My stove sits on top of a mineral board with carpet under it. We have new carpet for the stove room and I would like to construct a raised hearth. The plans are to make a 2x4 or 2x6 grind to sit on top of the floor after the old carpet is ripped out. The hearth is to be covered with ceramic tiles. What is normally use for the under lament? Could I use plywood or should I do something more fire resistant like a cement board?
I made one with that Hardie backer board(1/2") made for easy tile work under that was 3/4"plywood on a 2x4 frame. The thing was heavy but worked very well
Check the install manual for your stove. It should have been tested and approved with specific requirements for the size and R value of the area to be protected. When I built mine we had to use a double layer of durrock covered in ceramic or porcelain to meet the requirements. I don’t believe any of the Hardee products were approved as non-combustible, perhaps because of cellulose content. I can’t imagine there is any fire risk especially with tile on top, but everyone needs to consider their own situation and how strictly they need to meet code, inspection, and insurance requirements.
I did 2x6 16" OC frame, then 2 layers of 7/16 OSB, then 2 layers of cement board, then natural slate on that. It is very solid and I am happy with it. It hardly gets warm, so any fire concern is not an issue for me.
Marshel54 you have seen ours. We built it with 2 x 4. A couple layers of cement board. Ceramic tile. What height do you plan? We disagreed on height when we built ours. Wife won at 16" (that meant cutting tiles) but it ended up being at a good height so I can sit on a chair while loading the stove.
What height is a good point and haven't really considered it. I was thinking 4" to 6" for ease of construction, but 12" to 16" would sure help with loading and cleaning. I have 5 boxes of 4x4 tile left over from a kitchen backsplash project. Maybe use them on the front and color coordinate 12x12 for the top. Don't know how the 4x4 tile would work for the top. Is there a strength difference between floor tiles and backsplash tiles?
Height depends upon the stove door height but for sure you don't want to be bending too low to fill the stove. Strength difference? I'd say use the same tiles for both.
Another problem that I see is, there is a baseboard heater that I have to move about 4" to accommodate the hearth or build around it. Not the heating portion of the baseboard heater. Not a real problem if there is enough extra wire to move without running new wire. If I were to move the stove a little north and put an adjustable 45 fitting in the pipe (well maybe not 45 degrees if they make an adjustable fitting less), what would be the draw ramifications? My stove pipe goes up, 90 degrees into a 12" horizontal run, and into the to chimney. It would be great if I could move the stove 1' to the north.
I had to drop from an 8 ft base board to a 5 ft in order to put in my corner raised hearth. Here's what I did. I framed it out of 2x10 at 16o.c. with construction screws. Then 3/4 ply on top with about a 2 inch overhang on the front sides. Then one layer of 1/2 concrete board from the Mason Supply House in Town. Then I put down 2 inch thick concrete pavers (12x12 each). I did use some High Temp Silicone under the pavers that were on the front edge. One end of the bottom is open/covered with a false front, so I can store some things in there, I have take temp readings in there and it's never been any concern at all. My whole hearth is free standing. So I can 'move it'...yeah right...I didn't want to attach it to the wall or floor. I also came up the back sides with 2x4s framed on the flat and tied them to the 2x10 base and to each other where they met in the back corner with more construction screws and some high temp adhesive. Then I covered the whole thing with that 1/2 inc cement board and put up the long ceramic tiles that I stuck on with more High Temp Silicone and capped that off with some matching bull nose tile. I pushed the 'unit' back into the corner and gave a 1.5 inches of clearance to the wall to provide air circulation too. The damm unit is heavy, but solid and safe. Added a Fisher Baby Bear on top and I am pleased as punch with it. I hope I described it well...Trying get a picture of it...but having tech issues.
Mine is 10" off the floor, constructed of framing, 1/8" plate steel covering the entire base, 1 layer of Durock masonry board and Eldorado Stone-the latter 3 elements are all fireproof
Beautiful. I take it that the Eldorado Stone is what is on the wall. Is what I am seeing is how it comes or is it individual stones? While I am at it I am strongly considering putting something on the wall to help radiate a little heat.
It is random repeating individual stones-it's a pretty neat concept as they have stones arranged by those indigenous to your area-I still have a box but if I recall, mine is called Mt. Vernon stone-I actually have some natural stones mixed in to the wall from my farm that you can't tell from the Eldorado Stone---And they do radiate heat-they also manufacture edge and cornerstones depending on the design you wish to accomplish-sticks wonderfully to the Durock and is easy to apply, just keep it wet...mortar soupy and makes sure the Durock is damp also-I have it also going up the stairway on the wall. As mortar is very abrasive using the finger can get painful, I found using a wooden spoon handle awesome for smoothing the mortar between stone, just FYI-Good luck with your project!
If it helps, ours was similar to Backwoods Savage , but 2 x 6 on end for both bottom and back and a few feet wider on each side, cement board then ceramic tile over that. I cannot tell you how much I missed that raised hearth since selling that home and moving (ease of checking the fire and stoking when needed, that stove did not have glass). That was Colorado which appears to be looser inspections compared to what I read here on other states, one member here had to put a layer of steel between the cement board and ceramic tile. Worth your time to check first, but ours had more than one ember accidently get on there over the years and never any harm except scrubbing the soot burn mark off the tile. Bonus on the wider hearth, looked kinda nice in the winter but doubled to elevate food bowls for our older larger dogs that had trouble eating off the floor and looked great in the summer with plants all over it.
Raised hearths are great and I miss the one from a previous home. I think it was around 16in, very convenient. I don’t remember where I saw the pic of it but a guy made a raised hearth out of steel. Two plates of steel with supports then the metal was treated to give it a textured look. It sort of looked like an oversized coffee table but could support 700lbs. I wish I saved that pic. First and last one I ever laid eyes on.
Mine has two layers Durock (1 inch total thickness) on the floor with porcelain tile on top of that. The walls are built with stove distance to cubustibles as actually distance to the rock work with a single layer of durock behind that. (My actual distances are actually a couple inches further that the manufacturer minimums) The support frame work was 2x4s but with clearances to cumbustibles at acceptable specs and double layer on floor I built it with a little extra “cushion” for safety.
