Hearth Ideas please.

[Greg123]

I have been thinking lately about doing something to the walls behind my stove to make it look better then just plain drywall. The stove is installed in the corner on a hearth pad; I have plenty of clearance from the stove to the wall to add brick or fake brick any idea’s?. Does Home Depot or other stores sell decorative fake brick that can be installed easily?.

Thanks for suggestions.

 

[begreen]

You've got a nice start, I would continue up with tile or perhaps stone on the wall to a bit over the top of the stove instead of brick (especially not fake brick). It would look a lot classier.

 

[brian_in_idaho]

I don't know about HD, but many places carry Cultured Stone or similar product, they aren't too hard to install. I think tile, either ceramic or slate would also look nice, it's easier to install than CS, and less expensive.

What is the "style" of the house? We were going with more of a rustic look and choose the cultured stone. In a more contemporary place I think tile "fits" better.

Bri

 

[Greg123]

I think tile is a great Idea guys, never thought about that. I'm no tile expert, how do you prep the drywall for tile?.

 

[brian_in_idaho]

I think tile is a great Idea guys, never thought about that. I'm no tile expert, how do you prep the drywall for tile?.

I'd probably attach a layer of 1/4 wonderboard (concrete backer board) on top of the drywall, stick it in place with thinset mortor, and screw to the studs to suck it all down tight. Then attach the tile to that with thinset. HD is real good with tile help, that's the approah I took with my old place, here is the pic, but with an insert. I did the tile work, it isn't that hard (heck I was able to do it!).

Bri

 

[Greg123]

Thanks brian, you have given me a good start. I'll check it out at HD.

 

[Rover 1]

I don't know about HD, but many places carry Cultured Stone or similar product, they aren't too hard to install. I think tile, either ceramic or slate would also look nice, it's easier to install than CS, and less expensive.

What is the "style" of the house? We were going with more of a rustic look and choose the cultured stone. In a more contemporary place I think tile "fits" better.

Bri

I have always liked the cultured stone look.


Ed

 

[Harley]

Very clean looking the way it is.... but I would probably go with the tile. Me... I'd try to match what is already there if I could. I'm no good at picking out different colors that end up looking good together.

 

[Greg123]

I'm going to look at both the cultured stone look, and tile. Does anyone know approx how much $$ cultured stone is.

 

[TedNH]

I don't know about HD, but many places carry Cultured Stone or similar product, they aren't too hard to install. I think tile, either ceramic or slate would also look nice, it's easier to install than CS, and less expensive.

What is the "style" of the house? We were going with more of a rustic look and choose the cultured stone. In a more contemporary place I think tile "fits" better.

Bri

I have always liked the cultured stone look.


Ed

Hey Ed,

I like your stove. Is that the methane gas powered variety?

 

[brian_in_idaho]

I'm going to look at both the cultured stone look, and tile. Does anyone know approx how much $$ cultured stone is.

IIRC somewhere around $7-9 per sf. It depends on the stone you get, and how many corners and "caps" you have, they add up fast. Tile is quite a bit cheaper, but the for size area we are looking at for hearths, the stone isn't too bad. The flat Cultured Stone "hearthstone" stuff I got for the floor was painful, around $200 for somewhere around 20 square feet.

The killer with the stone is that you have a fair amount of waste fitting it together, when compared with tile.

Ed, I really like the stone work you have, looks really nice.

B

 

[Rover 1]

I'm going to look at both the cultured stone look, and tile. Does anyone know approx how much $$ cultured stone is.

I can look at my receipts (at home) and get back to you on Monday, unless someone can answer sooner.

We used something called Sunset gold, I really liked the rust/grey color and Mica speckles.

Ed

 

[Greg123]

Brian -Thanks Again

Doing some searching on the internet I found Hearthstone Illusion Wallpaper they sell it at Lowe's, I'm woundering how bad that would look.

 

[Rover 1]

I'm going to look at both the cultured stone look, and tile. Does anyone know approx how much $$ cultured stone is.

IIRC somewhere around $7-9 per sf. It depends on the stone you get, and how many corners and "caps" you have, they add up fast. Tile is quite a bit cheaper, but the for size area we are looking at for hearths, the stone isn't too bad. The flat Cultured Stone "hearthstone" stuff I got for the floor was painful, around $200 for somewhere around 20 square feet.

The killer with the stone is that you have a fair amount of waste fitting it together, when compared with tile.

Ed, I really like the stone work you have, looks really nice.

B

Thanks! I believe you are correct about the $7-9 range but I will check to be sure, I will also take some updated photos with the Jotul Firelight WOOD BURNING stove on top of the Granite.

Ed

 

[Greg123]

Thanks Ed - I do like your cultured stone look.

 

[Rover 1]

Thanks Ed - I do like your cultured stone look.

Hi Greg , sorry about the late reply. After checking my records I paid $7.25/sq ft for the cultured stone that makes up the wall behind my stove and hearth.

I managed to take some photos of the stove in action which I will be posting to the photo directory if interested, unfortunatly the camera that I used to snap the photos is the same camera that I used to take pictures of me insulating the underfloor and did not realize that the lens was contaminated heavily with fiberglass. (lots of spots)

Ed

 

[elkimmeg]

Word about tile bought at Home crapo. The last barhroom I did, the owner bought the tile at Home Crapo. One hour into the project
I stopped to call the owner. This junk tile sealed in the box, had so many ceranic corners chipped, it looked like crap. I ended up removing it and sent the owner to a real tile store. Unfortunately this was not the first time this has happened to me. Buy the wonder board or hardibacker board there but purchase the tile elsewhwere

 

[wg_bent]

Word about tile bought at Home crapo. The last barhroom I did, the owner bought the tile at Home Crapo. One hour into the project
I stopped to call the owner. This junk tile sealed in the box, had so many ceranic corners chipped, it looked like crap. I ended up removing it and sent the owner to a real tile store. Unfortunately this was not the first time this has happened to me. Buy the wonder board or hardibacker board there but purchase the tile elsewhwere

Elk is right on this. Listen to him. When I did the tile for my fireplace I compared to the BORG and the tile I purchased, Pietra, was almost twice the thickness of the stuff at the store.

 

[Greg123]

You guys are absolutely right, I went to home depot and all they had was crappy stuff. Several tiles in the boxes where cracked or chipped. I think I’m going to look further into the cultured stone; I like the look in Ed’s picture.

Ed – Thanks for looking up the receipts it gives me a starting point on the cost.

 

[brian_in_idaho]

Greg, here's my new hearth with cultured stone, it needs the cap on the wall yet, and of course the stove, but thats another thread. You might want to check out the cultured stone web site, all kinds of cool ideas. Installation is kind of fun, sort of a big jig saw puzzle, with mud!

 

[Rover 1]

Greg, here's my new hearth with cultured stone, it needs the cap on the wall yet, and of course the stove, but thats another thread. You might want to check out the cultured stone web site, all kinds of cool ideas. Installation is kind of fun, sort of a big jig saw puzzle, with mud!

Well Done! that looks fantastic and you are correct about it being a big jig saw puzzle, what helped me visualize was laying it out on the floor first. Question how will your stove be positioned on the hearth?

I have actually lurked here for quite a few months reading and learning alot from the pros, and it was only this thread of Greg's that I even thought of joining because I thought that I may be able to contribute in a small way. Thanks for motivating me to participate.

And Greg when I saw that wall behind your stove it cried out to me for cultured stone. Just my opinion.

Ed

 

[Greg123]

Bri - That looks fantastic; I love the look, very nice.

Ed – I totally agree with you the cultured stone would look nice behind my stove. I have given up on the tile route.

Now only if I can talk the wife into letting me spending more money

 

[brian_in_idaho]

Well Done! that looks fantastic and you are correct about it being a big jig saw puzzle, what helped me visualize was laying it out on the floor first. Question how will your stove be positioned on the hearth?

Ed

The stove will be facing outward (towards you) as seen in that pic, the area left of the stove wall is where I'll be setting the TV and building some sort of stand and entertainment center. I haven't quite figured out what kind or size of TV is going there yet, kind of up in the air what I'll build. I'd like to do some sort of log or cedar detail there, to match some other cedar in the great room, but the cedar is lousy from a structural standpoint. That will be one of my winter projects, I have plenty to do to keep busy. We'll be moving in as soon as I get one bathroom finished, the kitchen cabinets/countertop/plumbing done, there will be plenty of flooring and detail work to keep me out of trouble and broke for some time... Gotta get the stove before I spend all my money on other stuff!

Greg, your installation would be a fairly easy and affordable one with cultured stone, you don't have any outside corners to deal with. Any chance you would have enough clearance to "cap" the stone with a half log? I've seen this before and it really looks nice, if it fits with your style of home. I didn't have the clearance to combustables to get away with that with mine, will have to do cultured stone for the cap as well.

Bri

 

[Greg123]

Well Done! that looks fantastic and you are correct about it being a big jig saw puzzle, what helped me visualize was laying it out on the floor first. Question how will your stove be positioned on the hearth?

Ed

The stove will be facing outward (towards you) as seen in that pic, the area left of the stove wall is where I'll be setting the TV and building some sort of stand and entertainment center. I haven't quite figured out what kind or size of TV is going there yet, kind of up in the air what I'll build. I'd like to do some sort of log or cedar detail there, to match some other cedar in the great room, but the cedar is lousy from a structural standpoint. That will be one of my winter projects, I have plenty to do to keep busy. We'll be moving in as soon as I get one bathroom finished, the kitchen cabinets/countertop/plumbing done, there will be plenty of flooring and detail work to keep me out of trouble and broke for some time... Gotta get the stove before I spend all my money on other stuff!

Greg, your installation would be a fairly easy and affordable one with cultured stone, you don't have any outside corners to deal with. Any chance you would have enough clearance to "cap" the stone with a half log? I've seen this before and it really looks nice, if it fits with your style of home. I didn't have the clearance to combustables to get away with that with mine, will have to do cultured stone for the cap as well.

Bri

Bri - I should have plenty of clearance to combustables, my stove only needs 2 inches (Corner install) clearance to the wall, and a few months ago I installed a "TEE" to make it easy to clean the class A, Doing this pushed the stove out 9 inches total from the wall. So I still have 7 inches of space that can be used and still maintain the 2 inch clearance that I need.