recommendations for loose stack hearth with rvalue of 3.0

[Jacob Rainey]

i'm renting a home and the place has a wood burning chimney installed but no stove or hearth. my friend has a stove i can borrow for winter so i'm trying to come up with a cheap, temporary hearth option. i was going to get one of the hearth mats online that is up to UL 2 specs but the stove requires a hearth with an r-value of 3.0 which i can't find. and the stove will be sitting on a new hardwood floor so i want to make sure i don't cause damage. any suggestions?

i've read about loose stacks with some 24 ga sheet metal in the middle but i don't understand how that works. wouldn't the metal be conductive rather than resistive? so the heat would just pass through to whatever is underneath, right?

i've read a lot of good things about micore but it's hard to find and i would have to stack it 3 high to get the resistance i need and would probably have to throw wonderboard on top of that to distribute the weight of the stove.

open to new ideas. thanks.

-jacob

 

[pen]

Not sure how much you are looking to spend, but I know TractorSupply has hearth pad for 50-80 bux, depending on the size you need which have an r-value of 1.5. I see no reason they couldn't be stacked. Or, you could use durock under, and put a pre-made hearthpad on top?

Try some business salvage / recycling places for the micore. From what I understand, the guts of many cubicles is made of micore.

pen