A nice tall hearth pad

[JabaduGarfunkle]

Installed a new wood stove this summer and put in a somewhat 'temporary' hearth pad that we plan on building more permanently later. (It meets all the appropriate clearances). Since we knew it was temporary my wife convinced me to try her idea of having the hearth pad be quite tall. I think it turned out being 13" tall which prior to the install seemed outrageous to me but I gotta say....
It's pretty fantastic. Doesn't look weird to me, kinda makes the stove more of a centerpiece, which I like. Loading wood is really nice without bending over and the view of the fire is so much better than if it was lower.

I gotta ask if anybody here has a similar install or knows of any downsides to a tall hearth pad?

 

[Gibraltar IV]

Installed a new wood stove this summer and put in a somewhat 'temporary' hearth pad that we plan on building more permanently later. (It meets all the appropriate clearances). Since we knew it was temporary my wife convinced me to try her idea of having the hearth pad be quite tall. I think it turned out being 13" tall which prior to the install seemed outrageous to me but I gotta say....
It's pretty fantastic

This summer I also put in a new hearth and stove using a lot of advice from this site. Like you, my wife wanted a tall hearth. I have not used mine yet, but I think it will have exactly the same advantages you mentioned. We'll see...

 

[begreen]

We've had several folks post pictures of raised hearths over the years. It makes loading a lot easier and some even have a side bench for seating near the stove.

 

[MaineGuideMK]

The only downside I can think of is that your heat starts rising 13" higher than your cold toes. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Keeping the wife happy is much more important.

 

[JabaduGarfunkle]

We've had several folks post pictures of raised hearths over the years. It makes loading a lot easier and some even have a side bench for seating near the stove.

We thought of the bench too but ruled it out for lots of wood storage room instead. I think the bench wouldn't have gotten much use so close to the fire except maybe by the cats. Having a visual reminder of the next week's worth of wood is much more relaxing for me.

 

[mfetcho]

I built my hearth a few years ago and it sits about 13" up from the floor. As Begreen said, it is nice for loading and my kids love to sit on the hearth to get warm. Go big if you have the space. A large hearth is nice for drying out wet shoes, boots, etc.

 

[webfish]

Had mine built over existing one that was built with the ZC. About 13.5 inches. Love the look.

 

[Gibraltar IV]

Here's my hearth that I mentioned earlier. It is 14" tall, has the required r-value for my stove, and is covered with leftover slate tile from a nearby area in my house. Stove is NC30 connected to Selkirk Supervent with Selkirk DSP double wall pipe. Haven't used it yet, but looking forward to it.