Today you can experience all the benefits of a Turkish bath without leaving your home. To do this, it is enough to build a small hammam in the apartment. Thanks to its compact size, the Turkish bath will fit even in a small bathroom. The main thing is to know the main stages of hammam construction and purchase high-quality building materials.
Arranging a small hammam in an apartment
Almost every person who has been on vacation in Turkey at least once has encountered a hamam - a Turkish bath. This structure differs from other steam rooms in its milder temperature. Since ancient times, the traditional procedure of steaming in a public hammam has been a whole ritual. It was always accompanied by tea drinking and pleasant communication with other clients of the bathhouse.
A visit to a Turkish bath gives a person peace of mind and fills his body with health. It is noteworthy that even people who have minor health problems can visit such a steam room. A Turkish bath helps in the fight against skin diseases, helps normalize blood circulation and breathing. Regular vaping helps get rid of excess weight and insomnia. In addition, hammam rejuvenates the body.
Many adherents of the Turkish steam room often think about making such a structure at home. With the right approach, building such a structure in modern realities is quite possible with your own hands. The arrangement of a hammam should begin with the development of a project. It is advisable to sketch out the approximate appearance of the structure on paper. It is also worth considering the design of the future hamam in a private house. If you have difficulties drawing up a design project, you can use ready-made photo examples.
Premises requirements
An engineering structure such as a hammam, although it may be compact in size, still requires extra space. For this reason, a Turkish bath is an ideal option for a private home. However, it is possible to build a similar structure in an ordinary apartment.
Hamams must be located in rooms with a ceiling height of about 3 meters. It is advisable that the room of the future bathhouse be connected to an exhaust hood, a sewerage system, as well as pipelines with hot and cold water. The ideal option would be to carry out construction work in the bathroom.
In order for the steam room to be as comfortable as possible, it is necessary that its dimensions be at least 1.5 per 1 square. m. It will not be possible to arrange a bathhouse in a very small bathroom. The larger the area of the room, the better, because the hammam requires the installation of a steam generator unit and other structures.
A Turkish bath, like a mini-sauna in an apartment, requires approval from the authorities. From a legal point of view, such structures can only be installed in new houses, because they require an increased load on the electrical network. Approval for a sauna or hammam is carried out in the standard manner.
Useful properties and contraindications of hamam
So, why is the Turkish bath attracting more and more people? But people simply began to know more and began to care more about their health. After all, the Eastern Bathhouse is not just a place of relaxation and rest. She is also an excellent healer. Here are a few points of what a hammam can do:
- Has a beneficial effect on the skin. It becomes velvety, elastic and young.
- Excellent prevention for bones and joints. A Turkish bath can to some extent cure back diseases, arthritis, arthrosis and much more.
- The muscles become elastic, flexible and toned.
- Excess weight “goes away”, that is, losing weight with the help of a bath will not be difficult.
- Metabolism improves.
- The functioning of the cardiovascular system and all internal organs is normalized.
- The overall tone of the body increases, the nervous system calms down.
But, as everywhere else, when visiting the hammam, there are some contraindications:
- For any acute illness: be it a runny nose or high temperature.
- In the presence of infectious diseases.
- If there are any oncological inflammations.
- Heart and liver diseases.
- For tuberculosis and asthma.
- If there is a malfunction of the thyroid gland.
- Pregnancy is also a contraindication.
In conclusion, I would like to note that there are much fewer contraindications to visiting the hammam compared to other types of baths. So, if you come across a Turkish bath on your way, be sure to visit it. There will be something to remember and tell your friends...
Wisdom Quote: You will never solve a problem if you think like the person who created it.
Room layout
When installing a Turkish steam room, it is advisable to focus on a pre-made drawing. When drawing it up, it is necessary to take the layout of the bathroom as a basis. The drawing must include all the hidden nuances of the structure. If the owner of the premises does not have experience in drawing up drawings, then it is best to contact a specialized design organization for help.
Stages of hammam construction
A set of measures for setting up a hammam at home:
- Measuring the object and drawing up layout options, designing a hammam.
- Purchase of necessary construction materials and equipment.
- Construction of the bathhouse frame and preparatory work.
- Plumbing and electrical work.
- Finishing work.
- Commissioning.
Installing a hammam in an apartment is a complex and multi-stage process. The implementation of ill-conceived decisions or deviations from norms during construction can lead to a number of mistakes. Therefore, it is important to approach this matter responsibly and not neglect the drawings.
Insulation
The first step in building a Turkish steam room is priming the floor and walls. This will protect them from the appearance of fungus and mold. It is also necessary to bring wires into the room for lighting.
Next, a frame of metal profiles is mounted. The frame is filled with insulation, which can be polystyrene. Drywall sheets are fixed on top. The process starts with the floor and ends with the ceiling trim.
According to Eastern tradition, the ceiling of the hammam should have a dome shape. You can build it yourself from plasterboard or use an alternative option - make a slanting surface of the ceiling. As a result, drops of moisture will flow down it, like on an inclined plane. It is also advisable to make the floor with a slight slope towards the drain hole.
Waterproofing
When covering bathroom surfaces, it is advisable to use moisture-resistant plasterboard sheets. They are marked GKLV. In order to further protect the sheets from moisture, you can treat them with an antiseptic hydrophobic composition. Drywall joints can be covered with reinforcing tape. You can use adhesive waterproofing. GKLV protection with simple oil paint is effective. All surfaces of the room must be waterproofed.
Heating system
The process of arranging a Turkish bath at home is similar to the work carried out when equipping shower cabins. The differences are that the steam generator requires a cold water supply and drainage to the sewer.
To have a pleasant time in a Turkish steam room, you can build a concrete bench. If there is enough free space in the room, then it is worth equipping it with a backrest. During the installation process, the bench should be reinforced with metal mesh so that it can withstand heavy weight.
As a heating system in the hammam, you can install electric mats on the floor, and then fill them with screed on top.
Decorative finishing
The floor, ceiling surface, walls and bench in a Turkish steam room in the traditional version should be finished with tiles, marble or mosaics. The tiles are laid according to the standard pattern. The decoration with Turkish paired mosaics looks especially interesting and attractive. You can make oriental motifs on the walls to make the hammam more like a traditional one.
The door to the steam room can be made using tempered glass and an aluminum profile. It is advisable to leave a gap between the floor and the door to ensure air flow.
Hamam lighting
Hamam lighting should be selected taking into account sudden temperature changes. The main emphasis in this issue is on protecting electrical equipment from moisture. It is necessary to choose moisture-resistant lamps. Wiring must be laid in the walls in a moisture-resistant casing. A step-down transformer and short circuit protection must be used.
It is advisable to install the steam generator in a separate, dry room. The thermally insulated steam pipeline is located at a slope. The output nozzles should be in the steam room above the bench. The steam must not encounter any obstacles when escaping. The steam generator control panel is mounted outside, in front of the entrance to the steam room. The temperature sensor is installed above the bench.
Hamam as it is
Hamam can be called one of the symbols of Eastern culture.
The origins of its name go back to the word “ham”, which means “hot” in Arabic. The heat in the hammam traditionally produced an impressively sized cauldron in which water boiled. The resulting steam penetrated through small holes in the walls of the “steam room,” heating and humidifying the air in it. Separately, it is worth mentioning the interior decoration of the Turkish bath. These are not the usual wooden walls and simple benches for Russian and Finnish steam rooms - this is a rich, skillfully executed decoration, often mosaic, with ornaments and panels. By the way, there are no wooden elements in the hammam at all; it is completely made of stone.
Traditional hammam
A traditional Turkish bath has three rooms:
- For undressing (jamekian). Here they encourage you to leave behind your clothes dark thoughts, worries and other, in modern terms, problems.
- For washing (iliklyk). Unlike the showers we are used to, here the body is washed from copper bowls, cleansing the skin with olive soap.
- The steam room itself (hararet). Spacious hall with marble benches and loungers.
After staying in the hammam, according to tradition, they plunge into three pools in turn - in the first the water is warm, in the second it is cool, in the third it is ice-cold. Such a smooth transition protects against sudden narrowing of blood vessels and possible spasms (which is very important in the presence of problems with the heart and blood vessels).
The process of cleansing the body in the hamam is a kind of ritual designed to delight not only the body, but also the soul. And by tradition, this is a place not only for hygiene procedures, but also for friendly meetings and communication.
It is possible to stay in a Turkish bath for quite a long time - the hammam has a very moderate temperature regime for steam rooms (from 30 to 50 degrees). For the same reason, it is especially revered among people who cannot stand extreme temperatures. People of almost any age category can visit the hammam.
Turkish bath in a private house
A hammam in your own home is a solution that has more advantages than installing a steam room in an apartment. When constructing such a structure in separate housing, you can remove concerns about causing inconvenience to neighbors.
In addition, in a private house you can install a larger steam room than in a small apartment. The power of the steam generator unit should be selected based on the area of the proposed bath.
Construction and functional arrangement of a hammam in a house
It is important that the hammam in the apartment becomes a place where you can fully relax and improve your own health. A self-built bathhouse must meet the best Eastern traditions. You should not save on construction and finishing materials, as well as equipment when equipping a hammam. The use of high-quality finishing is a guarantee of long service life of the structure. Therefore, it is unlikely that it will be possible to make a hammam at home with minimal costs.
Steam generator
It is an integral element of the Turkish bath, because it is difficult to imagine a real steam room without steam. As already mentioned, such a structure is best installed in separate rooms. You can purchase a steam generator in a store that specializes in selling products for baths and saunas.
Sun lounger
People usually relax on stone loungers in a Turkish steam room, warming up and steaming. Sometimes such beds are used as massage places. The optimal height of a sunbed is about 0.8-0.9 m. When making a sunbed with your own hands, you can give it a certain slope and planting depth.
The sunbeds can be decorated with mosaics, just like the walls in the hammam. In the traditional version, the lounger is installed in the center of the steam room. If there is not enough space, you can place bunks along the walls. If you don’t want to decorate the hammam lounger with your own hands, you can purchase a ready-made option.
Kurnas
An integral element of Turkish steam rooms are kurnas. These are bowls intended for ablution and made of marble in the traditional version. Taps with hot and cold water are supplied to them. Kurna is not only an element of steam room decor, but also a container where soap foam can be prepared for massage.
Tropical shower
Any sauna implies the possibility of cooling after steaming. Traditional fun after visiting a Russian steam room is jumping into the snow or an ice hole. A Turkish bath implies the presence of a shower. It is customary to take a shower in the steam room itself. It is worth noting that in public baths in Turkey, visitors are often doused by the bath attendant. When installing a home steam room, you can provide a tropical shower. To do this, you need to make a system of PVC pipes under the ceiling of the bathhouse.
Internal organization
The interior decoration was distinguished by sophistication and oriental luxury. The Turks still adhere to this tradition.
The traditional hammam is a large building in oriental style. Inside it has main rooms and utility rooms.
To decorate the main rooms, only tiles of various configurations are used. The loungers (“chebek-tashi”) and seats in the steam room are made of marble. Each of them has its own heating. This is done to improve the comfort of visitors.
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In the basement there is a boiler, which serves to maintain the desired temperature in the rooms. The steam room has special openings through which hot air enters. They are located at a height of 150 cm from the floor.
Hammam in Istanbul
The arrangement of the main rooms resembles the structure of a human hand. The largest central room is the steam room. Five other rooms branch off from it. Each of them maintains its own temperature and humidity levels.
Hammam plan
- A - entrance for men
- B - entrance for women
- a - soukluk with changing room
- b - room with a warm temperature (between syjaklyk and soukluk)
- c - toilets
- d - syjaklyk room with marble stone (göbek taşı) in the middle
- e - halvet
- f - kulhan
When taking procedures, rooms are visited in a certain sequence:
a. Locker room. Here visitors leave their clothes and put on bath sheets and slippers. Their presence is mandatory, since the floor in the steam room is very hot.
b. Waiting room. The temperature in this room does not rise above 35*C. This allows the body to get used to hot air.
c. Toilets.
d. Steam room. The largest room. Has a domed roof. This was done specifically so that drops would not fall on visitors, but would roll down the walls. Here the air warms up to 77*C, and humidity reaches 95%.
e. Shower room.
f. Room for relaxation and tea drinking.
Hammam design in a private house
The classic material for finishing a Turkish bath is marble. Nevertheless, this decorative option is available to few due to its high cost. A budget method is to lay out the ornament with mosaic tiles made from small fragments. Thanks to this decision, the oriental style will be respected. Below in the photo you can see some design ideas for a Turkish steam room.
Thus, it is possible to set up a hammam in an apartment if the room meets all the requirements. In this case, the steam room will be safe for both residents and neighbors.
Hammam at home
A reasonable question: what is a hammam bathhouse for the home, or even this: what is a hammam and why is it needed at home? In short, in the average home environment, hammam is quite an expensive pleasure. There are several reasons:
- The steam generation and steam transportation system is costly to maintain and expensive to purchase.
- Extremely expensive finishing and equipment, primarily associated with the use of natural stone and mosaics.
- The complex design of the ceiling dome in a full-size hammam-type bathhouse.
Based on the main reasons given above, the construction of a full-size Turkish bathhouse at home is a very expensive and manual labor-intensive task. Is there any alternative? If you don’t have sufficient funds, but you want to use hammam, primarily due to its “gentle” effect on the body. Small-sized Turkish bath, hammam, what is it in the 21st century? This is a high-tech small-sized steam box, equipped with a simple and effective low-capacity steam generator, the operation of which to generate high-quality steam is controlled by an electronic control system.
Due to the small size of the hammam bath, which we see in the example of the box, the design is significantly simplified, while the quality of the steam remains consistently high. Such a box easily fits even in an apartment, not to mention an individually built house. The energy consumption for its power supply is low and easily fits into the load limit of household electrical wiring.
