mechanical stress or moisture. It is better to use regular or foil-clad mineral (basalt) wool on the walls and ceiling. It will withstand heat, and a layer of finishing will protect it from moisture and possible mechanical stress.

Polystyrene foam, expanded polystyrene, foil polyethylene are not suitable for insulating a steam room - they cannot withstand heating even up to 70 degrees Celsius.

Well, now that we have selected the materials, you can begin to directly insulate the steam room from the inside, having first studied the step-by-step instructions for the floor, ceiling and walls.

How to insulate a floor - layer by layer review

To do this, we will have to form a multilayer structure in the direction from the ground, consisting of waterproofing, thermal insulation and finishing. The first layer is waterproofing. It is made in the form of a plastic film, which is laid on the prepared soil. Moreover, the preparation consists of adding a layer of sand, at least 15 centimeters thick.

The second layer is thermal insulation. It is formed on the basis of expanded clay bedding. The thickness of this layer is usually equal to double the thickness of the walls and ranges from 30 to 40 centimeters. Moreover, upon completion of the formation of the bedding layer, we must reach the level of the first crown of the bathhouse frame.

Next, a reinforcing mesh with 20-centimeter cells is laid on the expanded clay and the screed is poured using sand-cement mortar with filler. The optimal thickness of the screed is from 5 to 8 centimeters. At the same time, along the perimeter of the floor, at the level of the future baseboard, it is necessary to fill a waterproofing skirt made of foil, which protects the logs from contact with concrete.

To finish a heat-resistant floor, use tiles or boards laid on the sheathing.

Insulating the ceiling - step-by-step instructions

To insulate the ceiling in the steam room, you need a completely different heat insulator - foil-clad mineral wool. It can withstand heating up to 700 degrees Celsius and can easily withstand the usual temperature in this steam room zone, which does not rise above 160-180 °C.

The finishing process itself begins with covering the ceiling with an antiseptic primer, which protects the boards from fungus and mold. The second step is to lay sheathing boards on the ceiling, the depth of which should be equal to the thickness of the insulation (usually 10 centimeters). The pitch of laying the boards is equal to the width of a standard strip of mineral wool.

The third step is laying insulation. After completing the assembly of the sheathing, the space between the boards is filled with mineral wool, laid with foil outward (towards the floor). And all joints are carefully taped with foil tape. After completion of the work, there should be no gaps left on the ceiling.

The final step is installation of finishing boards (lining) or plywood panels on top of the sheathing. Moreover, in this case, it is necessary to read the description of the specification for the lining - options made of pine and spruce and other resinous trees are not suitable in this case. The ideal lining for a bathhouse is made from hard deciduous trees.

How to insulate walls in a steam room - an overview of the process

Installing vertical thermal insulation on the walls of a bathhouse does not require the use of expensive foil-coated mineral wool. In this case, it is enough to take ordinary mineral wool and aluminum foil, which will serve as a good vapor barrier and shield from high temperatures.

The installation process itself is as follows:

  • We saturate the walls with an antiseptic - it will protect the log house from rot and fungus.
  • We fill the walls with boards 3-4 centimeters thick and 2-3 cm wider than the depth of the insulation. The spacing of the boards should match the width of the mineral wool roll. At the end, all boards must be soaked with an antiseptic.
  • We lay mineral wool on dry logs (the antiseptic must dry), filling the spaces between the boards.
  • We stuff aluminum foil over the sheathing, rolling it out in horizontal stripes from bottom to top. In this case, the upper strip should overlap the lower one (2-3 centimeters will be enough). It’s better to use staples (from a stapler) as fasteners. Moreover, it is better to seal the joints with foil tape.
  • We stuff 2 centimeter thick planks onto the boards, pre-impregnated with an antiseptic. This will create a counter-lattice. And at the end, on top of these planks, we install hardwood paneling.

Such a scheme allows you to assemble very effective thermal insulation, protected from mechanical stress by a clapboard finish. Therefore, almost all steam rooms are finished according to this scheme.

At sub-zero temperatures, the brick cools down very quickly, and warming it up later will be difficult and expensive. Therefore, insulating a brick bathhouse from the inside becomes the main issue for all those who like to take a steam bath in the cold. The following presents the process of insulating a brick bath from the inside.

Using various building materials, it is easy to insulate a bathhouse with your own hands, so that at sub-zero temperatures a hot atmosphere is always maintained inside.

Material selection

Brick, as is known from practice, cools quickly and warms up slowly. Moreover, it holds heat like a sieve. Therefore, it is imperative to insulate the bathhouse. Otherwise, instead of pleasure and health, the lover of a steam bath will face complete inconvenience against the backdrop of an eternal cold.

To insulate a bathhouse from the inside, you can use the following materials:

  • tree;
  • glass wool;
  • mineral wool;
  • polyurethane boards;
  • polystyrene;
  • porous cellulose boards;
  • pressed reed mats;
  • expanded clay

Each of them has its own disadvantages and advantages, but the main role when choosing a material is played by price. If you have enough money, you can even use special insulation with foil. It's expensive, but really worth it. A layer of insulation (mineral wool or polymer) keeps the cold out, and the foil reflects heat from the source back into the room. According to some data, the return is up to 97% of the generated thermal energy. The goal of maintaining a constant high temperature is achieved, but at a certain cost.

Experts advise using a differentiated approach to insulating a bathhouse from the inside. Simply put, use different insulation in different rooms. For example, in the relaxation room and locker room you can get by with simple mineral wool, but for the steam room it’s worth forking out for foil.

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Insulation of floor covering

Construction begins from the foundation.

Likewise, it is better to start insulating a brick bathhouse from the floor.

First you need to separate the floor from the surface of the earth. To do this, a gap (air cushion) is left between them. The process looks like this:

  • wooden beams are placed on the ground;
  • Expanded clay is poured between them (the thickness of the layer is the thickness of the walls multiplied by 2);
  • wooden logs, dried and treated against insects, are laid on this frame;
  • insulating material of your choice is laid between them;
  • the joints between the joists and the insulation are filled with polyurethane foam;
  • on top everything is covered with a layer of glassine (a relatively inexpensive but high-quality insulating material);
  • then the main floor of planks or plywood is laid.

After this, you can lay the main floor.

If the bathhouse has a stationary stove, a solid foundation must be made for it, otherwise its weight will lead to deformation of the floor and its destruction.

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Insulation of bath walls

Having finished with the floor, you can move on to the walls. The brickwork, before it is covered with insulation, must be treated with a liquid against fungus and mold. Some advise limiting the treatment to the steam room and shower, but moisture will penetrate everywhere, so it is better to treat all the walls.

Bathroom ceiling insulation scheme

The process generally goes as follows. Blow out the joints of the window frames and walls with foam, and repeat the same with the doors. The wooden beams of the frame are attached to the walls. It is better not to use metal, because it is susceptible to corrosion and absorbs heat. Then we lay and fasten the selected type of insulation (if it is glued, the walls must be treated with a primer). The next step is to attach the insulating layer. Foil, glassine, and craft paper are good for this purpose, although the latter may become wet and deteriorate over time.

A counter-lattice treated with antiseptic agents is attached on top of the insulating layer to create ventilation gaps. Boards for covering the walls are attached to the top.

Different materials imply their own special technologies. But in general, the sequence of actions is as described above.

It should be taken into account that the entire bathhouse needs to be insulated, and not just individual rooms. Otherwise, “cold” areas will draw heat onto themselves.

Choosing brick as a building material for a bathhouse is an excellent way to solve several problems at the same time: giving the structure maximum strength and durability, achieving ideal wall geometry, and excellent heat retention. However heat-saving qualities of bricks not so good as to guarantee the comfort of bath procedures in severe frosts. Therefore, even a brick bathhouse necessarily requires additional insulation.

Insulation of a brick bath from the inside

How to insulate the walls of a brick bathhouse from the inside? The inner surface of the walls It is most effective to insulate a brick bath using natural heat-insulating materials that retain heat excellently, but do not emit any harmful substances at high temperatures. In particular, mineral wool-based canvases, produced in the form of rolls or individual mats, are perfect for these purposes.

Installation procedure for insulation on the interior walls will be as follows:

  • a load-bearing frame is erected on a brick wall from wooden slats;

To improve aesthetics, the insulation is usually covered rather than left open. wooden clapboard.

In addition to the walls, the internal thermal insulation of a brick bath should include measures to reduce heat loss through floors. The sequence of actions here will be as follows:

  • a layer of vapor barrier is laid on the subfloor, cleaned of dust and dirt;

The concrete subfloor itself can play the role of thermal insulation. Therefore, even at the stage of its arrangement, care should be taken to impart heat-saving properties. This is achieved as follows flooring technology:

  • a layer of sand about 5-10 cm thick is poured into the pit and compacted;

Thermal insulation of walls from the outside

External work on thermal insulation of a brick bath are carried out using the same mineral wool insulation, which retains heat well, is non-flammable and can act as a sound insulator. If roll insulation is used, the easiest way to fix it on the external walls is with wooden planks or slats.

When application of thermal insulation in the form of mats based on mineral wool, the technology for performing the work will be slightly different:

  • a sheathing is constructed from a metal profile and corners, attached with dowels to the outer surface of the wall;

Meanwhile, it is quite possible to use foam sheets to insulate brick baths. Procedure for insulating a bathhouse with foam heat-insulating material will be like this:

  • the surface of the brickwork is freed from all types of contamination;

Ceiling insulation

If the insulation is of poor quality, up to a quarter of all heat can escape through the ceiling produced by the furnace. Therefore, to reduce losses, no less attention should be paid to ceiling insulation than in the case of walls. The most suitable insulating material for these purposes is lightweight and non-flammable fiberglass.

Ceiling insulation work in a bathhouse are produced as follows:

  • fiberglass sheets or mats are laid out on the ceiling boards;

How to insulate a steam room

Insulating a steam room in a brick bathhouse generally differs little from creating thermal insulation in the remaining rooms of the bathhouse. The only differences are the need for additional thermal insulation of the ceiling inside the steam room, as well as the use of metal foil both on the ceiling and on the walls.

Procedure for insulating the ceiling in a steam room will be next.

  1. The entire surface of the ceiling is covered with rolled paper. At the joints you need to create overlaps of 10-20 cm.

The foil is attached to the wall surfaces in the steam room in a similar way.

It is best to use it as a covering material in a steam room. pine clapboard. Pine perfectly withstands both high temperatures and the effects of hot steam from the heater. In addition, due to the presence of a certain amount of resins, distillation from pine will give the atmosphere of the steam room a special aroma.

In general, the process of insulating a brick bath does not cause any particular difficulties even for craftsmen without extensive experience in such work.

Insulation of a brick bathhouse from the inside and outside


Even with all the heat-saving qualities of brick, a bathhouse made of this building material requires additional insulation. Moreover, it is necessary to insulate not only the walls and ceiling, but also the floors throughout the entire area of ​​the bathhouse.

How to insulate a brick bathhouse from the inside: advantages and technology of internal thermal insulation

A brick bathhouse is superior to a wooden one in that the walls do not require special waterproofing and fire protection. Brick is absolutely not afraid of fire, and it absorbs little moisture. But it has a “weak point” - high thermal conductivity, which prevents bath rooms from warming up quickly and retaining heat as much as possible. Insulating a brick bathhouse helps to increase the thermal insulation properties of the steam room and other rooms. Without it, the heating time of the building increases by about 3 times, and the cooling rate is high. Let's look at how to insulate a brick bathhouse and all its structural elements using materials that are safe for health.

A private bathhouse is used periodically, so there is no point in maintaining a constant positive temperature inside. True, a cold brick will freeze through and through in winter, and if you start heating it, most of the heat will go to heating it. What's the point of heating a stone? If you insulate the walls from the outside, then the entire brick will be inside the pie, covered only with clapboard. And you will have to spend money on heating it, whether you like it or not.

With internal insulation, the brick box will remain outside the pie, and it will be insulated by a layer of insulation. In this case, your costs for heating the premises will be reduced, because the insulation will not allow hot air to pass out and, if installed correctly, will release most of it back into the premises.

Internal insulation of bath walls

Let's consider options on how to insulate a brick bathhouse from the inside.

Option 1: Creating a second wall

Most often, second walls are built inside the brick box. The material is ten-bar timber, which itself is a warm material and does not emit harmful components when heated.

Mount the pie as follows:

  • Lathing is placed on the brick.
  • A waterproofing film is fixed along the sheathing.
  • Installation of timber walls.
  • The second sheathing is filled over them.
  • Cover the beam with fiberglass, fixing it to the sheathing with a stapler. The fiberglass fabric is not stretched between the beams of the sheathing, but an overlap is made so that the insulation can be easily placed later.
  • Insulation boards are inserted into the spans between the sheathing.
  • To protect the heat insulator from internal steam, the top is covered with foil or vapor barrier film.
  • The last thing to fill is the lining.

Regardless of the type of insulation, its thickness must be at least 10 cm. To insulate a bath, choose heat insulators that will not emit harmful substances at hot temperatures. Basalt or fiberglass insulation, which is not afraid of moisture, is optimal for this. If you want to cover the timber with polystyrene foam materials, then it is better to choose penoplex. It has higher resistance to high temperatures than polystyrene foam, and in the event of a fire, this insulation tends to self-extinguish. But don’t insulate a steam room in a brick bathhouse with polystyrene. When heated strongly (over 100 degrees), they will begin to char and release toxins. For the steam room you should use only basalt materials.

Option 2. Double layer of insulation

When considering options for how to insulate a brick bathhouse, you can choose to create a double layer of insulation. Its difference from the 1st is that instead of timber walls, an additional 10-centimeter insulation is laid in the sheathing.

The wall pie will look like this:

The thickness of the internal insulation cake will be about 22 cm.

When selecting insulation, line the first layer (closest to the brick) with extruded polystyrene foam. It is not afraid of moisture, so external vapors that get through the brick are not dangerous for it. Choose the second, inner layer of insulation taking into account the room in which you will lay it. In all rooms, except the steam room, it is worth covering with foil foam. This foam material is covered on one side with a thin layer of foil, which will both reflect IR rays and act as a barrier to internal vapors.

For the steam room, it is better to choose basalt insulation, and cover it with special foil for baths on top. This way you will avoid the release of harmful substances when the room is very hot. The joints in foil insulation and foil are sealed with special aluminum tape.

Foundation insulation

The foundation is a powerful conductor of cold in a bathhouse, because concrete materials are chosen for it, which do not have thermal insulation characteristics. Even before the construction of brick walls, the upper part of the foundation is waterproofed with roofing felt or roofing felt to prevent moisture from the soil from entering the brick. But this is not enough. It is necessary to carry out external insulation of the entire surface of the base walls in order to increase the level of heat conservation of the floors and to prevent movement and shrinkage of the foundation. On Russian lands, many soils are heaving, i.e. In winter, when freezing, they expand their volume. As a result, the pressure on the foundation increases, and this leads to distortions and cracks in the foundation. If you lay a layer of insulation between the soil and the walls, it will soften the pressure and make the structure stable.

For insulation, it is better to choose from two insulation options: penoplex or sprayed polyurethane foam. In fact, both materials have approximately equal technical characteristics:

  • are not afraid of ground movements;
  • have increased compressive strength;
  • waterproof;
  • high-level heat insulators.

You will have to choose based on your construction skills and financial situation. So, spraying with polyurethane foam will cost significantly more than penoplex, but craftsmen will do it for you in a day. In this case, the main advantage of such insulation will be a continuous durable coating in which there are no joints. Those. moisture and frost will not be able to find loopholes to penetrate deep into the foundation slab.

Penoplex is produced in slabs, and they are fixed to the foundation walls with a special mastic or adhesive composition. Any owner who has an understanding of construction can handle this. But it won’t be possible to install insulation in a day. This is a slow process, because the slabs must be tightly joined, all seams must be sealed, and the corners must be covered with foam.

Thermal insulation of floors

The floors in the bathhouse have to withstand both high humidity and the temperature difference between the ground and the rooms. Therefore, before installing concrete floor slabs, the entire subfloor should be covered with expanded clay or slag. Moreover, the layer of insulation pad is calculated based on the thickness of the walls. If the walls are 20 cm, then the expanded clay should be 40 cm. The subfloor is not used in bathhouses, so fill the entire internal space of the foundation with insulation. This will provide additional dryness to the concrete or joists.

How to insulate a concrete floor

  • If the floors are concrete, then insulation of the brick bathhouse from the inside begins with waterproofing the floor slabs. They are coated with water-repellent mastics (for example, rubber), and a roll of waterproofing material - roofing material or a special film - is laid on top.
  • Penoplex or foam plastic is laid on top of the waterproofing.
  • It is reinforced with a metal mesh on top and filled with a layer of concrete.
  • The last stage is pasting floor tiles.

Wood floor insulation technology

It should be borne in mind that wooden floors are not a very good option for baths, because wood is afraid of high humidity. But if you have just such a floor in mind, then first of all take care of the quality of ventilation in the underground. Without it, logs and beams will instantly rot.

  • The expanded clay pillow, which was mentioned earlier, must be created in this case as well.
  • Beams and logs treated with antiseptics are laid on top.
  • They are covered with a vapor-proof film.
  • Subfloors are laid from edged boards.
  • Styrofoam is laid.
  • Cover the insulation with a waterproofing film.
  • Finished wooden floors are laid.

Insulated ceiling: not afraid of heat and steam

If we consider how to comprehensively insulate a brick bathhouse, then we definitely need to pay attention to the ceilings. Most of the hot air escapes through them, so a blockade is simply necessary here. But the climate of the bathhouse, especially in the steam room, is characterized by very high temperatures in the upper part of the structure, because both the heat and the vapors, according to the laws of physics, rush to the ceiling. This means its design must be resistant to moisture and hot air. We exclude polystyrene foam materials immediately, because in such heat they will harm human health.

If you study the insulation of a brick bathhouse from the inside in a video, then most experts recommend insulating the ceiling with mineral wool, but with mandatory double-sided waterproofing. Also a good option is to lay fiberglass, two clay-sand layers (one with sawdust, the other with vermiculite) on the ceiling, and on top of all this - penoplex. But again, for the steam room it is better to take not polystyrene foam, but foil-coated fiberglass.

With proper insulation of a brick bath, you will significantly speed up its warming up and reduce the cost of maintaining the desired temperature during steaming.

How to insulate a brick bathhouse: choosing materials and method of thermal insulation


When thinking about insulating a brick bathhouse, it is better to focus on internal wall insulation, because brick has high thermal conductivity, and if you hide it

How to insulate a brick bathhouse from the inside: useful tips

Brick is most often used to build a bathhouse or sauna. Therefore, even at the construction stage, an important component is the insulation of the brick walls of the bathhouse from the inside, since brick walls themselves are not able to retain heat effectively and for a long time.

Bathhouse walls are insulated using a variety of materials, which will be discussed below; also from the article you will learn in as much detail as possible how to properly insulate a bathhouse from the inside so that the heat lasts longer.

Insulation of a bathhouse from the inside: list of materials

When you install the walls in a brick bathhouse, and also equip it with doors, you will need to move on to issues of interior decoration. Wall insulation should be done so that the optimal temperature for the steam room and other bath rooms is maintained for as long as possible. Also, in addition to insulation, it is also supported due to decorative wall decoration.

Strengthening brick is most often carried out using multi-layer thermal insulation, one of the layers of which consists of slabs, and the second - of roll insulation, equipped with a foil-based coating. Such bath insulation can reflect infrared radiation and protect the insulation from moisture. Now you will learn how to insulate a bathhouse.

For insulating bath walls such materials can be used, How:

  1. reed mats;
  2. peat or cellulose porous boards;
  3. polyurethane or polystyrene boards;
  4. rolls or slabs of mineral wool;
  5. glass wool

Please note that insulation based on polystyrene and glass wool do not have sufficient heat resistance, so it is not advisable to use them to insulate walls and ceilings for steam rooms. And to reduce heat loss through the floor, expanded clay can be used as an additional material.

Consider material such as foil-based bath insulation, including rolls based on mineral wool with a thin layer of aluminum foil on one side, as well as sheets based on polyethylene foam.

Since foil film is not a cheap material, you can save money by using kraft paper for interior decoration of rooms where humidity is not so high. In particular, in the recreation room and other rooms where insulation can be done using less expensive materials.

How to insulate the floor in a brick bath

If you want to insulate your brick bathhouse according to the tips given, then remember that they are only suitable for a newly built bathhouse. Insulating a brick bathhouse as part of its overhaul should be done a little differently, although in general the algorithm of actions will be approximately the same.

Insulate a brick bathhouse you need to start with the flooring. First of all, the floor should be insulated from the cold so as not to feel discomfort while being barefoot in the sauna, even if it is warmed up to the maximum.

To ensure the floor has good thermal insulation, it is necessary to create an air gap between the foundation and the floor. To create it, install beams for support on the base of the bathhouse and fill the gaps between them with expanded clay in a layer approximately twice as thick as the thickness of the walls in the bathhouse. On top of the supports, lay logs made of wooden beams, previously dried and treated with an antiseptic.

Place between them boards made of thermal insulation material Treat the resulting gap between the joists and the insulation with polyurethane foam. Then lay glassine paper on top of everything on the floor, and then lay a floor covering of boards or plywood on top. The main floor is also mounted on top, but we won’t dwell on it.

Insulation of bath walls: features of the process

When you have completed the process of insulating the floor, we begin insulating the walls from the inside. Please note that there is no need to loosen or treat the brick tub from inside the bathhouse, since this wall surface will subsequently disappear behind the wood paneling for the steam room.

The only thing you need to do is saturate a brick wall in order to protect against bacteria, but this procedure is only relevant for rooms such as steam rooms and showers.

Bathhouse walls should be insulated in exactly the same way as other rooms, and not only bathhouses. However there is a number of process features, characteristic exclusively for this type of work:

  1. to reduce the number of possible heat losses, close the gaps between the wall and windows using polyurethane foam;
  2. the frame for installing the cladding must be made of wooden beams, then attach it directly to the brick tub;
  3. It is extremely undesirable to use metal hangers and profiles for work, since they tend to conduct heat;
  4. insulation in the form of mineral wool or polystyrene boards is placed in the cells of the sheathing:
  5. the insulation is attached to the tub with dowel umbrellas or with a special adhesive;
  6. If you are going to glue a heat insulator, then it is better to treat the brick wall of the bathhouse with a penetrating primer before doing so.

So, when the main insulation has already been applied to the walls, it is necessary apply a layer of vapor barrier for which you can use craft paper, glassine or foil film, which, by the way, will be the most optimal material for a steam room and shower room. For example, the same kraft paper, when used in places of high humidity, can become wet over time and become unusable.

If necessary, fill the counter-lattice on the sheathing beams. This will create a gap between the exterior sheathing and the vapor barrier. Then the lining should be attached to the counter-lattice using thin strips of wood.

When your bathhouse or sauna has a large area and occupies several floors, then the walls from the inside must be insulated everywhere in order to prevent strong heat losses during its operation. If a loggia is attached to the bathhouse, it must also be insulated. You should also install good entrance doors equipped with at least two sealing loops.

How to properly insulate the ceiling in a bathhouse

Insulation of a brick bath includes work on the ceiling. The ceiling in a brick bathhouse is also a source of heat loss, so care must also be taken to insulate it. First of all, this is important if the sauna is located in a one-story room. The traditional method of insulating the ceiling in a brick bath involves the following algorithm of actions:

  1. lay the fiberglass on top of the ceiling, then place the panels overlapping, connecting them to each other with adhesive tape or tape;
  2. on fiberglass, lay out a solution based on sand, clay and chopped straw about 30 centimeters thick;
  3. Place a layer of polystyrene foam on top of the clay mortar layer, then fill the entire top with 10 centimeters of cement mortar;
  4. if you want to improve the thermal insulation characteristics of your bathhouse, you can use cement mortar add styrofoam crumbs in a ratio of one to three or even four;
  5. Attach the sheathing beams to the rough ceiling from the inside, placing basalt wool slabs between them;
  6. Cover the top of the heat-insulating material with a film of foil, and cover the top with clapboard, maintaining a gap of approximately 10 mm.

So, you have gained basic knowledge on how to insulate a bathhouse from the inside, spending a minimum of money and time on it and getting the maximum result. If everything is done correctly, then your bathhouse will retain heat perfectly during operation, and you will be able to get incomparable pleasure from staying in it.

How to properly insulate a brick bathhouse from the inside: insulation of walls, ceiling and floor, choice of materials


Insulation of brick walls of a bathhouse from the inside: how to insulate a bathhouse, how to properly insulate the walls, ceiling and floor in a bathhouse, operation algorithm and choice of materials for insulation.

We insulate a brick bathhouse. Why is it more important from the inside, how to insulate brick walls

There are all sorts of bathhouses in the Russian expanse: log and timber, frame, cinder block, foam concrete... Some of them are also built of brick.

But, To be honest, brick is far from the best material for bathhouse construction. However, the circumstances are different: some choose it of their own free will, putting solidity, reliability and fire resistance at the forefront, others already have a brick extension in their yard, but don’t have a bathhouse yet, so they find a use for what they have.

Anyway, similar baths exist, which means you need to know how to achieve maximum comfort from them.

Is it necessary to insulate?

If with regard to other materials it is appropriate to argue about whether insulation is necessary or not in their case, then there is no reason for doubt here: Insulation of a brick bathhouse is mandatory. Brick has high thermal conductivity, so without insulation it will take a very long time to heat a bathhouse, but, on the contrary, it will cool down very quickly.

Just imagine how much time and firewood it takes to heat walls that have frozen at sub-zero temperatures. By the way, insulation is always compared to a brick wall, saying that where meters of masonry are needed, you can get by with a few centimeters of insulation.

However, the next question requires more detailed consideration.

Insulation of a brick bath: inside or outside?

In the event that you have to choose between which side it would be better to sheathe the bathhouse with insulation, it is worth looking at what will happen in both cases.

It is clear that when sheathing the outside, the entire brick of the building ends up inside a warm “fur coat,” which means that it will have to be warmed again, because in a room that is heated only from time to time, the temperature of the walls drops even with insulation. And again the lion's share of the heat will go to waste, as if you did not insulate your bathhouse at all.

If you insulate a brick bath from the inside, then all the heat will be used to heat the air in the room, which is what we actually need.

Now that we understand the mechanism of how insulation works and have decided on the choice of side, it’s worth talking about how brick differs from other materials.

Insulation of brick bath walls: features

If we compare brick with other materials from which walls are built, for example, wood, frame or foam concrete, then the main difference will be that these walls are colder than others. In fact, brick can be considered an artificial stone, and this speaks of both advantages and disadvantages:

Tree It shrinks much more and is flammable. But you can do without additional insulation.

Foam concrete is cheaper than brick, but it must be protected from moisture. But the presence of numerous air bubbles in it, which has low thermal conductivity, makes this material warmer, which means it requires less time to heat the room and retains heat longer. In low-rise construction, foam concrete has more advantages than disadvantages.

Frame buildings are much less durable than brick ones, but they need insulation no less than the latter.

The creation of bricks with internal voids has reduced the thermal conductivity of the material, but their use is limited to the thermal insulation layer, and the base of the load-bearing walls remains solid brick. But even laying in several rows will not solve all the problems with bath insulation, so it is more profitable to insulate the walls of a brick bathhouse by covering the building with insulation.

Insulation of a brick bath: methods

Today, owners of a brick bathhouse can choose between several methods of internal insulation with final finishing either with tiles or lining. Let's start with the method where plaster is used:

  1. The first layer on top of the brick wall is to waterproof it, for example, using bitumen mastic. For this purpose, talc, asbestos and lime are added to the mastic. The resulting mass is applied directly to the walls.
  2. Then the surface is plastered, and expanded clay and finely chopped slag are mixed into the plaster solution.
  3. A lathing is placed on the layer of plaster, between the bars of which fiberglass is laid - a non-flammable heat insulator, similar to asbestos, but environmentally friendly.
  4. A layer of insulation is placed on the fiberglass - for example, basalt or kaolin wool.
  5. Then everything is covered with a vapor barrier, for example, foil or foil fabric.
  6. All that remains is the finishing layer - the same lining, for example. It is mounted on a sheathing with a ventilation gap.

  1. waterproofing;
  2. sheathing;
  3. insulation between the sheathing posts;
  4. vapor barrier;
  5. reinforcing mesh;
  6. plaster;
  7. tile.
  1. The first layer on top of the inner surface of the wall is waterproofing - either film or the one described above.
  2. The sheathing is made of timber with a section of 5x5. The step between the beams is equal to the width of the seal minus 1 cm, so that it lies tightly in the spacer.
  3. Fiberglass is attached to the sheathing without tension.
  4. Insulation, for example, basalt wool (not containing phenolic impregnation) is laid in the remaining spaces between the posts in two layers, shifted by half the width in the second layer, so that cold bridges do not appear. The total insulation layer is 10 cm.
  5. A reflective vapor barrier is placed on top of the insulation, for example, simple foil for the steam room and Penofol for other rooms. The vapor barrier is overlapped and sealed with aluminum tape.
  6. If the finishing is done with clapboard, then there must be a ventilation gap between the foil and it. To do this, a sheathing is made of bars of the required cross-section, on top of which the lining is attached.

The essence of insulation from the inside is shown using the example of a foam block wall; the principles are the same.

Another way is to build an additional wall from timber:

  1. The first layer on top of the brick is sheathing.
  2. Waterproofing is attached on top of it.
  3. A wall is erected from 10x10 cm timber, self-tapping screws are used for fastening.
  4. The sheathing is again placed on top of the timber.
  5. It is covered with fiberglass fabric with a slight sagging.
  6. Insulation is placed in the gaps.
  7. It is covered with a vapor barrier, for example, foil.
  8. A ventilation gap is made using a sheathing onto which the lining is nailed.

Insulation of a steam room in a brick bath

Main difference The difference between the steam room and all other rooms of the bathhouse is that it is here that the temperature reaches its maximum. In this regard, great restrictions are imposed on materials that, when heated, begin to deform or release substances harmful to humans.

For example, if you decide to use mineral wool as insulation, then you need to look for basalt, because it is not used phenolic impregnations. Should not be used flammable materials, reducing the risk of fire.

Second specific property steam room - high air humidity due to steam. Therefore, the insulation layer must be covered with a layer vapor barrier and achieve complete tightness using tape. It is also necessary to leave a ventilation gap between the vapor barrier and the finish.

Besides, It is in the steam room that the task is to quickly heat up and maintain the set temperature for a long time. Can help with this increasing the thickness of the insulation and using foil as a vapor barrier. Both of these transform the steam room into a real “thermos”, that is, the heat does not find a way out and remains in the steam room. But the downside is the severity of a person’s stay in such a steam room, which can be leveled out by proper ventilation. However, the insulation of a steam room in a brick bath depends on the personal preferences of the owner.

Floor insulation

The solidity of the brick bathhouse suggests that the owner does not intend to limit himself to warm days to take a steam bath in it. And this means that of all types of floors at his disposal only:

They all need insulation, just a little differently.

Dry wood floor consists of rough and finishing, between which there is a gap equal to the height of the floor beam. This space is filled with insulation. Foamed polystyrene foam will be the best - it is not afraid of moisture. Mineral wool and expanded clay require a water barrier before laying the finished floor. It is also possible to insulate with ecowool and Aisinin foam. As an option, you can also fill the space under the subfloor with expanded clay, but for this you need to waterproof the soil in advance.

Concrete floor on the ground or concrete screed under the pouring floor insulated in the same way:

  1. Half a meter of soil is removed.
  2. The future water drainage is laid - a pit/ladder and pipes to the outside.
  3. 15 cm of gravel is poured and compacted.
  4. Then 35 cm of sand and compacted.
  5. This “pillow” is hermetically sealed with roofing felt.
  6. A layer of insulation is laid: mineral wool, expanded clay, slag, felt with tar.
  7. It can be closed with a water barrier if the insulation gets wet.
  8. Reinforcing mesh is laid.
  9. A concrete screed is poured with the required slope towards the drain.

Ceiling insulation

Warm air and steam always collect near the ceiling. Therefore, the owner of a bathhouse should definitely think about insulating it so that the heat is not wasted.

This applies to any type of ceiling - hemmed, floor or panel, regardless of what is on top: a cold attic or a warm attic.

The following requirements apply to the insulation used:

  • incombustible;
  • moisture resistant;
  • does not emit harmful substances when heated;
  • with low thermal conductivity.

In this plan expanded clay is good- it is poured onto a waterproofed rough ceiling between the floor beams on the attic side. And then they are again isolated from moisture. Instead of expanded clay, you can add a layer of ecowool.

Also It’s a good idea to use basalt wool without phenolic impregnation. But it easily absorbs water, so it needs high-quality insulation from water and steam. The wool can be laid either on top of the flooring boards or hemmed underneath.

Styrofoam would be good for the ceiling, but it is flammable and, if made poorly, releases harmful substances when heated.

A brick bathhouse can become very comfortable, but it will require a large investment of labor and money from the owner. Therefore, it is worth going to build such a bathhouse only if it seems completely acceptable.

Insulation of a brick bath from the inside or outside, thermal protection of walls, steam room, floor, ceiling


How to make a brick bathhouse as comfortable as a wooden bathhouse? The walls need insulation. To do this, you will need high-quality thermal insulation of the steam room and other rooms, the details of which are described in this article. Do it from the inside or outside, how to insulate the ceiling and floor, everything about insulating a brick bath

From the point of view of creating the required microclimate and the durability of the building, the use of brick for the construction of a bathhouse is economically justified. Whatever the insulation of a steam room in a brick bath, the requirements for moisture transfer and permissible moisture accumulation are met in almost 100% of cases, regardless of the chosen insulating sandwich design. Even if the principle of a consistent increase in vapor permeability in the direction from the steam room to the street is violated, the high level of permissible moisture accumulation in the brick compensates for this deficiency. However, in addition to optimizing moisture transfer, there are a number of other specific requirements for the insulation of brick baths, which will be discussed in the article.

Load-bearing walls made of brick are distinguished by high thermal conductivity and heat capacity, acting in these properties as the complete opposite of log houses.

We insulate a brick bath from the inside, only at the stove we do not forget about fire safety

Unlike thermal insulation of residential premises, it makes no sense to insulate a bathhouse made of ceramic or silicate bricks from the outside. For buildings with periodic heating, heat capacity plays a negative role, since it requires more time to heat. For this reason, the main thermal insulation layer in brick baths should be placed exclusively as part of the internal sandwich.

Wall sandwich scheme

You can find recommendations for insulating brick baths using internal masonry made of wooden beams with a cross-section of 100×100 mm, on top of which a layer of mineral wool is mounted. This begs the question: why bother with brick at all, if the first layer of such insulation is a strong enough wall for a one-story building? This scheme is not feasible from an economic point of view.

How to insulate a brick bath without investing extra money and effort into it? The correct solution from all points of view is the use of three materials: a waterproofing membrane, insulating wool and an infrared screen made of aluminum foil. Taking into account air gaps, the layers in the sandwich should be arranged in the following order from the inside to the outside of the bath:

  • decorative interior finishing (lining, tongue and groove board, etc.);
  • gap 1 - 2 cm;
  • folgoizol, oriented with the reflective side inward;
  • mineral wool (slabs or rolled material 10 cm thick);
  • waterproofing membrane.

It is easy to insulate a brick bathhouse from the inside with your own hands without the involvement of specialists. To do this, it is quite enough to confidently use a drill, stapler, hacksaw and screwdriver, as well as have a sufficient amount of free time. First, a membrane is attached to the load-bearing wall. Then a vertical sheathing is installed, the thickness of which is equal to the insulating layer or exceeds it by 1 - 2 cm. Cotton wool is placed inside the sheathing, after which foil insulation is attached to the beams with a stapler. It is better for the stripes to overlap. The joints of the foil material are insulated with special tape. A horizontal strip is placed on top of the infrared screen, which serves as a support for the finishing and a base for the formation of an air gap.

Expanded polystyrene can be used as the main heat-insulating layer if two conditions are met:

  1. As an infrared screen, a material is used that has an internal surface made of foamed polyethylene with a thickness of at least 1 cm.
  2. An air gap of at least 2 cm must be maintained between the surface of the screen and the polystyrene foam boards.

Due to these measures, penoplex or polystyrene foam does not heat up to the permissible limit of + 75 °C, even if the temperature in the steam room reaches temperatures above + 90 °C. The slabs are glued to the inner surface of the brick wall, and the waterproofing membrane is excluded from the sandwich.

Correction of insulation and ventilation due to efflorescence

Efflorescence can be removed with special means

In itself, efflorescence on brickwork is not a problem for a load-bearing wall, but it may indicate improper operation of the insulation scheme, leading to disruption of moisture transfer. In winter, the partial pressure of gases dissolved in water increases. The capillary movement of liquid through the thickness of the brick increases in the direction from heat to cold. Internal condensation and capillary flow cause waterlogging of the layer located 2 - 3 cm from the outer surface of the wall.

At sub-zero temperatures, waterlogging is not noticeable due to freezing of the brick on the street side. In the spring, the condensate accumulated over the winter begins to intensively release on the surface, taking with it water-soluble salts.

If efflorescence forms equally on all walls, then the reasons may lie in the quality of the brick, the composition of the mortar, or a violation of masonry technology. However, in the case of localization of salts on individual walls of the bathhouse and their sections, it makes sense to revise the insulating sandwich, provided that the influence of the unsuccessful design of ebb tides on the process is excluded. This must be done in order to level the operating mode along the entire load-bearing perimeter to increase the service life of the building.

On a wall with intense efflorescence, you should:

  • add foil insulation if it has not been installed previously, or eliminate possible defects in this layer (for example, poor-quality sealing of joints);
  • provide a ventilated gap between the vapor barrier and the main thermal insulation;
  • add an exhaust vent.

Insulation of the floor and ceiling of a brick bath

Making load-bearing walls from brick does not carry any conclusions regarding the method of insulating the floor and ceiling. The design of thermal protection of horizontal planes depends solely on the design of the foundation, subfloor, ceiling and under-roof space. Let's consider only the most common design options for these surfaces in brick baths.

Concrete subfloor on the ground

Installation of heated floors in baths on the ground

Today, the most popular option for insulating a concrete floor in a bathhouse is the use of 10 cm thick expanded polystyrene slabs. There is no need to install waterproofing between the insulation and concrete, provided that the joints of the EPS slabs are carefully sealed. A reinforcing mesh is laid on top of the expanded polystyrene and a 3-5 cm thick screed is poured on top. On top of the screed, if non-waterproof concrete was used for it, waterproofing is installed and a plank floor is installed. In dressing rooms and rest rooms, it is recommended to cover the floor with ceramic tiles. To eliminate cold bridges, the finishing screed along the perimeter of the walls must be insulated from the base with a vertical layer of polystyrene foam.

The second common method of insulating a concrete subfloor is the use of expanded clay backfill. Since a significant thickness of this material is required (at least 20 cm), beams of the appropriate cross-section impregnated with a composition that prevents rotting are installed on top of the concrete. After backfilling, finishing logs are placed on the timber to install the plank floor. With such a scheme, two types of membranes must be laid under the finished floor - windproof and waterproof. An air gap of at least 5 cm must be provided between the expanded clay layer and the wind protection.

Internal ceiling insulation

Further (in the upward direction), provided that a plank ceiling is used, the main heat-protective layer is located - mineral wool or expanded polystyrene. A layer of waterproofing is laid between the mineral wool and the boards.

Regardless of the design of the ceiling and the type of under-roof space, the two internal layers of thermal protection for the ceiling are no different from the equipment of the walls. This is a lumber finish and a foil infrared screen located taking into account the air gap relative to the cladding.

External ceiling insulation

If the ceiling is made of large-section wooden beams (at least 30 cm), the main insulating layer is located on the side of the roof space. Expanded clay or eco-wool is poured between the beams. Another common option is to use cellular concrete screeds filled with sawdust or straw. A layer of waterproofing material must be laid on top of the backfill insulation.

Video: practice of budget internal insulation of a brick bath

It makes sense to solve some issues of insulation of baths of this type even before the start of construction. This will avoid waste of materials and save money.

  1. Since the thermal capacity of brick is an unclaimed resource when operating baths, and the thickness of this material has almost no effect on thermal protection, there is no point in making thick load-bearing walls. One brick laying is more than sufficient.
  2. When choosing insulation, it makes no sense to proceed from the degree of its fire safety, because the final interior decoration is still made of combustible material - wood.
  3. If you choose a stove location with it adjacent to a brick wall, you should not try to insulate this area from the inside or outside. All the same, the temperature from the inside will not allow you to do this, and from the outside you will not eliminate cold bridges. Instead of completely connecting the stove to the wall, it is better to use an asbestos and steel screen as an intermediate layer. picnic

Brick, as one of the most widely used building materials, is often used to build baths and saunas. At the same time, insulating the walls of a brick bath from the inside is a mandatory procedure, because by themselves they do not provide sufficiently effective heat retention.

A wide variety of materials are used to provide the required thermal insulation. In the sections of our article we will describe the most popular ones, and also tell you how to insulate a brick bathhouse to achieve maximum effect.

Materials for thermal insulation

After the walls of the bathhouse are erected and windows and doors are installed in it, the turn of interior decoration begins. And so that the temperature inside the bathhouse is maintained at a high level for as long as possible (this is important not only for the steam room, but also for other rooms), in addition to decorative finishing, insulation is a mandatory procedure.

To preserve heat and reduce the level of heat loss through brick walls, multilayer thermal insulation is most often used. As a rule, one layer consists of slab materials of considerable thickness, and the second layer consists of fairly thin roll insulation coated with foil. In addition to reflecting infrared waves, they also protect the thermal insulation layer from moisture.

To reduce heat loss, baths can be used:

  • Reed mats.
  • Porous boards based on cellulose fiber or peat.
  • Plates of synthetic materials based on polystyrene or polyurethane.
  • Roll and slab materials based on mineral wool.
  • Glass wool.


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