Is it possible to arrange a sauna at home?

My friends and I have a tradition: every year on December 31, we go to the bathhouse “- this classic phrase from the popularly loved film is known to everyone. And how did one of these trips end for the hero of” Irony of Fate “too. Comrade accidentally ended up in Leningrad, fell asleep in someone else’s apartment and … started spinning. It’s good that in the end everything ended well. And if not? And in general, is it possible, for example, to arrange a mini-sauna in a city apartment? And what do the law and its representatives think about this? We wanted to talk about all this today..

“We have no saunas in the area!”

This is exactly what the bureaucratic aunts answered in the boards of three “sleeping” districts and in the MVK of two administrative districts (MVK – Interdepartmental Commission). It almost sounds like “there is no sex in the Soviet Union.” It’s the same with saunas. An acquaintance of mine, who recently bought an apartment in one of the former “nomenklatura” houses, could not understand for a long time why on Saturdays, in the late afternoon, electricity was regularly cut off at the entrance. It turned out that several steam lovers settled in the house. They “cut down bathhouses” in separate apartments and at the end of the week they “give in to a couple”.

But the employee of the council assured that she had not received such complaints and that the other day she personally carried out an inspection for the presence of these very steam rooms – and did not find a single one. The experience of communicating with the secretary of the IAC of the Central District made me recall the classics. I quote: “We do not allow saunas in apartments – we do not have appropriate instructions for that. The Law on the Procedure for Reorganizing Premises in Residential Buildings on the Territory of Moscow” does not say anything about saunas. The federal regulations do not say anything either. ” The same was told to me in the prefecture of the Southern Administrative District: “The law does not openly forbid the construction of saunas – there simply are no relevant regulatory documents. The Moscow City Building Norms (MGSN) provide for the possibility of arranging saunas in houses of the first category (that is, in brick or monolithic houses with reinforced concrete ceilings and apartments with large areas: the minimum living area of ​​a 1-room apartment is 38 sq.m, a 2-room apartment – 54 sq.m, a 3-room apartment – 68 sq.m. – Auth.) But these are the norms for builders and designers, we are guided by legislative acts. Therefore, we do not officially allow anyone “.

Prefabricated and built saunas

Prefabricated saunas are assembled from ready-made panels, like a designer. They can be easily disassembled if necessary. As a rule, well-known foreign manufacturers – Finnish, Swedish, German – sell ready-made prefabricated saunas..

But if you decide to equip a bathhouse in a country house or in the country, you can build a sauna. Both domestic firms and distributors of ready-made cabins are engaged in construction. The difference between the built cabin and the prefabricated one is that the sauna is being built, figuratively speaking, “according to the dostochka”.

There is also a variant of the “built-in sauna”: in this case, the walls of the finished room are trimmed under the sauna (for example, the pantry is sheathed with clapboard, the corner of the bathroom is used as the walls of the cabin). It is clear that it is more difficult to disassemble such a structure than a finished one..

You can do what you can’t

Then I turned to firms ready to take over the “legal registration of apartment redevelopment”. Four of them unequivocally stated that building saunas in apartments is not allowed. And in the fifth, they again referred to the Moscow city building codes (MGSN 3.01-96), which provide for the design of saunas in apartments of houses of the first category, including in single-family houses (in other words, in cottages). And they advised to contact those who developed these building codes – the Moscow Research and Design Institute of Typology, Experimental Design (MNIITEP).

Margarita Nekrasova, head laboratory for inspection of buildings and structures MNIITEP:

– Yes, indeed, domestic saunas are allowed to be arranged in houses of the first category. We also applied to the Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision of the Central Administrative District with a corresponding request. The answer of the chief sanitary doctor was as follows: “The Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision of the Central District, in response to your request, informs that, according to the letter of the Moscow City Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision No. 2.4-1578 dated December 3, 1999, it does not object to the use of prefabricated saunas in residential buildings with a hygienic conclusion ( certificate) and intended, according to the scope, specifically for residential apartments. Prefabricated saunas should not be located in the projection of living rooms. ” (Translated into Russian, this means: saunas can be placed only in the corridor or in the bathroom. – Auth.).

But personally, I am careful about saunas in apartments. Indeed, from the point of view of the reliability of electrical wiring, even houses of the first category are not the same. And if there is no three-phase current at the entrance, it will need to be connected additionally. The location of the sauna is also important. For example, it is not allowed to put it in the room or in the kitchen. You cannot make a sauna in the basement – the fire inspection will not allow it. In general, firefighters may have the main complaints about a home sauna..

I had to go to the fire department.

Vladimir Volik, senior engineer of the regulatory and technical department of the fire inspection of the Central Administrative District:

– In Moscow, according to building codes (MGSN 3.01 – 96, p. 3.31), it is allowed to have saunas in apartments of houses of the first category. But in the Building codes and regulations (SNiP), developed for Russia, nothing is said about this. As a rule, the device of saunas in city apartments is prohibited. In any case, this issue in other cities is resolved with the local state fire control.

According to the Moscow city building codes, the “apartment” sauna should be no more than two people in size. This requirement is dictated, in particular, by the fact that the power of the electric furnace required to heat a larger cabin will exceed the capabilities of the power grid. And then – the ventilation system in the apartment may not cope with a large amount of steam.

Sauna finishes, according to building codes, may be made from hardwood. If you make coniferous upholstery, then at high temperatures the tree will begin to release resinous substances and become sticky. In addition, due to the high resin content, conifers can even ignite spontaneously. (My question about the fact that the Finns and Swedes have been using specially treated coniferous wood in their saunas for many years, which does not emit resin, remained unanswered. – Author).

There is another requirement for a home sauna: the installation of a perforated dry pipe around the perimeter under the ceiling of the steam room. A “perforated dry pipe” is an ordinary pipe with a tap and holes drilled in it, which is connected to the water supply. When the tap is closed, the pipe remains dry (that’s why this device is called “dry pipe”). But if, God forbid, something caught fire in the steam room, open the tap – and the walls are irrigated with water.

An electric sauna stove should only be factory-made and always have an automatic shutdown, for example, every eight hours of continuous operation or when a certain temperature is reached. If you forget to turn it off, it should turn itself off. It is imperative to install a residual current device (RCD) over the electrical network – they are now being made in homes on demand. You can buy an RCD in an electrical store, and an electrician will help you correctly install it.

In addition, the apartment must be equipped with fire detectors. In high-rise buildings, the fire detector box is usually attached to the ceiling in the hallway. And all new houses (including those “first category houses” that we talked about), as a rule, are equipped with them. If a fire occurs, the fire detector automatically signals to the united dispatching service, and from the dispatching office they call “01”.

Sometimes a house is initially designed with a sauna, although this is very rare. If a person, wanting to build a sauna, makes a redevelopment in an apartment, one cannot do without approval from the Interdepartmental Commission. In these cases, we, of course, give our opinion. But if the area allows you to install a sauna, for example, in the corner of the bathroom – how will they know about it? Only if something happens (for example, a fire breaks out and neighboring apartments are damaged). Then the sauna owner will have to pay damages.

So I would like to advise that only specialists should install the sauna. You should not do this on your own. And further. The sauna must have good thermal insulation, special wires – with non-combustible insulation, lamps with heat-resistant glass and insulation from moisture.

Our comment

As we have already said, the State Supervision Authority has “no prescriptions” yet regarding specially treated coniferous wood, which has been used by the recognized leaders in this field – the Finns and Swedes for many years. The so-called Scandinavian spruce and pine, which do not emit resin, are very successfully used by them for interior decoration of saunas..

By the way, the word “Scandinavian” does not mean any particular type of wood, but its quality and processing method. One of the distributors offering Scandinavian saunas in Russia said that his company had to be repeatedly present when the object was handed over to firefighters – in gyms, health centers, etc. Since the goods had the appropriate certificate, and the premises had fire protection in accordance with all the rules, the Scandinavian “needles” did not cause any complaints.

With regard to the power of electric sauna stoves, progress is not standing still here either. Recently, Western manufacturing companies have begun to produce ovens with a capacity of 8 – 9 kW, which can be connected to a network with a voltage of not only 380 V, but also 220 V! And therefore, there is a real opportunity to purchase not a single or double sauna, but a larger one.

What follows from this?

If you analyze the information obtained from official sources, it will become clear: in order to steam without problems, it is better to comply with regulations and orders “from above” in this regard. Of course, to buy or not to buy a sauna, to assemble it from ready-made shields or to build, build “like ours” or “like the Finns and Swedes” – you decide for yourself. The main thing is to be safe and of high quality. But about the “can-not” conclusions are as follows:

1. The pleasure of steaming in a home sauna is available only to residents of apartments in houses of the first category and, of course, to the owners of country mansions.
2. It is not allowed to install saunas in the basements of city houses, in rooms or in kitchens.
3. It is better not to start a special redevelopment of the apartment “for a sauna” (that is, demolish walls, make additional doorways, etc.) – it is unlikely that it will be possible to legally formalize a home steam room.
4. Building a sauna is an option that is more suitable for owners of their own country houses. And in a city apartment, such a sauna can create additional difficulties. Indeed, in fact, this is also a redevelopment, so it will be very problematic to issue it through the BTI. So it is better to purchase a ready-made prefabricated sauna – if necessary, it can be disassembled and transported to another place.
five. According to the requirements of firefighters, the power of the stove in a home sauna should be no more than 4.5 kW. This means that the size of the sauna must also be small – for one or two people. Compare: to heat a sauna with a volume of 1.2 – 2 m3, a 2 kW stove is needed, and a large family sauna with a volume of 7 – 12 m3 requires an 8 kW unit. Furnaces with a power over 6 kW are connected to a 380 V mains (three-phase network), and in our apartments – 220 V (single-phase network).
6. If you have chosen Scandinavian spruce or pine for your home sauna, which is not yet officially “recognized” by our regulations, the requirements of the fire inspectorate regarding the protection of the sauna and the house from fire must be met strictly.
So in no case do not install the sauna in the apartment on your own – believe me, even if it succeeds, nothing good will come of this venture. This complex and responsible business can only be entrusted to specialists who will take into account all safety requirements and will do everything according to the rules.

Good luck! And with light steam!