Brand New Hearth Extension...Annnnnnd it's Broken!

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I know there have been lots of threads here in the past about materials to use for building a properly insulated hearth...
 
I know there have been lots of threads here in the past about materials to use for building a properly insulated hearth...

Ya I plan to find them later just figured I'd ask in case someone reading knew. Couldn't hurt! I'm addicted to the forums anyways lol. As you can tell because I'm supposed to be "working" right now.
 
Wife is heading to Lowes right now actually for some stuff so she's gonna check out the Micore. I like the idea of the Ember King on top of some R = 1 product as we like the sleek look of it. We also want it to be temporary as we will put it away during the off season. The floor underneath is antique reclaimed pine...really nice looking.
 
Shame on you guys for setting off the tinkering nature of an OCD person!


You'll have him tweaking little details straight through next burning season!
 
I had to order Micore in special. Nobody carried it! If I remember, Atlantic Plywood was the regional distributor that could get it for 1 of the local lumber yards in my area.
 
Yeah they definitely didn't have it. I'll look into it further this week.

Don't need any wood OCD activation...it's always on!
 
If that insulated board is the kind I think it is, you can remove the metal facing pretty easily with pliers. Then the stuff inside is basically micore which you can cut to size and put under your old floor protector.
 
That makes sense. I could absolutely remove the metal facing pretty easily looking at it now. Hmm. Just measured it and that might work.

I'll ask the wife and see what she thinks. I'm hesitant to destroy the new one if she doesn't think my MacGyver version will look better.
 
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I just realized you're in Mass. I'd ordered the Micore into Curtis Lumber. They have stores close to the Mass border if you can't get it local.
 
I found some 300 at the local Kamco for $29. Going to grab a sheet and work on it this afternoon.

@EatenByLimestone how did you go about cutting it? Figure I'd ask before messing with it. Seems like a sharp utility knife might do the trick.
 
Ok I got the Micore 300. Really easy to work with. Just ripped it with my table saw, trimmed the design with a utility knife, and used the palm sander to finish the rounded edges. Took like 15 minutes. Got a can of 2,000 ::F black matte spray paint and I'm m gonna spray the edges so it'll blend in with the Ember King.

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Lol. Win!


I cant remember how I cut it! Probably utility knife score and snap. I remember it being really soft.
 
Lol. Win!


I cant remember how I cut it! Probably utility knife score and snap. I remember it being really soft.

It's pretty soft. Very strong when laying on the ground but brittle if you try to snap it. It was raining out so I couldn't bring the truck and I just rough score/snapped the full sheet into 24" sections to fit it into the SUV. Gave myself 4 chances to get it right lol...the Ember King is 48x18".

Not sure what ill do with the other 3 pieces but I'm going to just keep them downstairs for now. Might be good for a school project or something. Something also tells me the kids or dog will break it when it's in storage in the off season and I'll need to make a new one some day. Darn kids! ;lol
 
I'd need 3 pallets worth to have any effect at my house with 5, 3, and an 18 month old dog lol.
 
All finished! I think it looks pretty sharp, can barely even tell its two pieces. I just need to be sand the bottom corners a touch more...I'll do that when the season is over and repaint that spot. I'm very happy I went this route. Thanks for the idea!
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Just took some test measurements. Top is about 145 and floor is 95 ::F with the stove cruising at 600 so its working well and it's now up to the manufacturer's specs.

Micore 160 would have been a little better insulator at R = 1.56 vs the 300 at R = 1.03 but the 300 is more rigid for standing on it etc. I think 300 was the right choice for longevity.

Also they didn't have any 160 in stock! ;lol
 
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95F is a perfectly acceptable floor temperature. Heck, my house gets that hot just due to the ambient temperature during the summer!
 
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We used to be no A/C people until we got Gordon but he struggles to breathe when its over like 80 so we run it at 75 all summer. Works out well for me!
 
All finished! I think it looks pretty sharp, can barely even tell its two pieces. I just need to be sand the bottom corners a touch more...I'll do that when the season is over and repaint that spot. I'm very happy I went this route. Thanks for the idea!

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Actually I think this would go well in your livingroom as well
 

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Very Well Done Sir! Very Well Done! You made fellow OCD'ers proud and proved to everyone else that we are actually right! I still can't believe I read through that first post and missed the whole thing about the Ember King! DOH! (see OCD'ers obsess over stuff like that for days and days, haha). I was so focused on how flimsy the other one was and the way that it was cracked internally and creased externally. I just could not correctly focus on anything other than those things apparently! :)

Anyway you have the best of both worlds there and I'd argue that it is actually better to be raised a bit above the floor. I too initially took an approach that favored the lowest possible profile to prevent people's toes from hitting the hearth extension. The floor was way below the 4" that you specified from my freestanding stove then so I simply put the Ember King on top of the oak floor in front of the stove without any worry about heat. However I soon realized the lowest profile approach was the wrong approach in the sense that my wife and my dogs would just walk right over the extension without any worry about hitting their toes. That meant that anything on the extension from cool (but dirty) ashes to hot (and dangerous) embers could accidentally get kicked off of the extension. No Bueno. Anyway, after a season or so of nagging everyone to stay off the extension I actually added an oak corner moulding around the perimeter of the area to prevent people from walking over it at all. It did indeed effectively encroach into the living room a little bit but it made things much safer in my opinion. Anyway again, very well done work there.