The Turkish Bath, Its Design and ConstructionAllsop, Robert Owen
Science
The Turkish Bath, Its Design and Construction
Allsop, Robert Owen
Baths, Turkish
The ceilings of the fire and heat-proof floors, which, when there are
other apartments above, _must_ be provided over the hot rooms, may be of
plaster. But the heat at the ceiling level is very great, and the
plaster here rapidly darkens and blackens, and in this state looks
anything but attractive in a place where the mere suspicion of
uncleanliness is nauseating. If employed (and this remark also applies
to plaster on walls), it should be used in the simplest manner possible,
without the slightest attempt at modelling the surface. Enamelled iron
may be used, with effect, for ceilings. The little laconicum is best
covered with a flat vault, the soffit being of glazed bricks, and the
springing being brought down below the main ceiling level.
Fire-proof floors over hot rooms may be of any design that is also
heat-proof. The main point is to have a sufficient thickness of
concrete, and the iron joists and cross girders well buried therein.
Ordinary floors may be rendered heat-proof by partially filling the
space between ceiling and floorboards with sawdust or sheets of
slag-wool laid on boarding nailed to fillets on the joists. The sawdust
should be filled up to the top of the joists; over this a layer of thick
felt, and the boarding above. This, however, is only a makeshift when
compared with a solid floor of concrete.
When the hot rooms are in a basement in the open, they may be
top-lighted, and the ceiling above need not be a heavy fire-proof
construction. A sufficient air space, however, must be provided between
the ceiling and roof, to prevent irradiation of heat--a remark that
applies also to anything in the shape of a window in the sudatorium. It
must be double, or look into an area covered with pavement lights. In
the case of a top-lighted room there must be a ceiling-light and a
skylight.
Where the hot rooms are constructed quite above ground, consideration
must be given to the prevention of loss of heat by radiation. This may
be effected by providing thick hollow walls, the cavity being often
usefully employed for the extraction of the vitiated air.
Heat permeating other apartments and neighbouring premises is a frequent
source of trouble to the builder of a Turkish bath, but is always the
result of want of study of the subject on the part of the designer. The
evil may be successfully combated if it be resolved that no hot room,
shampooing room, or lavatorium shall be constructed without a thick
concrete floor above, and that the furnace chamber be perfectly and
completely insulated. Should the walls of the hot rooms adjoin
apartments to which it is urgently necessary that the heat should be
prevented from being transmitted, they may be rendered heat-proof by
building them hollow and filling the cavity with soot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account