Recommendations for choosing material for bathhouse construction

When building a bathhouse, material selection must be done carefully to guarantee longevity, usability, and aesthetic appeal. The longevity and performance of the structure are greatly impacted by the materials chosen, so careful selection is crucial. Whether building a contemporary steam room or a classic wood-fired sauna, every material choice has pros and cons of its own.

Wood is still a common material for building bathhouses because of its inherent insulating qualities and rustic appeal. Because they are insect and moisture resistant, cedar and hemlock are preferred for use in humid sauna environments. These woods improve the sauna experience because they can withstand high temperatures and release pleasant aromas when heated.

Concrete provides a sturdy substitute for individuals who value longevity and sustainability. It has a high thermal mass and effectively holds heat in saunas. For a personalized appearance, concrete can be shaped into a variety of shapes and finished with tiles or real stone. Because of its durability, it can be used in outdoor and indoor bathhouses and will require little upkeep for many years.

Natural stone is another adaptable choice; it is highly valued for its ageless beauty and robustness. Stones that are resistant to extreme heat and moisture, such as soapstone or granite, are perfect for saunas with high temperatures. Stone not only gives the sauna an opulent appearance but also helps it retain heat, making it a comfortable and effective place to bathe.

Factors to Consider	Recommended Materials
Budget	Pressure-treated wood, concrete blocks
Moisture Resistance	Cedar, redwood, teak
Heat Retention	Brick, stone, concrete
Maintenance	Composite materials, vinyl, fiberglass

General requirements

You must adhere to the guidelines and selection criteria when buying building supplies. The former enable you to compare various materials—such as brick and wood—in terms of price, durability, etc., while the latter let you move around the product category that was chosen based on the specified parameters.

We will address the criteria at a later time, but for now, let us outline the general specifications for the materials. They’re not too few in number.

1. A tree. First of all, not every kind of wood works well for a chopped bath; secondly, log quality and procurement must meet certain standards.

Types of trees

A bathhouse is primarily constructed from coniferous trees, such as pine, spruce, cedar, and larch. Deciduous woods such as oak, aspen, and alder can be used to build a log home. In certain parts of Russia, ash is utilized.

Pine. The most typical wood used for a bathtub frame. Attracts steam bath enthusiasts with its excellent thermal insulation properties, long lifespan, and reasonable cost. The resin’s presence provides mold and mildew resistance. Hygroscopicity is among the lowest of all tree species for the same reason.

As a result, following bath procedures, the walls dry out in a few hours. Dead tree material at its best. However, there is an issue: pests cause the tree to die. It’s important to carefully check the trunk for woodworm passageways before buying such material. A categorical rejection of purchase, if any.

For the record, if a bark beetle attacks a pine tree, there shouldn’t be any issues with the operation.

Spruce. Less common material because of its propensity for deformation, severe shrinkage (soft wood), and cracking. But a dried-out swamp spruce is thought to have the highest aerobatics in bathhouse construction. It is very hard to find, it is true. It’s reasonably priced.

Cedar. Wood is resistant to mold and mildew, is unaffected by insects, and does not mind abrupt changes in moisture or temperature. has a distinct scent of resin. The price, however, is the only disadvantage that matters to the majority of people. She is above the material world.

Larch. The wood has a long service life because it is strong, resistant to moisture, and essentially never rots—there are buildings that are over a century old that are in excellent condition. A drawback with density. Wood is a good heat conductor because it is tall. This disadvantage is not hazardous for residential buildings, but it is an issue for a hot spring bathhouse because the steam dissipates rapidly. As a result, larch is not often utilized to construct walls.

Aspen. Few people are aware that dried aspen can acquire bone-like strength. Because of this, structures made of it have a long lifespan. However, there are challenges. First of all, it is challenging to locate a healthy trunk that is the necessary length. However, nobody can promise that a seemingly intact log does not have a source of decay. Second, there are issues with the drying process itself. If the trunk dries unevenly, the log may distort. For this reason, wood is mostly used for ceiling and wall cladding.

Oak. Oak log cabins are as indicative of an owner’s high social standing as Swiss watches and German automobiles. The cost is prohibitive for the typical customer, which is the cause. Its low retention rate is an additional drawback besides its high cost. Thick walls solve the issue, but doing so raises building costs even more.

Alder. You can find alder baths, but they are rare. Wood complements residential buildings of all types well because of its lovely structure and color. maintains warmth well. However, its lifespan is limited, and if left untreated, it will eventually turn darker and lose its allure.

Blank

Winter is the best time to fell wood because there isn’t a sap flow. After harvesting, the trunks are sanded and arranged in stacks using pads to allow for natural drying. Ideally, beneath an awning.

Quality

Logs have to be:

• evenly dried;
• without mold, large cracks, wood-boring beetle passages;
• with a core of uniform dark color, area of ​​at least 70%.

2. Block. You can use silicate, hollow, and regular red brick to construct walls. For the base, use regular red. Other kinds are inappropriate. We need red fireproof for the stove.

3. Foam blocks. Two technologies are used in the production of foam blocks. A bath wall autoclave is required.

4. Integration with the site’s landscape and the architectural style of previously built structures. Owners of dachas are exempt from this need. Nobody is going to take the bathhouse’s place in the dacha plot seriously. Yet, how the structure blends in with a residential building and utility rooms is crucial to owners of private homes and cottages. You must first examine wood in its various forms, including round and rectangular wood. It blends seamlessly with any type of architectural ensemble.

In a stone house, brick can be used. The outside of the blocks is sheathed. Thus, wall material is not restricted in any way. All that is needed for the cladding is for it to blend in with the main structure.

Criteria for choosing material for building a bathhouse

When deciding which material to use for a bathhouse, owners consider the following factors:

• thermal conductivity;
• vapor permeability;
• price of materials;
• cost of wall construction;
• speed of construction;
• durability;
• fire safety level;
• environmental friendliness;
• the complexity of the technological process of constructing walls;
• presence of shrinkage.

But there’s no obvious order. Some people prioritize the quality of steam, while others prioritize the issue’s cost. As a result, we shall evaluate the criteria in a random order.

Thermal conductivity

The bathhouse walls’ capacity to hold heat determines the amount of fuel used for heating and the quality of the steam. A brick steam room is a good illustration. Heating a brick requires two to three times as much firewood or electricity as heating a wooden steam room, despite having the same size and height. If you stop heating the heater at the same time, the quality of the steam starts to decline after approximately an hour.

Laminated veneer lumber has the highest thermal conductivity (0.1 W/m*C). Wood comes in second. From 0.11 W/m*C (spruce) to 0.15 W/m*C (pine), its indicator ranges. Block of foam: 0.1-0.38 W/m*S. Brick: W/m*S = 0.4-0.8.

Vapor permeability

The vapor permeability of the walls is the primary parameter that determines the microclimate within the steam room. For wood (round, regular, and profiled) – 0.21 Mg/m*h*Pa – there are no competitors. Red brick and aerated concrete have the worst indicator, at 0.11 mg/m*h*Pa.

Price of materials

Material prices are dynamic. Therefore, it is useless to give specific examples with numbers. Everything can change within a few days. For example, the cost of lumber and round timber after the end of the first wave of coronavirus increased 2-3 times within a month. We present only the established relations. Thus, foam concrete blocks cost about 33% cheaper than aerated concrete blocks. Brick is 17-22% more expensive than aerated concrete. Price of profiled timber per 1 m 3 – from 19,000 rubles. But here you need to take into account the thickness of the walls. Made from brick they are 25% thicker. Round timber (pine) can compete with foam blocks in cost – about 8,000 rubles./m 3 .

Cost of work

Building a wall with blocks is the most affordable option. You can also complete the task entirely on your own. Bricklaying is the priciest. Without experience, building a wall is challenging. Although you need helpers when working with timber, technology makes it possible for you to do it yourself. However, in order to cut a log house, you will probably need to hire a group of experts or, in the worst situation, one specialist and assist him with the entire family.

Construction speed

Building walls with wood is the quickest method (2–3 days). A wall made of blocks (3–4) will take a little longer to lay. It will take more than a week to construct brick walls (8–12 days).

Durability

One of the most important considerations when selecting any building material is service life. Bathrooms are not an exemption. Brick, laminated wood, and cedar have the longest lifespans (approximately 100 years). As a result, the more expensive materials yield greater durability.

Fire safety

Stone structures do not burn. Special impregnations are required for wooden and frame buildings, and fire safety regulations must be strictly adhered to while they are in use.

Ecological cleanliness

Every material utilized to build walls is safe for the environment. The question is different because different kinds of walls need to have vapor barriers and insulation. Here, there are choices. Cheap material is bought if money is tight for vapor barrier film and high-quality insulation. In this instance, no specialist will promise that hazardous emissions won’t occur during intense heating.

Complexity of technology

Without any prior work experience, block and wood can be used to construct walls. Building a frame with additional insulation and cladding is not too difficult. Not every do-it-yourself bricklayer and log house feller is capable of cutting down a log home. Specialists are hired most of the time.

Presence of shrinkage

Seldom is the criterion taken into consideration. Many owners can afford to wait for the walls to get as small as possible. Laminated veneer lumber or foam blocks are useful if you need to finish the bathhouse building cycle quickly. Certain materials contract. To differing degrees, it is true that gas blocks shrink less than ordinary timber.

Materials for building a bathhouse

In Russia, baths are constructed out of stone (brick, blocks), wood (logs, timber), and occasionally frame. Every material has advantages and disadvantages of its own. Knowing them will help the consumer decide which material is best for a bath.

Log bathhouse

A pine log home is the traditional bathhouse design. less typical compared to other tree species. For many centuries, this was the method used in construction in Russia. These days, people enjoy wooden buildings for their distinctive steam room atmosphere and their stunning appearance, which frequently becomes the site’s focal point. Log baths come with a lot of benefits. Like any other building material, there are benefits and drawbacks.

• attractive appearance. The texture of natural wood from almost white (aspen) to reddish-pink or brick-red (black alder) always looks beautiful and respectable. Even logs darkened by time have their own charm;
• ecological cleanliness. There is no need to explain that wood is a natural material. Let us only add that no harmful substances are used in its processing. This allows the material to be classified as ideally environmentally friendly;
• the release of phytoncides by coniferous trees, which have a beneficial effect on humans. Therefore, in the steam room you can get a double effect: the opened pores remove toxins, receiving biologically active substances in return;
• high level of vapor permeability, providing a comfortable microclimate in the room due to natural ventilation;
• resistance to temperature changes – wood tolerates frost equally well up to 40-60 o C and heating up to 100-110 o C (remember that the ignition point of wood is a temperature of 120 o C);
• resistance to frost/thaw cycles. Unlike bricks and blocks, it simply does not freeze. In extreme cases, it may crack while retaining its technical and operational characteristics;
• good level of sound insulation – taking bath procedures in a quiet, calm atmosphere is much more pleasant;
• low thermal conductivity – wood retains heat well. Anyone who remembers their childhood can confirm: in a well-heated bathhouse you could steam early the next morning, which, by the way, many housewives did;
• long service life. Even in the absence of ventilation (there was none in the village baths), the log houses stand for decades;
• the ability to erect a building of two or three floors, with a complex, unusual configuration. The abundance of options allows you to fit the building into any site parameters and architecture;
• no additional finishing, vapor or waterproofing is required;
• high construction speed.

• resin secretion from coniferous trees. The problem can be solved by heating the steam room for 24 hours at a temperature close to 90 o C;
• risk of ignition if fire safety rules are violated. This is probably the most significant drawback. Hence the need for an annual inspection of the chimney and constant monitoring of the combustion process in the heater. When using electric heaters, a fire extinguishing system in the form of nozzles is needed, since.. if the temperature control systems fail, the wood may heat up above the ignition point. And this is a fire;
• shrinkage. All wooden structures shrink, with the exception of trees that have dried out on the vine. But such material, firstly, is difficult to find, and secondly, it is valued much more than freshly cut pines and firs;
• high level of hygroscopicity. For a bathhouse, the disadvantage is not critical – despite the extreme humidity, the high temperature and vapor permeability of the material do their job: the walls dry out in a few hours;
• low resistance to insects – treatment with antiseptics does not always help. If pests are infested, the log house can only be saved by early detection. A few months late is a death sentence for the construction. Therefore, it is important to monitor the condition of coniferous trees growing near the bathhouse. If they start to dry out, pay attention to the walls of the bathhouse. Wood-boring beetles from dead pines and spruces can migrate to them;
• good inter-crown insulation is required.

For the record, during the first five to seven years following construction, walls may become infested with pests. It is possible to take control after this time.

The listed drawbacks are not life-threatening. As a result, a chopped bathhouse could actually enhance the site’s decor.

From timber

A sort of middle ground between a frame and a log home is reached when building a bathhouse with wood. While building walls with round timber is more labor-intensive and time-consuming, the walls’ service life is far greater than that of a frame structure.

However, it’s not that easy. After all, there are three types of wood that can be used to build a bathhouse: regular, profiled, and glued wood, each having advantages and disadvantages of its own.

Regular timber

Fundamentally, common timber consists of identical coniferous wood logs that have been squared off. As such, it offers nearly the same advantages and disadvantages as a log home. However, there are also distinctions.

• there is no need to cut grooves – a labor-intensive operation is eliminated;
• construction speed is 2-3 times higher compared to a log house and 4-5 times higher with brickwork;
• more accurate building geometry;
• the crowns fit more tightly to each other, and therefore it is enough to lay insulation in the form of a tape between the beams and not to carry out labor-intensive caulking;
• no need to finish the interior or exterior – the walls are already beautiful and smooth. And when treated with stains, you can get the desired shade while maintaining the structure of the wood;
• the weight of the building is less than that of a log house. Therefore, the foundation can be made lighter.

• high level of shrinkage, due to which the baths shrink greatly;
• The contact area of ​​the crowns is large. If insulation is not done correctly (wrong material or narrow tape), mold likes to settle in such places, and rot appears behind it;
• just like a log, timber can crack and warp. But, unlike round timber, the result may be deformation. This is due to the fact that the cutting technology requirements were violated.

Profiled

Upon initial inspection, profiled wood appears to be identical to both regular wood and a log. However, it’s just apparent. Owing to multiple grooves, it gains notable distinctions.

1. Does not crack – there are expansion joints at the bottom and top, thanks to which geometric changes in the process of increasing or decreasing humidity do not cause rupture of wood fibers or its delamination. And if there is no cracking, deformation is completely eliminated.
2. Assembled according to the tongue-and-groove principle, thanks to which heat is better retained indoors.
3. Mold cannot appear between the crowns due to the assembly method used – moisture cannot get into the connecting seams.
4. Tight fit requires minimal insulation.
5. There is some shrinkage, but it does not affect the finish. And with well-dried wood there is no.
6. Service life is longer than that of a log house.

Glued

Professionals are the only ones who can tell laminated veneer lumber from profiled timber from the outside. The grooves are nearly identical, deceiving. The array’s structure differs: it is made up of multiple well-dried plates, or lamellas, that are fused together under intense pressure. This provides the material with further benefits:

• shrinkage is completely eliminated when assembled correctly (only when using thicker insulation than required, the walls will shrink a little);
• higher strength;
• durability reaches 75-100 years;
• the material is resistant to rot, mold, fungi and insects.

However, because of the technology used to harvest timber, there are also serious drawbacks:

• about 2-3 times more expensive compared to profiled timber;
• glue is always chemical. Therefore, there is no need to talk about environmental cleanliness;
• violation of the technology (wrong glue or its concentration, the humidity of at least one lamella in the timber is higher than normal) can lead to delamination of the massif with the formation of through cracks.

However, if the material is excellent, you’ll enjoy the bathhouse for many years to come.

Brick

Brick is the second most common building material used for bathroom walls. These types of buildings are prevalent throughout Russia, particularly in the southern regions where wood-related issues are prevalent.

• long service life. Brick has the greatest durability compared to wood, including laminated veneer lumber, foam and gas blocks;
• a large selection of building configurations, which gives scope for the owners’ design ideas;
• simple maintenance;
• low shrinkage (in bathhouses there is practically no shrinkage due to the not very heavy weight of the roof);
• fire safety – the walls do not burn, which, however, does not save you from a fire inside.

• higher construction costs. Everything needs to be included here: prices for building materials, work and foundation (a more powerful one is needed);
• the need for thermal and waterproofing work. And this time the cost of construction again increases;
• extended construction periods;
• it takes more time to warm up the interior (steam room, washing room, rest room), and, consequently, more energy resources: firewood or electricity;
• more complex interior decoration, but also demanding;
• high hygroscopicity, which in conditions of critical humidity leads to the destruction of bricks. We need well-designed ventilation and high-quality vapor barrier. The slightest mistakes sharply reduce the service life of the building;
• increased requirements for the foundation – brick walls are the heaviest of all types of materials used in the construction of a bathhouse;
• less environmentally friendly – the use of insulation and para-insulating materials is not always safe for health.

The finishing touch is entirely personal. Some experts and reviews on forums claim that a brick steam room lacks the "homey" atmosphere of a wooden one. It is similar to doing your laundry in a public bath.

Gas blocks

Building regulations 15.13330 "in black and white" state that it is not permitted to use cellular concrete blocks for the walls of structures that are used in wet operating conditions. They are extreme in the bath house. However, proponents of the content have counterarguments as well:

• Why isn"t the tree banned?? It has a higher water absorption, and when the humidity changes, the linear dimensions change greatly. And it burns beautifully, unlike blocks;
• and when Russian people were stopped by prohibitions;
• documents have not been revised for decades. SPs are long outdated;
• If the material cannot be wetted, contact with water must be prevented. There are many ways to do this. For example, with proper steam and waterproofing of walls, aerated concrete is cut off from direct contact with the moisture of the steam room and washing room.

The material’s merits bolster the aforementioned arguments.

• due to the porous structure, the thermal conductivity coefficient of gas blocks (0.12 W/m*°C) is only slightly inferior to wood (0.11 W/m*°C);
• thanks to the enlarged dimensions, it is possible to build walls 2-3 times faster, and, therefore, cheaper compared to brickwork;
• concrete is easy to process: sawing, drilling, planing is as easy as wood;
• autoclave blocks do not shrink;
• resistant to aggressive chemical environments and biological influences such as mice, rats, mold and mildew;
• in hardness and density they are not inferior to brick and wood;
• do not rot, unlike wood;
• made from environmentally friendly materials;
• the blocks are light in weight, which allows, firstly, to erect walls without the use of equipment, and secondly, to use a lightweight foundation: on pillars with a grillage or a shallow monolithic strip.

• blocks are sold with a moisture content of 25-30% (this is the standard). Can be finished at a humidity of 5-6%. Otherwise, a large amount of moisture is trapped in the wall. No one can predict how she will behave in cold weather. Therefore, it is necessary to allow time for natural drying, which freezes construction work for about six months;
• the material has not been tested by time (it began to be produced about 3 decades ago), and therefore there is no clarity about durability;
• quickly absorbs moisture, despite vapor barrier measures, and dries very slowly. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to completely dry a bathhouse made of gas blocks. Good ventilation is needed;
• the effect of a thermos (with vapor barrier with foil) affects, according to bathhouse lovers, the quality of steam. It"s not as rich and soft. According to the editors, this perception of the microclimate is purely subjective – the lining made of softwood recreates the effect of a rustic chopped bathhouse;
• you need good shut-off waterproofing between the foundation and the blocks. Otherwise, the walls may crack already in the first frosts;
• large additional costs for interior decoration (often also for exterior). As a result, it may turn out that the final cost of construction is higher than the cost of a bathhouse made of round timber or timber.

Foam blocks

Another material for constructing a bathhouse is foam blocks. Belongs to the class of concretes with cells. It is regarded as a contentious material for structures like saunas and baths, which shows up in two starkly different perspectives. While some are critical, others are admiring.

Let’s attempt to comprehend the problem. We accomplish this by outlining the material’s advantages and disadvantages.

• budget prices are the most attractive selection criterion for those who decide to build a bathhouse on a small summer cottage;
• high speed of construction – large block sizes allow you to reduce the time of wall construction;
• the low weight of the material makes it possible to carry out construction work without the involvement of assistants and equipment;
• no need for a strong foundation;
• simple installation – using glue and a plumb line, the work can be completed by a beginner in the construction business;
• high frame strength;
• no shrinkage;
• resistance to high temperatures – the walls can withstand about 4 hours of fire;
• environmental friendliness of the material.

• short operational period – from 15 to 30 years. Many experts say that low durability is compensated by low construction costs. But this is not entirely true – without insulation and vapor barrier of the walls on both sides, the building will not stand for more than 5 years. And these are additional costs that many do not take into account, despite the fact that in some cases (when purchasing high-quality materials) they are significant;
• low frost resistance – no more than 35 cycles, which requires vapor barrier and insulation of blocks from the outside. If this is not done, then 5-10 winter periods with frequent temperature changes will be enough to destroy them;
• low level of sound insulation. But for a bathhouse this is not essential;
• tightness is achieved only with glue. And it is quite expensive;
• different levels of thermal insulation protection in different places of the same block – due to production technology, and therefore the voids in the body of the foam concrete are located unevenly;
• afraid of mice and rats. They cannot use concrete in the food chain, but they gnaw holes regularly;
• treatment with antiseptics is required – with high humidity, pathogenic microorganisms in the form of mold and mildew may appear.

Frame bath

Summer cottage owners, for whatever reason, are adamant that, when money is tight, the best material for a bathhouse is a wooden beam for sheathing (metal profiles are sometimes available) and cladding for insulation.

If the sheathing is relatively clear, then the layers of a frame building—which consist of both internal and external cladding, as well as layers of vapor barrier, insulation, waterproofing, and even windproofing—are not particularly complicated. Insulation and finishing materials come in a range of prices, from inexpensive to highly costly. Thus, the cost of a frame building may not always be less than that of a wooden one.

This kind of construction has benefits beyond just the cost-effectiveness of the materials.

• minimum possible time for wall construction;
• reasonable cost of construction work;
• the light weight of the bathhouse (compared to a wooden bathhouse made of round timber is about 5-6 times less), which allows the use of a cheaper and less labor-intensive columnar foundation, and in case of heaving soils – screw piles;
• with high-quality thermal insulation, all rooms warm up faster compared to stone buildings. Consequently, energy resources are saved (about 2 times less firewood is consumed);
• the possibility of carrying out construction work in dry weather all year round;
• owners can realize any fantasies regarding interior and exterior decoration.

• very often, unnoticed by the owners, the final cost of construction turns out to be higher than the planned costs, surpassing the cost of a chopped bathhouse. This is due to the need for internal and external cladding. The building has already been built, but you have to invest more and more money in it. The log house does not need to be finished at all;
• The apparent simplicity of the technology for constructing frame buildings is actually not so. The accumulated experience shows that owners make numerous mistakes, and in small things. The result is a shrinkage of the building by 5-10 cm in 2-2.5 years. There is no need to explain what will happen in this case with the cladding. The most interesting thing is that it is impossible to find out where the miscalculation is allowed;
• external and interior decoration required. High -quality costs decent money, eventually eating savings on the frame of the walls, and cheap, as always, is not environmentally friendly. In many cases, taking bath procedures, you have to breathe harmful substances that budget finishing materials are released under the influence of high temperatures;
• Who doesn’t say anything, and the frame walls are better conducting heat than wooden. Therefore, it cools much faster. It will not work to arrange gatherings for 4-5 hours, unless the stove is constantly tossed. But this is no longer a Russian bathhouse.

A beam and a metal profile are used for the frame. Each of them has benefits and drawbacks of its own.

The beam that is most frequently utilized. Its thickness is chosen as the material for thermal insulation. Because extensive work is being done on the vapor barrier and additional heat in the walls of the steam room and laundry room, a bathhouse may be smaller than usual.

• easy material processing;
• simple frame assembly;
• affordable price;
• environmentally friendly material.

• limited service life;
• high probability of shrinkage.

There are benefits and cons to the metal frame.

• quick installation;
• the building does not shrink;
• with well-carried out anti-corrosion treatment, the service life is unlimited;
• acceptable price;
• convenient transportation – the required sizes can be ordered immediately: the seller will cut it;
• low weight simplifies installation.

• Needs good anti-corrosion treatment.

Choosing the appropriate materials for a bathhouse is essential for its long-term viability, comfort, and aesthetic appeal. This article examines crucial suggestions for selecting materials that improve longevity and functionality.

Which material to choose

In real life, decisions are frequently made based on one criterion while ignoring the others. It is simpler to make recommendations in this situation.

Which is cheaper?

Three things are considered when determining what is less expensive: materials, wall construction, and turnkey bathroom.

Materials. Timber is the least expensive material for walls when it comes to insulation and the frame. After that, the foam blocks and frame practically flush.

Building projects. Blocks or frames can be used to construct walls on your own. Here, there are no expenses. Bricklaying is the priciest.

Sauna ready. The low cost of building a frame is not the same as the overall cost of construction. Insulation, vapor barriers, and wall décor are at fault. Thus, a wooden frame is the least expensive construction option. No other choices. It can’t be trimmed at all, after all.

In conclusion, the bathhouse owner has the final say over what to choose when finances are tight. We allowed you to weigh your family’s budget-saving options by comparing them.

What is built faster?

Similar to estimating costs, there are choices. Building walls out of blocks and frames is the quickest method. However, before finishing work can start, the blocks must stand for at least six months. Additionally, finishing work cannot be done while flying, so time will be needed to finish the construction of a frame building.

Again, the log house is unmatched if we’re discussing how fast you can take a steam bath from the moment construction begins. It can seriously settle to a depth of up to 10 cm, but this is not an issue. Ultimately, wooden baths are typically unfinished, whether they are finished indoors or out. If the urge to cover the interior with clapboard is strong, you can wait for shrinkage before beginning the work. The performance characteristics are unaffected by the lack of finishing; a great steam bath can be had even without clapboards.

Optimal option

The best option takes into account the cost, construction time, and bath procedure quality. Once more, the chopped bath comes out on top.

The best microclimate

Steaming in a wooden bath is incomparably better than in a bath composed of other materials; this is not a point worth mentioning again. Furthermore, despite the claims of many foam block or brick supporters, high-quality clapboard does not equalize the differences. Our own experience and reviews on other forums indicate that there is nothing like the microclimate that wood creates. It is challenging to identify precise causes. However, one can sense the difference. These are possibly volatile and other useful substances. or a subconscious evaluation of the wall’s composition.

The most durable building

The walls must be constructed of brick or glued timber if the bathhouse is to be left for great-grandchildren; these materials will last for roughly 100 years.

Selecting appropriate building materials is essential to guaranteeing the durability and comfort of a bathhouse. Wood, especially cedar or spruce, is a popular option because of its inherent moisture resistance and durability. It offers a warm, traditional atmosphere that is ideal for unwinding. For individuals who value durability and low maintenance, brick and concrete are strong and low maintenance options.

When choosing materials, take the local environment and climate into account. Having insulating qualities is crucial for effectively retaining heat in cold climates. In order to keep the bathhouse warm during the winter, materials such as double-walled wood construction or insulated concrete forms (ICFs) can be used.

Maintenance is another essential component. Regular sealing and sporadic repairs are necessary to preserve the integrity of wood against moisture and pests. Conversely, low-maintenance materials like brick and concrete might not have the same warmth or visual appeal as wood. When making your choice, take your available time and maintenance skills into consideration.

Last but not least, the budget is important. Even though wood can initially cost more, many builders find that its natural qualities and aesthetic appeal make the investment worthwhile. In the short term, concrete and brick might be more affordable options because of their longevity and low maintenance requirements.

Video on the topic

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