Flush Hearth versus Raised Hearth

[Corie]

Switching stoves and hearth pads this year and I'm stuck between
cutting the wood floor up and making the hearth flush and just building a raised hearth pad. What effect would a permanent hearth pad have on resale value of house?

For reference, room is 12 x 16 and hearth pad is quite large at 46" deep x 54" wide.

 

[greythorn3]

probably depends on how nice it looks.

 

[edthedawg]

why not build a semi-permanent raised pad? Mine is.

I'll dig out a link showing it, but the basic gist is that the bottom layer is 1/4" Hardie Backer, w/ a conforming structure of Durock, thinset, steel studs, more Durock, more thinset, and tile on top of it. It probably weighs 200+ lbs, and then has a 500+ lb. stove sitting on it. if i decide to dump the stove, i can pull it out, and then simply pay friends in beer to lift the whole giant slab up and out of the house. underneath it, you would see my lil' picher over there.

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[semipro]

I'm not sure about resale value but a raised hearth definitely offers other advantages such as better fire view, less bending over, better heat radiation to/over nearby objects.

 

[firefighterjake]

As mentioned there is the third option of going with the semi-permanent hearth . . .

Flush mounted hearth: The benefit here is the perception that not as much floor space is "lost" to the hearth . . . the hearth flows into the walking/living space. I think this would be ideal for small areas.

Raised hearth: The benefit here is the ability to not have to bend over more (depending on the height) when reloading, it provides more of a "natural" place to sit in front of the stove and you may gain a little bit of heat retention (although I suspect most don't offer a lot of heat retention.)

Semi permanent hearth: Similar to a raised hearth only built on plywood/Durock and may be able to be placed on the existing flooring . . . benefit, if you move the hearth can go with you . . . a benefit to you and prospective home buyers who may not wish to have a woodstove and would rather have the original hardwood floor, tile, etc. beneath the stove.

For the record, I went with a semi-permanent hearth . . . but I do not envision yanking this hearth out. Also, for the record, my only regret with the hearth is that I didn't build it up to be a bit taller and a bit bigger so I could have more space to sit on the hearth . . . it was built a bit larger than required . . . but not quite big enough to really make it idea for sitting on and hanging out next to the stove.

 

[madison]

Post a pic, but if I were going to permanently convert the room for the wood stove, I would opt for the raised hearth, for a cpl reasons. Looks cool, don't have to bend over as much, don't have to cut up the wood floor, better view thru glass.

All I would add, consider the hearth and clearance dimensions so that if a different stove with different clearance and R requirements is going to be used in this spot, that you don't screw yourself with your hearth dimensions...

Raised hearth pics in signature.