How to inexpensively build shelves for a steam room in a bath

Recommendation points

• What wood to use
• Timber frame system
• We sew up the openings of the front part
• How to knock down and install sun lounger shields
• Fine, very fine wood processing
• Multi-tiered structures and decorative lighting

Beginning bath attendants are always interested to know if there are any secrets in the manufacture of shelves and loungers for the steam room. Undoubtedly, you always need a lot of diligence and effort when decorating a bath or sauna, but everything is simpler than it might seem. We will tell you how and from what to build shelves for a steam room with your own hands.

What wood to use

The design we offer is standard and modular, from which you can easily build loungers of different tiers and configurations, with the exception of radius ones. It is based on a frame made of glued calibrated pine beams 60×60 mm. It is not worth taking solid wood, in the conditions of a steam room it does not show itself from the best side: it warps and twists from changes in humidity and temperature.

From above, the frame will be covered directly with sun loungers. We will knock them down from a tongue-and-groove board, it can be glued. It is advisable to use hard sheet species: they have a richer texture, and besides, the tree oozes less resin when heated. It is advisable to take wide boards, at least 120×25 mm.

The vertical walls of the constructed structure will be decorated with a planed birch or maple board 100 mm wide. Frames from it go astray around the perimeter with trimming at 45 ° at the corners. We will close the formed cells with wooden lattices, which we will enclose in frames of 10×20 mm slats.

Any wood used to furnish the steam room should not undergo any chemical treatment, not even fire protection and antiseptics.

Timber frame system

All loungers are assembled on the basis of separate frame frames, rectangular, triangular or trapezoidal in plan. The optimal configuration would be: one wide (600-800 mm) shelf at a level of 90-110 cm from the ceiling and descending steps, if the size of the room allows. Their width is 300-400 mm, the difference in levels for all tiers is better to make the same, the lower tier is not lower than 55 cm from the floor.

First of all, assemble the rectangular frames of the upper and lower bases without stapling. Their ends are cut to half the thickness and chipped off with a chisel from the end, that is, with a half-wood undercut. Then we install the frames on vertical legs, about 200 mm less in height than the desired level of the tier above the floor. With one 150 mm dowel we sew both beams cut at the corner in the center and tighten the frame with vertical legs, a total of 8 fasteners.

If the span of the horizontal beams exceeds 850 mm, we add intermediate ones, this is calculated for 300 kg of concentrated load. The resulting frame is placed on the floor with a gap from the walls: for leveling, use lining from the same 60 mm timber, fasten them to the walls of the steam room.

Between the floor and the frame, we lay 20 cm strips of polyethylene film in two layers, tuck the edges and shoot them to the wood. We adjust the level with a slight slope towards ourselves, placing spacer plates or plywood under the legs, then align the diagonals with a thread. To strengthen the upper frame, we twist a pair of self-tapping screws, sewing the bars on the hem. Now, on the front surface of the beams, not covered by the front tiers, we make 6 mm holes in the center with a step of 25-30 cm.

We sew up the openings of the front part

Assembling the frames that form the front part is performed with trimming the oblique tenon joint, and this is the most difficult part of the work. First, we mark out the details: two in width and two in height of the front of a frame constructed from beams. Next, at the ends of the bars on both sides, draw converging lines at 45 °.

At the edges, draw two lines along the thin ends, dividing the board in thickness into three parts, that is, about 8 mm. With a hacksaw, first carefully cut the spikes on the vertical boards, cutting only a third on each side. We chop off the wood with a chisel 2 mm less than the marking requires, then carefully clean it with a boot knife.

We cut the edges of the other pair of boards along an oblique line and apply a couple of lines to the end, along which we will cut an eyelet. When sawing, keep the hacksaw blade closer to the center of the markings, gouge the rest with a narrow 7 mm chisel. We assemble the frame and adjust the joints, trimming the excess tree with a sharp chisel, hammer from the inside out one short carnation 20 mm from the outer corner.

We apply the frame to the frame and align it along its outer edges. First, through the 6 mm holes in the bars, screw the upper part. For this we take anodized screws 90 mm long, put a small washer under the head. Having screwed the upper side, we trim the two side ones and fix them in the central part, we do the same with the lower one. We strengthen the spike connection with one 20 mm self-tapping screw screwed into the board from the inside on the open side of the side.

The board protrudes above the timber by 30 mm on each side; insert a wooden mesh in a frame into the resulting cell from the inside. First, we fill the frame from thin slats of 20×10 mm exactly according to the internal dimensions with an allowance of 3-5 mm, then we cut off the excess shingles. Insert the grid diagonally, unfold it evenly and pull it towards you with your fingers.

How to knock down and install sun lounger shields

Ideal if you have a pair of trapezoidal box cutters. Fold the floorboards tightly on a flat floor in the direction across the length of the lounger. Then one or two box grooves are cut across the boards. In them we start rails from an inch board onto an edge with a milled top end. In length, each rail should fit between the frame beams with a gap of 5-10 mm.

We install the knocked-down shield on the frame, trim it, and then fasten the stiffeners to the bars with the help of metal corners. We remove all the boards, attach the extreme deep with a plane to the wall and fasten it with nails to the frame bar. On the inside, for greater reliability, it is better to substitute a kerchief, although the outer board is not subject to operational loads. We push the subsequent boards, press them and also fasten them, up to the last.

The shield, as you understand, can be assembled without a box connection, but with it you can lay out the boards in any way you like, even diagonally. It is only important that the ribs of the rigidity are always located perpendicular to the boards.

After laying and securing the flooring, mark the overhang of the front edge and end it with a circular saw or jigsaw. On the butt end we stuff a strip up to 40 mm wide packed under 4-5 mm, and cover the abutments to the walls with a 20 mm plinth.

Fine, very fine wood processing

The reasons why the surfaces of sun loungers need to be treated as carefully as possible are obvious. First of all, go over the main planes with a belt sander with a P120 grit belt.

Process all corners and abutments to the walls either manually or with a deltoid machine. In total, the grit should be gradually reduced from P200 to P600. Finally, manually lighten the wood with a foam-based emery cloth.

This treatment shows the texture well and removes even the smallest areas damaged by fungus or spores. To “burn” the surface of the tree, you should walk on it with a clean cotton swab dipped in hemp or linseed oil, and then heat the steam room well.

Multi-tiered structures and decorative lighting

Elements of different tiers and directions should be fastened together on vertical racks. You also need a rigid fastening to the walls in the places of the spacers.

The resulting niches under the shelves are ideal for storing bath utensils. For greater convenience and for the purpose of decoration, it is recommended to fix inside a row of halogen lamps with an operating voltage of 12 or 24 V. The lamps must have an IP65 case and be powered by a solid wire from a transformer.