Stone Hearth Building Question

[TNCave]

Hello All,

I'm getting ready to make my own stone hearth pad.
I currently have no books or experience, but I do have a bunch of nice rocks I've been collecting.
Could anyone please point me to some good online stone/masonry DIY info?

Also, If my rocks and mortar bed are over 2" thick, do I still need to worry about the R-factor?

Thanks to all and any tips or advice will be appreciated.

Cory

 

[begreen]

The hearth's R value requirement will depend on the stove. For a good general hearth, I would lay down a sheet of metal, then a sheet of micore before the cementboard underlayment for the stone. The forum on www.johnbridge.com has good info on tiling and stone.

FYI, stone can really transmit heat. My wife grew up in a log house. One cold winter, one of the support timbers beneath a 6" stone started smoldering after an all day hot fire in the fireplace. Fortunately we got it out, but since then I don't like to see hot brick or stone anywhere near high, continuous heat.

 

[firefighterjake]

Not much to add here that BeGreen did not already mention . . . but just because it's important I will say that in building a hearth the very first thing you need to know is the R-value requirement of the hearth (based on your stove make and model) and of course the required minimum size. If you can give us this information there are many folks here with some really nice hearths and they can offer some hearth building tips . . . and of course the website mentioned by BeGreen is quite useful. However, as BG mentioned . . . yes . . . even with thick stone you need to worry about the R-value . . . which is why you need to know what your requirements are right from the get-go.

 

[TNCave]

Thanks Jake,

I started another thread at: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/58616/#666674

According to my manual, it looks like i only need a non-combustible surface, so that's what I'm going with.

Thanks for all the help,

Cory