When we moved to the new site, there was only a toilet as a convenience. When restoring the burned down house, it dawned on us that there would be no normal life without a bath. And not at all due to the fact that we consider ourselves to be sophisticated bathers. There was a very lack of a place where one could thoroughly wash. Of course, we had water. At the site, we reanimated a well from which water was regularly supplied. But washing with a ladle or a glass in your hands is still an adventure.
When the snow melted, we decided to move from theory to practice. After much debate, we came to the conclusion that we would build the bathhouse in the northeastern corner of the site - there is just the border with the forest. Subsequently, I repeatedly regretted the decision made, but, as they say, this is a completely different story.
According to the materials, the choice was between a frame and a log. The frame is warmer, but may not survive humid conditions. As a result, we agreed on the second option and ordered square logs.
The next step was laying the foundation. Everything went like clockwork - the excavation of the earth, the construction of the formwork, the mixing of concrete. The foundation is not perfect, but acceptable. The only thing is that it came out a little wavy from the side.When the logs were brought in, they began to treat them with an antiseptic and fire retardant. On the inside of the material, I made an "artificial crack" so that the tree knew where to crack in the future. It took about a month to assemble the log house, after which my attention turned to the roof. For its construction, I used hanging rafters with lower ties. In the future, they took over the function of ceiling beams.
The roof was installed like this: we assembled the triangle on the ground, then raised it, aligned it with the marks on the walls and fastened it. By the autumn of the same year, the reliable frame was protected by a temporary roof made of roofing material. The winter turned out to be enough for the blockhouse to sag thoroughly. Due to subsidence, the unexpected happened: the cracks above the windows and the door decreased. I had to lower the expansion joints on the columns by a couple of centimeters.
Soon, we ordered the final version of the metal roof. The size was chosen so that one sheet was enough to cover the entire slope. Not the most convenient solution (the sheets are long), but there were no joints. Lining was used for the inner lining. For the steam room - lime, for the rest of the rooms - pine. I made the shelves of pine and covered them with boards from Abash (because they don't heat up much).
They bought a metal stove, they didn't put anything on top. The stove was filled talcochlorite (it took about 40 kilograms). I refused the brick oven for a simple reason - it heats up for a long time, and we are extremely impatient people. With a metal stove, the steam room heats up instantly and also cools down quickly. The last factor does not bother us at all, since there is no need to keep the heat in the bath for half a day.
Summing up, I will say that our experiment ended successfully. The bathhouse was built imperfectly, but it fulfills its main task - gives light steam and cheers up.
Something we did right, and something we screwed up. In any case, this is the first building made by hand from start to finish.