Hearth Pad Design - Build Your Own

PennPellet said:

dimensioone have any directions/plans to build a custom hearth. Anything with pictures or diagrams?
Any old forum posts, I didn't find any.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I picked up a pamplet at my dealer,and it gave me dimensions.I used OSB board with cement board and tile on top.I used grout in a caulk tube for joints.

Your manual should give you floor protection requirements, both dimensionally and with an "R" factor rating...although it may list it as a different unit of measurement.

Some sort of base material such as plywood is good, as it won't scratch up whatever it's sitting on. Then 1/2 cement board with tile on top should be fine. You can attach the cement board with screws and the tiles with small, carefully and evenly spaced silicone blobs. Depending on the tile you choose, you may be able to butt the tiles together and avoid grouting. If not, the stuff Hooter04 recommended is easiest. Measure carefully and try to use a tile pattern that won't require any cuts to be made. Find a nice trim that works for you and there's not much else to it. Very easy if you only have basic skills.

Hi Penn,

I agree with P38 look in your manual for hearth requirements. My buddy and I built the pad you see in my pic. You will need to look for clearances and R ratings.

What we did was look at the minimum clearance requirements for the installation and then made the call on the pad.
Supplies were 2X4's, 5/8 inch plywood, 1/2 inch Durock, tiles, trim board, tile adhesive, tile grout, screws, tile spacers, and nails.

Basically decide on the shape of your board and use the plywood as your base, then screw in your 2X4 to the outside of plywood(this will support the pad and also be what you will nail your trim too later). I also put two boards in the middle of the hearth to give extra support where the stove was footprint would be.
Next flip the board over so that 2X4 are the new base. Cut the Durock and fit on top of the plywood. Screw into the plywood (note: be careful on the length of your screws if too long they will scratch your floor when your heavy stove is placed on top of the pad).
Then measure and cut your trim to fit the outside of the pad. Use small nails to secure.
Figure out your tile placement on top of the Durock and use the adhesive to place them on(don't forget your spacers). Let adhesive dry.
When dry add grout. Then touch up any small things that came about.

It is somewhat of a lengthy process overall but the advantage of doing it yourself is that you can pick out the tile etc and have it match your home/stove and save some money.

Disadvantage TIME lol By the time you go the store and buy materials etc and then set your tiles for drying it turns into about a 2 day project 4-5 hours one day, and a couple the next.

I have some pics I can email you, I just cant upload them on here for some reason.

Hope this helps a little

A link to the pad I made for a corner install. (2008)

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/just-got-good-news.18141/#post-275848

Final picture of install

PennPellet, do you already have a pellet stove?...or more importantly, do you have a wall thimble already installed? If yes, then it's VERY important you take into consideration the thickness/height of your planned pad/riser. You do NOT want to end up with your stove's exhaust higher than the thimble height.

I used some cast concrete stepping stones. 12×12's.

I made mine from Plywood cement board and Cement Pavers. I used Polymeric sand as the paver grout.
Looks great after many years. Built it in 2007.

Mine was way overkill protection wise. But happy with it.

Here is the post from way back then.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hearth-pad.10411/#post-197797

Think it was around $100 complete.
---Nailer---

I built my hearth pad with 3/4 inch plywood then simply construction glued ceramic tile and grouted. I used 1 inch oak trim to trim it out and put felt pad on the bottom in case I would need to slide to the stove out for cleaning. I would just check to make sure depending on your stove that you do not need to add something like cement board on top of the plywood to add extra thermal protection. My stove's manual indicated that I did not need this, but simply a non-combustible material for the stove to sit on in case a hot coal were to jump out during cleaning. (I double-checked with my dealer too). Turned out great though and I will try and get a picture of the install- just need to use my wife I-phone as I have a "dumb phone".

Just an FYI..if you are setting any cement board to plywood it sure really be set in thinset and secured with screws.