A visit to the bath helps a person to relax, feel renewed and full of strength and energy. And it’s even more pleasant to sit in your own steam room, where no one will push you. Therefore, many people prefer to build a bath complex on their own.
How to build a bath
Design and construction of the bath are carried out in several stages. It is impossible to name any of them the most important. Each stage is a necessary element in creating a bath complex. A person who has decided to build a bathhouse needs to combine several components into a single whole, choose the right equipment, take care of safety and heating.
How to choose the right stones?
Particular attention should be paid to their properties and quality in order to ensure safety and not harm human health. Not everyone knows how to choose stones for a bath. For 1 square. m of the area that will need to be covered, acquire an average of 6 kg of material. Based on the experience of many builders, several rules have been formed that must be observed.
Main characteristics
We present to your attention information about what stones are used in the furnace for a bath:
- The structure of the stone must be uniform. If this condition is not met, then moisture that has got inside will lead to the destruction of the material. In addition, stone fragments can scatter and cause harm to a person inside.
- It is necessary to choose stones with a rounded, smooth shape, so that the air circulates between them evenly. Most often, such a form is inherent in stones having the same coefficient of thermal expansion.
- The fraction is selected taking into account the dimensions of the heating element. The larger its dimensions, the larger the stones should be. Small stones generally have a size of 5-6 cm, large - 7-13 cm.
- The material must be resistant to prolonged exposure to high temperature, then its structure will not be violated. This is one of the main factors that a person who has wondered about how to choose stones for a bath should take into account.
- It is advisable to choose stones that are homogeneous, not interspersed with extraneous elements.
- It is necessary to select minerals that have high heat resistance. It is measured by the number of cooling and heating changes that the material can withstand before its deformation begins. The higher the heat resistance of the stone, the less often it will have to be changed.
- We pay attention to the heat capacity of stones. The more heat a material can hold and the longer it holds it, the more valuable it is. The duration of staying in the steam room depends on the heat capacity of the stone.
- For bath complexes, basic and ultrabasic rocks are often used. They contain silica. In basic rocks it is from 44 to 53%, in ultrabasic - 44%.
- The stones used in the baths must have a low coefficient of linear expansion. This will allow the material not to collapse and serve you for a very long time.
Security
Special attention should be paid to security. Most importantly, do not collect or process stones yourself. The material must be processed in an industrial environment where safety is followed. These are the best stones for a bath - they will be safe and will not do you any harm when heating the room.
Some people collect stones on railway platforms, since they have a perfect shape, from the point of view of the builders of the bath. However, the surface of this material is treated with creosote, which, when the temperature rises, begins to be released into the environment and harms human health.
Types of stones
Different types of stones can be used as a natural heating element, there are many of them, and each of them has its own unique properties. So, select the stones for the bath. Which ones are best for you? Consider the materials that are used for the bath most often.
Inexpensive materials
Peridotitis
A very nondescript rock of magmatic origin is peridotite. However, this material has many positive qualities. The structure of the stone is a little porous, and its physical properties are ideal for bath complexes. Peridotitis does not contain harmful impurities, so it will not cause any harm to human health.
It has a high specific heat capacity that allows it to remain hot for a long period of time. With a sharp temperature difference, the material will not collapse, since it has a low coefficient of expansion. It is worth noting its price, because when a person thinks about how to choose stones for a bath, he often thinks about how you can save on this. The approximate cost of the stone is 12 rubles / 1 kg.
Diabase
This is a mountain of fine-grained rock, which is formed as a result of a magmatic eruption. The physical properties of the stone practically do not differ from the properties of peridotite. The material is heat-intensive, mechanically durable, has a low coefficient of linear expansion. The approximate cost of the stone is 13 rubles / 1 kg.
Popular materials
Jade
Recently, this semi-precious stone is gaining popularity. This mineral has excellent properties. The stone has high heat resistance (it is much higher than other types of stones used in baths), and its coefficient of water absorption is very low. This allows the jadeite to serve you much longer than any other stone. In addition, the mineral has a high degree of heat accumulation, in the heated state it quickly evaporates moisture, due to which a strong steam stream is formed. In color, jadeite can be compared with malachite. Its only negative side is the price. She is tall enough. The approximate cost of the stone is 116 rubles / 1 kg.
Raspberry quartzite
This stone is called the "stone of royal blood." Probably, many people will want to splash a bucket of water on such a stone, and not on a simple chip. Most often, raspberry quartzite is used for external decoration of buildings, for example, as a stone for a furnace. Baths in which professional heating furnaces are installed often contain it too - it is laid on a par with jadeite, like the top layer.
This material is highly resistant to heat. It can withstand up to 2700 ° C and at the same time it will not be destroyed. Separately, it is worth noting the properties of the steam released during the interaction of raspberry quartzite with water. It turns out to be light and ideally combined with the heavy obtained with the use of diabase. The approximate cost of the stone is 40 rubles / 1 kg.
Materials having better physical properties
Sea pebbles
For the most effective heat injection in steam rooms use sea pebbles. Pebble stone structures are often assembled by people themselves. However, it is better not to stint and buy stones that are already sorted. The ideal form of sea pebbles is slightly flattened. Such material can be placed compactly and neatly. Sea pebbles are commonly used bath stones. Feedback on this material is always good. But in no case should you use river pebbles. It comes into contact with bottom sludge, and therefore it often contains impurities that, when evaporated, harm human health.
Basalt
The second name is its name - volcanic rock - the stone received because of the source of its origin. The material, which is a frozen volcanic lava, holds heat well and has a high density. Mineral fiber is also obtained from basalt, which is distinguished by its excellent refractory qualities.
White quartz
This material is able to withstand a large temperature difference. That is why it is also called bath quartz. Most often, people choose stones for a bath that better affect their health. White quartz is what you need. This stone is considered unique because it contains a high concentration of oxygen. If white quartz is sharply cooled after heating, then it begins to give off oxygen ions, as a result of which ozone is formed.
The latter has excellent qualities and rejuvenates the body. As a result of such “bathing ozone therapy”, the blood is enriched with oxygen, the respiratory organs are cleaned, the body receives a boost of energy. The positive effect after visiting the bath, which uses white quartz, lasts for several days. For example, the Urals believe that these are the best stones for a bath. In fact, white quartz is the same rock crystal. What distinguishes these minerals is that the crystal is transparent.
Stone care
From this article, you learned how to choose stones for a bath. But the materials used in the bath complex must be looked after so that they bring the expected effect. Every year, the stones need to be sorted out, washed with dust (it contains a lot of sulfur), look for and replace damaged ones.
