Hearth requirement for wood insert

[MeltingPlastic]

I'm looking to redo the wall our wood insert is installed on. In front of it is a 2" thick pad that used to sit over the carpet that was originally on the floor in the room. The previous owner ripped out the carpet and laid down engineered hardwood. We're in the process of changing up the wall/mantel and would like to lose the hearth. Basically with little ones running around we fear them getting hurt on the edges. What are the thickness requirements, by code (PA if that helps) for how thick the hearth needs to be? My goal is to rip out the 2" pad and tile a section so we can have a nice easy transition to the engineered wood floor.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I'm looking to redo the wall our wood insert is installed on. In front of it is a 2" thick pad that used to sit over the carpet that was originally on the floor in the room. The previous owner ripped out the carpet and laid down engineered hardwood. We're in the process of changing up the wall/mantel and would like to lose the hearth. Basically with little ones running around we fear them getting hurt on the edges. What are the thickness requirements, by code (PA if that helps) for how thick the hearth needs to be? My goal is to rip out the 2" pad and tile a section so we can have a nice easy transition to the engineered wood floor.

The manual of your insert should specify what hearth protection is required. A lot manuals are online. If you can locate it, it should detail the R- requirements of your insert. It’s tough to go by “how thick” the hearth area ( including the hearth extension) is because different materials have very different R- ratings.
For example, my Jotul insert requires an R rating of 1.1 I believe. That translates to roughly 8 inches thick of concrete. I can’t confirm that thickness for the hearth extension so I bought a hearth pad which specified its R- value that fits the hearth extension, so I didn’t have to guess at it.

 

[bholler]

I'm looking to redo the wall our wood insert is installed on. In front of it is a 2" thick pad that used to sit over the carpet that was originally on the floor in the room. The previous owner ripped out the carpet and laid down engineered hardwood. We're in the process of changing up the wall/mantel and would like to lose the hearth. Basically with little ones running around we fear them getting hurt on the edges. What are the thickness requirements, by code (PA if that helps) for how thick the hearth needs to be? My goal is to rip out the 2" pad and tile a section so we can have a nice easy transition to the engineered wood floor.

Technically to meet code if you are doing a permanent extension to the hearth extension on an open fireplace it needs to meet code for an open fireplace. That means a self supporting reinforced concrete slab tied into the rest of the hearth slab with no combustibles in contact with the bottom of it.