Hearth Pad on Laminate, Dricore, or Concrete?

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May 12, 2015
25
Halifax, NS
We are in the midst of finishing our basement, and are going to install a wood stove. Right now, the floor is bare concrete. What would be the best practice for installing the hearth pad? My thinking is that it is best to install on concrete, because both the laminate and Dricore subfloor (we are going to install the R+ kind) are expanding, floating floors.

So if I was to install the Dricore and the laminate around the hearth, I assume that I also need to leave a gap around the hearth like I would for the perimeter of the room. Is there any of non-combustibe material to cover the gaps around? Or does it even need to be non-combustible? Just use quarter round or something?

Secondly, the Dricore is 1" thick and the laminate will be anywhere from 5/16" (8mm) to almost 1/2" (12 mm) (we haven't decided on the laminate yet). So the finished floor could be as thick as 1 1/2" from the concrete.

Would we have to build some kind of foundation to put the hearth pad on to raise it up from the concrete? Does it have to be a certain distance above a finished floor? Or does it matter?
 
Pick the stove first so you know what your clearances are. The height is up to you... I think the perfect answer depends on the height of the stove and the height of your favorite stove-sitting, wood-loading chair. :) In general, lower is probably more convenient.

You do need to leave an expansion gap between the pad and most laminates. A metal tee transition is fine for small height differences. Remember the moisture barrier if it's not built in to your laminate.

For example, you put down 7/8" dricore and 3/8 laminate plus 1/8 underlayment, that's 1 3/8". You might put down 2 pieces of 1/2" cement board plus porcelain tile to get pretty close to that height. (I like the idea of having the hearth a bit lower than the floor so all the crud stays in there, but I am pretty sure I'd get told that it looks funny if I built it that way. :) )

Add up the height of what you are actually using and plan your hearth pad height from there.
 
I'd just lay down a nice thick tile, brick or stone hearth on the cement floor. Make it oversized if possible. That will provide a safe hearth for any stove. The flooring then can abut to it following the installation guidelines. A trim piece on the hearth edges can cover the expansion gap.
 
Resurrecting my old thread here.

We have the stove now, and also opted to buy a hearth pad (so my husband doesn't have to do any masonry or tile work). It is ceramic tile and the whole thing is 1 1/4" thick. With Dricore R+ and 12 mm laminate, the total height of our finished floor will be about 1 1/2". I was looking at some cement board to put underneath the hearth to bring it up so that it's either flush or slightly higher than the finished floor, but it looks like it is a bunch of dust with a mesh to hold it all in. Doesn't look terribly sturdy or a good idea to put underneath a hearth on a floor that may sometimes get moisture (though our basement is pretty dry).

So I was thinking of putting 1/2" pink rigid foam insulation under the hearth. That would be fine for any possible moisture, plus it's insulating. I'm assuming doing this would still be code because the hearth is a pre-built one to code that people can place over their carpets and other flammable floor. My husband's main concern is that maybe the rigid insulation may compress over time. I think with such a large surface area, that's unlikely. I mean, Dricore R+ has rigid foam insulation on the bottom, and it's made to have heavy furniture on it and whatnot.

What do you all think?
 
It probably won't compress, but I'd use 1/2" Durock NexGen cement board. It has some insulating value and will not compress.
 
It probably won't compress, but I'd use 1/2" Durock NexGen cement board. It has some insulating value and will not compress.

Any reason why I'd use Durock over rigid insulation? I looked at the Durock and it looks like dust sandwiched between mesh. I imagine any kind of moisture will make it crumble.
 
Prefab hearth pad, I'd just put it on top of the finished floor. Unless something about the floor material prohibits this. It will be like a big appliance, which it is.

I have laminate in my stove room and I first built a raised hearth pad out of wood right on the subfloor. Then installed laminate with the correct gap and then on the sides of the raised hearth pad I applied backer board, and then slate tile which overhang the laminate and hide the gap. Could have just used 1/4 round but I hate that stuff.
 
Prefab hearth pad, I'd just put it on top of the finished floor. Unless something about the floor material prohibits this. It will be like a big appliance, which it is.

I have laminate in my stove room and I first built a raised hearth pad out of wood right on the subfloor. Then installed laminate with the correct gap and then on the sides of the raised hearth pad I applied backer board, and then slate tile which overhang the laminate and hide the gap. Could have just used 1/4 round but I hate that stuff.

Yeah I hate 1/4 round too, lol. I'm concerned about putting something so heavy on finished floating floor. Both the Dricore and the laminate is floating. I've read (and seen) buckling from a wood stove hearth being placed on it.

The other problem is that we don't have the money for flooring right now. We want to install a wood stove first because the area I live in has extremely high electricity rates, and we have electric heat. There is no natural gas available either, and oil is also very expensive, plus we don't have a furnace or ducting system, or room for any of it. We will have money eventually for flooring, but that is years in the future.
 
As @jetsam said choose your stove first and go from there. I'm currently doing the same thing in my basement and the installation manual is very helpful in determining clearances and such.

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Any reason why I'd use Durock over rigid insulation? I looked at the Durock and it looks like dust sandwiched between mesh. I imagine any kind of moisture will make it crumble.
Cement board works fine in damp locations. It should not crumble.
 
Yeah I hate 1/4 round too, lol. I'm concerned about putting something so heavy on finished floating floor. Both the Dricore and the laminate is floating. I've read (and seen) buckling from a wood stove hearth being placed on it.

The other problem is that we don't have the money for flooring right now. We want to install a wood stove first because the area I live in has extremely high electricity rates, and we have electric heat. There is no natural gas available either, and oil is also very expensive, plus we don't have a furnace or ducting system, or room for any of it. We will have money eventually for flooring, but that is years in the future.

In that case, you can plop the hearth pad(or even skip it) directly on the slab and burn the stove just like that. Lots of stoves setting right on a non-combustible slab. Later, you can move it or just floor around it. The stove installation is very reversible.
 
In that case, you can plop the hearth pad(or even skip it) directly on the slab and burn the stove just like that. Lots of stoves setting right on a non-combustible slab. Later, you can move it or just floor around it. The stove installation is very reversible.

The reason we don't want to put it directly on the floor is because when we put in the finished floor, we don't want the hearth to be lower than the finished floor. So we want to raise it up and have that all done.
 
Is there a reason I should use cement board as opposed rigid insulation?
You expressed concerns about the compression over time with the foam board. Cement board won't compress.
 
The reason we don't want to put it directly on the floor is because when we put in the finished floor, we don't want the hearth to be lower than the finished floor. So we want to raise it up and have that all done.

When you save up the cash to do the aesthetic part of the job in a few years just pick up the stove and move it out of the way. The stove is not permanent.

Foam or cement board. Either is fine. Foam, the blue or pink xps from the depot, is 20 psi rated. That means each 10” square will support 2000#! Your hearth pad will easily distribute the load. Or cement board, or even plywood or Osb is structurally sufficient.