Steam Room Conversion

from Tile to Today (Hybrid Construction)Over the years, the YMCA had evolved into a complete offerings facility. Originally, the YMCA was established to be a place for young men to play sports, learn life skills and study the bible. However, in the 1950s, YMCAs began to grow in numbers and
in services, quickly becoming a recreation destination for the whole family. For most communities around the country, the YMCA was the only place where families could go to swim, play a wide variety of sports and attend numerous forms of classes such as art, science and social skills. Across the country, YMCAs were very success full in both raising funds and attracting memberships.As a result, YMCAs adopted a standard facility design model that included an unparalleled range of facilities thus becoming the ultimate family destination. Part of this design included saunas and steam rooms.
Sauna and Steam - a necessary evil.
Steam rooms and saunas have a long history in Europe and Asia, it is estimated 25% of homes in Northern Europe have saunas or steambaths. Historically uncommon in the United States, the YMCA is the first organization to bring the benefits of Saunas and
Steam baths to the general public. Today, the public expects, when going to a YMCA, to find a sauna and steam bath in the facility. In the early years, it was primarily the older male generation who systematically bathed in the saunas and steam rooms.
However, today we find people of all ages and genders that require sauna and steam bathing as part of their weekly regiment. According to Bud Herman, Facilities Maintenance Director for six YMCA’s in Philadelphia PA “its ok if we close down the
racquet ball court or the pool for a week, the members can handle it. However when the sauna goes down or the steam room is not clean some members get very aggitated”. As noted at the YMCA national maintenance conference in Las Vegas, July 2007,
steam rooms are one of the most problematic areas of the facility to keep clean and maintain.

Tile Rooms = Problems
Traditional steam rooms use tile construction primarily because there were no other material alternatives. All forms of tile are porous to varying degrees, combined with grout, the overall steam room interior surface is a rough and semi-permeable surface. In most scenarios, such as swimming pools and locker room floors, tile is an acceptable material option mainly due to the chemicals present (chlorine)or acceptable cleaning chemicals used in the evening. Steam rooms, by contrast, are enclosed rooms (no ventilation) that maintain a consistent warm (105F to 110F) and wet environment. These conditions combined with heavy human traffic create the ideal environment for mold, mildew, bacteria to flourish. Additionally,these conditions are ideal for the preservation and transmission of human elements such as
viruses and human related bacteria such as Staphylococcus which can survive in temperatures of up to 140 deg F. (making saunas (180 deg F) more sterile). Maintenance managers, Facility Directors and members do not need statistical or scientific data to prove the health concerns of their steam room… one step inside a traditional tile room and the musty smell is an immediate indicator of the rooms condition.

Stay tuned for how to fixed these issues!