Hearth Pad questions

[Hiram Maxim]

Boys and Girls,

A few questions???????

I have been busy building and laying stone on my two hearths.

I'm using Travertine 18x18 tiles. (Travertine is a fancy word for limestone)


Well I'm super afraid to place the Englander 30 (goes in fireplace) directly on the stone because of the parlor type legs.

Anyone ever break tiles?

Should I get on the lathe and turn some pads to distribute the weight?

Also I'm using the hardy-backer for my Blase King hearth do you think 1.5" thick is enough protection?

The hearth for the BK is raised 3 1/2 inches with wood 2x4s, 1.5" of hardy-backer, and will be finished of with 3/8" travertine.

Should I add another 1/2 of board for a total of 2"?

Comments and thoughts welcome.



Cheers,Hiram

 

[firefighterjake]

Boys and Girls,

A few questions???????

I have been busy building and laying stone on my two hearths.

I'm using Travertine 18x18 tiles. (Travertine is a fancy word for limestone)

Well I'm super afraid to place the Englander 30 directly on the stone because of the parlor type legs.

Anyone ever break tiles? Well I can't speak to the Travertine, but I have my Oslo set on 1/4 inch slate since I had several free boxes given to me . . . so far, no broken slate. I think the key here is to make sure the base of your hearth is wicked rigid with very little flex so that once the stove is on top of the tile/stone it will not move tile/stone . . . but that's just a guess on my part . . . oh yeah, another key is to make sure no herds of wild elephants come foraging through your living room as they could of course accidentally bump into the stove and possibly cause the tile to fracture.

Should I get on the lathe and turn some pads to distribute the weight? If it makes you feel better and it looks good to you and your significant other, go for it . . . but again, as long as the base is rigid and the stove isn't being moved hither and thither and you do not live right over an earthquake fault line I suspect you'll be OK without special pads.

Also I'm using the hardy-backer for my Blase King hearth do you think 1.5" thick is enough protection? I can't speak to the specific BK hearth protection requirements since I don't know them . . . I am assuming this Hardi board is the actual cement board and is listed for floor protection.

The hearth for the BK is raised 3 1/2 inches with wood 2x4s, 1.5" of hardy-backer, and will be finished of with 3/8" travertine.

Should I add another 1/2 of board for a total of 2"?

Comments and thoughts welcome.

I will add a few pictures when my camera is charged.

Cheers,Hiram

 

[SlyFerret]

Nope. I put my 30 with legs directly onto my tile hearth.

I've got 3 layers of durock, and my dad and I were totally anal about getting the tile mastic perfectly evenly applied so that there wouldn't be any high/low spots under the tiles.

The pad I built is solid, and I haven't had any issues with cracking the 1/4" ceramic tiles that I put down.

-SF

 

[Hiram Maxim]

Nope. I put my 30 with legs directly onto my tile hearth.

I've got 3 layers of durock, and my dad and I were totally anal about getting the tile mastic perfectly evenly applied so that there wouldn't be any high/low spots under the tiles.

The pad I built is solid, and I haven't had any issues with cracking the 1/4" ceramic tiles that I put down.

-SF

I had the Englander on slate with no problem before. The sub floor for the englander is 3" of concrete.

The BK is going on the dura-rock/hardy board but not worried as that is on a pedestal.

These legs make me a bit nervous :roll: