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Introduction to Steam Rooms and Steam Showers

Steam Showers and Steam Rooms are not only great places to relax and be healthy. For the professional installer, they

are also a special challenge and great opportunity alike.

a. Structural Design, Construction, Building Materials, Technical Equipment- Before Surface Finish Installation

Steam rooms are designed to be closed rooms within which a special environment and climate exists during operation,

and it exists parallel and is different compared to the climate outside that room.

Steam rooms differentiate from steam showers mostly because the latter provide the user with both options, the use

as a regular shower and the use as a steam room. Steam showers are mostly used in residential settings, while steam

rooms are often larger in size, and used in commercial settings and thus used for longer periods of time. In this manual,

we will refer to both applications as steam rooms. In fact, wedi applies the same installation and performance require-

ments to both applications to keep your installation safe under all circumstances. The same recommendations apply

to residential and commercial use steam rooms, large and small in size. Naturally, we will base this manual on the as-

sumption that tile will be used as the interior surface finish, installed over tile underlayment systems provided by wedi.

A steam room construction consists of a sloped floor structure with drainage (slope 1/4” [6.4 mm] / foot), tile load

bearing wall structures, a tile load bearing ceiling structure (sloped toward wall(s) at 2” [50.8 mm]/ foot), and typically

seats or bench arrangements (seating area sloped in a forward direction 1/8” [3.2 mm]/ foot) . While their general

design reflects that of a shower in many ways, steam rooms require a completely sealed room design including the

added ceiling and a sealed door and door frame arrangement. In addition to water exposure, steam rooms must be

able to handle and manage water vapor and high temperature and temperature change exposure.

Structural walls, ceilings, benches can be constructed from wood or metal framing or may be solid brick, concrete

or cinder block. Wall and ceiling structures shall be continuously insulated even though they may entirely be interior

structures with no walls being part an exterior structural wall of the building. In some areas of types of buildings, part

of the wall and ceiling structures may need to be cladded with fire rated panels such as fire resistance rated cement

board if on inside of a framed wall, or drywall if on safely dry exterior parts of same wall or ceiling setting. Sprinklers

may also be required especially in Type I and II building commercial or occupational use buildings.

Structural subfloors may be made of concrete, screed or wood based. Door frames should be made from aluminum or

stainless steel 316 when a frame is used. Glass doors shall be at minimum 3/8” (10 mm) thick reinforced safety glass

and shall not be equipped with a lock and always open to the outside. Where no frame is used to tightly seal the door

construction which allows for a tight seal of the glass door when closed, meticulous attention must be paid to install

alternative systems in equally tight fashion. This can prove to be a challenge, as most non door frame systems are

designed for use in showers and water vapor may easily escape which must not be allowed to happen. Generally, it is

a good practice, however, to leave an open gap (1” [25.4 mm]) between floor surface and bottom of the glass door

to guarantee access for fresh air and oxygen at all times.

All wall, ceiling, bench, floor and other structures to be finished with tile or other surface finishes require the place-

ment of tile or other finish underlayments on the structure’s interior side. The underlayments must be appropriate for

attachment to the substructures, and also must be appropriate as a bond surface for the tile and environment it is

placed into - such as wedi Building Panel.