Building of my hearth - from start to finish

[billb3]

there are a number of ways to get a hot ember off the pedestal or hearthstone area.
It happens.
Not very often.

Just like cigarette burns on the couch or on the seat of a smoker car.
Shouldn't happen, but everyone has a bad day every now and then.'

From the marks of some people's carpets and car seats , some people have them more often than others.

The number of burns also seem to have a medications fudge factor.

 

[firefighterjake]

Looks good so far . . . are you planning on putting anything up on the shield walls?

Yep, creek stone. Check out the very first post for a computer generated mock-up. That picture has field stone though, mine should be a bit more round. I just wanted to get the stove in as soon as it was safe to so I can get some burns in before it warms up too much.

Oops . . . don't know how I missed that . . . just being stupid I guess.

 

[firefighterjake]

That is one nice job,wish I had the talent to do things like that. Will that tile maintain it's integrity for spilled hot embers? I'm going to do something similar in front of my hearth ,although with the new Blaze King ultra I shouldn't be getting many. Thanks

Seems as though it depends on the quality of the slate . . . but in general slate does as well as other stones and tile in terms of wear and tear. Generally hot embers are taken care of pretty quickly . . . and the heat from these would not be an issue. Of course, it goes without saying that depending on your stove's R value requirement for a hearth you might need more under your stove than a simple tile install for ember protection.

 

[firefighterjake]

I imagine the tile it will hold up to heat, because from what I understand, slate forms from shale through heat and compression. Maybe someone else with slate tiles who's had them for a while. I don't plan on having any spilled hot embers, since I have carpet nearby and am shooting for the no-house-fire approach. Are the occasional embers on the ground a reality that is hard avoid, or is this something that should not be happening in the first place? I would imagine the latter, but the previous post has me concerned.

As mentioned . . . slate does well and holds up pretty well . . . some folks will report some chips from the edges of the slate over time . . . I think it just adds a bit of character myself . . .

Spilled embers will happen from time to time . . . it's just the nature of the beast . . . and the whole reason that every woodstove out there requires a hearth with ember protection as a minimum standard . . . and of course many other stoves require beefed up R value protection.

I find that I occasionally have some embers spill out (as mentioned by another member this is not a regular occurence) when the firebox is full of ash, coals, etc. . . . you may also sometimes get some sparks that come out when reloading . . . again . . . part of the wood burning experience . . .

 

[joecool85]

Love it! Keep us posted, I can't wait to see it with the stone on the wall protection. I'm thinking about doing something similar with my install.

 

[The Dude]

Thanks for the reminder Joe. I got the wall protection finished, the stove installed and running. Still need to face the wall, put in a border around the tiles, and build the mantel. Here are pictures of the steps from where I last left off.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I imagine the tile it will hold up to heat, because from what I understand, slate forms from shale through heat and compression. Maybe someone else with slate tiles who's had them for a while. I don't plan on having any spilled hot embers, since I have carpet nearby and am shooting for the no-house-fire approach. Are the occasional embers on the ground a reality that is hard avoid, or is this something that should not be happening in the first place? I would imagine the latter, but the previous post has me concerned.

I can't see how you'd have any problem with slate around a hearth. My understanding of slate is that their weakness is moisture, not heat. They are not recommended for outdoor applications where they are constantly exposed to the elements. Despite that I went ahead and put slate tiles on my front step. It is covered by a roof, but the rain and snow does get on there when the wind blows. I sealed the grout and tiles with concrete sealer to help protect against water infiltration, and so far they seems to be holding up, but time will tell.

One potential problem I found when installing the slate tiles was that some of the tiles had weakly bonded layers. When you look at the tiles on edge you'll often see that the tile is made up up layers of rock, and I found a few tiles that you could actually pry apart the layers and split the tile in to two pieces. I actually realized this after I had already mortared the tiles in place. I decided to correct the problem before I grouted the tiles and what I did was to pry the loose layers off the problem tiles and glued them back into place. As I said so far they seem to be holding up fine.
I thought maybe this delaminating of my slate tile layers was related to cheap tiles, but I have since inspected many expensive slate tiles in other flooring stores and found the same problem in a few tiles everywhere I have looked. Just something to keep in mind for future slate projects.

 

[joecool85]

Thanks for the updated pics.

Do you know if it's ok to box in the ends (left and right) of the wall protection and leave the bottom and top open for venting? My wife is concerned about the aesthetics of it "open" on the sides.

 

[The Dude]

Joe, the guy who did my chimney read off the code from the NFPA 211 to me over the phone, and it stated 1" opening on top and bottom. You might want to make sure of this though. There are people on here who would know this, because the answered similar questions I had. Here is a related thread talking about spacers that might be of help to you. The side ventilation issue isn't addressed. https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/72792/

 

[joecool85]

Joe, the guy who did my chimney read off the code from the NFPA 211 to me over the phone, and it stated 1" opening on top and bottom. You might want to make sure of this though. There are people on here who would know this, because the answered similar questions I had. Here is a related thread talking about spacers that might be of help to you. The side ventilation issue isn't addressed. https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/72792/

Thanks. It may not prove to be an issue since now she is thinking about us using some pre-built ones and she didn't mind the gap on that...