Durock hearth platform with stainless (renamed) NOW WITH PHOTO

I have a platform of 6 half sheets of 1/2" Durock for the new VC Two-in-One Encore, to be used as a pedestal on a 4'x5', Wonderboard-backed tiled hearth. I was considering leaving the top of the Durock unfinished because I kind of like the raw cement look. But then I realized it's too porous and will get filthy with soot quickly.

I really don't want to tile it. I'm fine with a plain surface for this "pedestal." But I want it to be low maintenance, i.e. easy to wipe clean. Keeping it gray, or even making it a darker gray, seems best to make soot less obvious.

Any ideas for a simple way to seal the Durock surface? Would some sort of penetrating sealer work? Or would high temperature paint for cement be best, and if so, what should I be looking for?

At my father's recommendation I'm giving the top sheet of Durock surface a couple of skim coats of thinned thinset. But I think I should still seal that to make cleaning easier.

I'm looking at TileLab SurfaceGard Penetrating Sealer as a possibility. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Beetle-Kill said:

My thought is the thinset will eventually crack and crumble, I don't think it's designed as a finished surface material, but I could be wrong.

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Hmmm. I've read suggestions to do this here and there, but what you say sounds entirely possible...

Why not have a 14 or 16g. sheet of steel sheared for your dimensions and stick that on top of the Durock?

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Interesting you should mention that. We just happen to have a sheet of stainless steel lying around that is a little bigger than the necessary dimensions. I'm not sure about gauge, though. Is it important what gauge it is?

It would look great, and it would use a piece of material we didn't know what to do with, so that's a good thing all around. I gather this is an acceptable hearth surface, laid over a more-than-adequate r-value hearth ?

What would be the best way to lay it on the surface? And the best way to cut it? (We have a friend who is a welder so I'm guessing he can handle the latter in a heartbeat. But he's in the middle of a house move, so there's a chance he can't do it right now.)

Beetle-Kill said:

The guage on the stainless shouldn't matter too much as long as it's not too "whippy". By that I mean flexible.

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Excellent. I don't think that's a problem, then. It's pretty sturdy - I would think it would be more than adequate laid on Durock with thinset.

I like this idea a lot!

Most of the FR steel shops have shears, and the cost would be minimal. I can provide you with contact info. depending on your location.

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Thank you! I'm in Fort Collins...

That's great information, thank you VERY much.

Our welder/engineer friend was able to do this for us. Our sheet of stainless was thinner than we thought at first, but he made it work. He went above and beyond, in fact. We're very pleased.

The stainless doesn't touch the tile. I'm thinking some silicone caulk along that bottom edge to seal the gap?

No worries about the welding gloves that look like they're almost touching the stove – that's foreshortening. They're sitting on the hearth tools that are beside the chimney, all well beyond the rear clearance for the stove.

The brick chimney is clay-lined and in acceptable shape, but could be better. We're going to line it with stainless next.

LLigetfa said:

Does that stationary bike have one of those large fans and do you use it to move the air around?

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LOL!

No, it doesn't. But it would be a great idea! I ride the thing at least a few times a week and that would provide even more motivation. Maybe we should rig a fan up to it...

Beetle-Kill said:

Pixel- that looks great! Nice job of braking and polishing.

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That would be our friend's great work, yes. He really is a craftsman when it comes to this stuff. He loves his work and it shows.

And thanks to you, too, for the great idea! The stainless really tied everything together. It hadn't occurred to us and we're delighted with the overall effect.

Beetle-Kill said:

As far as that lower reveal, do you have enough room to maybe find some colored grout to match your existing grout, and put that in there? I'm just wondering about ash sticking to the caulk and being tougher to clean.

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That would work... I was thinking I'd rather it not be that rigid? At this point I guess there's no reason why not. Nothing is going to budge now that it's all assembled.

The goal here was to stick to easy-to-clean materials, and colors that don't make soot and ash stand out. I think we accomplished that, and then some.

RenovationGeorge said:

Can you tell us how you did the install? I'm curious how your fabricator did the edges--beforehand, welded, etc? I'd think it would be a challenge to fit it to your pedestal, but maybe it's a little oversized and the edges float free?

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I built the Durock pedestal before we knew we'd cover it in stainless, so the stainless was an afterthought...

Our welder/engineer friend took very careful measurements of the Durock pedestal and took our stainless steel sheet away, then came back with it ready to slide over the top.

I slathered the top and sides of the pedestal with thinset (part of his plan, so I imagine figured into the measurements) and the stainless "cap" just dropped right over it and settled down perfectly. It was a remarkably good fit. Our friend was confident of his measurements but still worried it might be difficult to get onto the pedestal. It wasn't at all, which might have been sheer luck but might also have been due to his engineering-precise measurements.

The stainless sheet we happened to have was just barely big enough on one side for this purpose; he wanted to make it come as close to the floor as possible. So he purposefully made it pretty tight to accomplish that.

As far as the actual welding and cutting went, all I know is that he sheared it, bent it, welded the corners, and polished it. Those are skills I don't know much about, so that's all I can tell you without asking him for more details. (Which I'd be happy to do if you want.) He took the stainless sheet away in the dark, so he didn't get a good look at it. It was thinner than he thought and he said the welding and polishing was tricky. He had to do less rather than more to prevent burning through it. Beetle-Kill's gauge recommendations would have been better suited for the job. But we're kind of thrilled to have used a piece of stainless we were given by a neighbor when he was moving, years ago. There's something satisfying about that - kind of a "reclaimed" thing. (Our new floor is reclaimed hickory; we have a theme going on here. ;-))

Dakotas Dad said:

My wife points out that it looks like a LeCreuset stock pot on the stove top, and that I best not EVER think about re-purposing any of hers.

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She is correct, all around. It is indeed a Creuset pot. It's mine - I am the cook (and the wife). But it was damaged by former roommates who didn't understand the "no metal utensils" rule. I decided years ago to let it become a wood stove humidifier.

The decision was even easier when we upgraded the electric kitchen stove to a glass-topped model. (Our house is all electric - no gas/propane.) I grew up with gas stoves so it took me a while to get used to this, but once we got the glass-topped stove I've been happy.

The glass top doesn't play well with heavy cast iron pots. The Creuset pot gets a nice second life. Everything works out.

Dakotas Dad said:

We are 14 years into using a Frigidaire Gallery Glass top.. never a problem with the LeCreuset pots and pans. We do have a big dinger in the enamel of the cook top surround from a glass plate that got dropped on it.. been on my list of things to fix for a couple years.

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You're right of course. They can be used. Another factor is that this pot is significantly bigger than our biggest burner. I do have a smaller Creuset pot that I still use once in a while. Anyway, along with the damage it just seemed easier to retire the bigger pot.

Beetle-Kill said:

I'm curious if anyone will chime in about the caulk vs. grout for the reveal? I'm thinking after Pixels description, that with thinset on the sides of the platform there should be few if any spaces that would allow the cap to flex inward towards the platform. Even a hard bump with a vacumn cleaner probably wouldn't do anything. I think the grout would be the better way to go. Any others?

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I'm curious, too.

There actually is a little flex around the edges of the stainless. The thinset didn't "glue" them down as much as we had hoped. But I'm thinking that if I do grout that gap, I would start by scraping some grout up under the stainless edge as a filler and letting that set first.