Hearth Too Short?

[alferz]

I'm looking to install a wood burning insert in my fireplace. I'm interested in the Osburn 1800 but looking through the manual it indicates I would need 16" in front of the door as minimum clearance. As you can see in the pics I posted I have only 16" from the front of the tile surround. The manual indicates the door sticks out about 5" from the tile surround and they want another 16" in front of that, so it seems like I would need 21" total.

Any ideas what I could do to fix the situation? I dont really want to extend the hearth because of the wood inlay on the hardwood floors, it would be a shame to cover that up. Has anyone shoved the insert further back in the opening and cut the shroud down to just fit inside of it? Or maybe a raised hearth alters the clearance requirements?

 

[rwhite]

Only 2 options are to extend your hearth or go with a different (flush mount) stove that requires less clearance. I ran into the same issue when I installed my osburn 1600. I built a free floating heath that just sits over my inlaid hearth then used pavers in the back to level the insert. don't short the clearances. The tile in front of the door does get HOT.

(broken link removed)

(broken link removed)

 

[begreen]

Welcome. That's a nice looking fireplace. A custom hearth extension that looks built in would be possible. Maybe use 6" black tiles as a border to surround the granite. Or a tempered glass extension could be added. Either would look very sharp and intentional. The simplest solution would be to purchase a basic black hearth extension board.

 

[DougA]

Agreed. I would like the look of removing a few of the hardwood strips and replacing it with a strip of black granite. Should be easy to do and some offcuts from the people that do granite counter tops would be ideal. Should be inexpensive since you don't need the edges finished if it sits into where the harwood was. I think the only purpose is ember protection.

 

[alferz]

Thanks all, these are some good suggestions. I was hoping to not have to extend the hearth but its looking like that is the only option even with a flush mount. One other question - does anyone know if the 16" hearth requirement is from the front of the bay window, ie the very leading pane of glass, or is it 16" from where the bay window/door actually seals to the unit? That measurement will make a big difference on how much I need to extend the hearth. Thanks.

 

[rwhite]

Thanks all, these are some good suggestions. I was hoping to not have to extend the hearth but its looking like that is the only option even with a flush mount. One other question - does anyone know if the 16" hearth requirement is from the front of the bay window, ie the very leading pane of glass, or is it 16" from where the bay window/door actually seals to the unit? That measurement will make a big difference on how much I need to extend the hearth. Thanks.

Should be from the bay window when the door is closed.

 

[DougA]

The diagram shows 16" from front of door but the description says 16" from door opening. You're right, not very clear.
My guess is from door opening since this is for ember protection and embers don't fly our with the door closed - but that's just a guess.

 

[rwhite]

Thanks all, these are some good suggestions. I was hoping to not have to extend the hearth but its looking like that is the only option even with a flush mount. One other question - does anyone know if the 16" hearth requirement is from the front of the bay window, ie the very leading pane of glass, or is it 16" from where the bay window/door actually seals to the unit? That measurement will make a big difference on how much I need to extend the hearth. Thanks.

From the manual;
" If a non-combustible material floor protection needs to be added in front and level with the hearth extension
masonry fireplace (see Figure 2.6a), an Rfactor equal to or greater than 1.00 is required. If the extension of
the masonry hearth is raised at least 4" from the floor protection (see Figure 2.6b), a non-combustible material without an R factor is sufficient"
The diagram has 2 scenarios;
1. If the stove is 4" above the floor then you only need 16" of non-combustible from the front of the masonry fireplace.

2. If the stove is level with the floor you need 16" of material with an R value of 1 from the front of the stove face.

Maybe someone else will chime in but I wonder if it's possible to raise just the insert 4" and leave the hearth as is? Maybe do a small 4" high build out that just goes to the edge of the stove for just the stove to set on?

 

[rwhite]

One thing that I just can't wrap my head around is this part of the manual;
"2.3 Compliance of the masonry fireplace
Where the masonry fireplace opening is 6 ft2 (0.56 m2) or larger, the hearth extension shall extend at least
20'' (508 mm) in front of the facing material and at least 12'' (305 mm) beyond each side of the fireplace
opening. Where the masonry fireplace opening is less than 6 ft2 (0.56 m2), the hearth extension shall extend
at least 16'' (406 mm) in front of the facing material and at least 8'' (203mm) beyond each side of the
fireplace opening.Note that if you must modify the hearth extension to comply with these measures, depending on the size of the masonry fireplace opening, the hearth extension must have a minimum of 4'' (102 mm ) thick (see Figure 2.6a and 2.6b.)"

I just can't think of why the opening size of the fireplace would play a part in the hearth size. Seems to me that if you meet all the other clearances the opening that it goes in is irrelevant? Thoughts?

 

[madison]

IMHO... especially with the nice hardwood floor, if you are going to need modify the existing hearth, do not skimp on the dimensions in front of the insert, 16" is the minimum, no matter how careful you are, you will end up with some scorched and/or dried hardwood flooring

 

[mtbmike]

i had the same situation and only needed one of these - the inspector was fine with it.

"http://www.firesidemurphy.com/18-x-48-black-ul1618-type-1-ember-protection-board"

 

[jeffesonm]

agree on not skimping on the extension... I bought a piece of tempered glass that just met the minimum and I should have gone a few inches bigger

 

[Oldman47]

The standard minimum in the US is 16 inches from the edge of the door opening. In Canada it is 18 inches. When specified for ember protection that minimum assumes you are reloading with the door open. If the stove manufacturer has added to that minimum, you need to go with what they tell you.

 

[mikebinthesky]

Same situation-this worked for me
(broken link removed to http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Hearth-Safe-Hearth-Extender-Steel-Edge-Africana?gclid=CKfgzYyC38kCFZODaQodhrIJ9w?gdftrk=gdfV23673_a_7c1677_a_7c8224_a_7c2140405_a2s__a3a__a2s_2140406#214extensionsize:12)"_x_48"

Heavy duty,nice!