How to extend a raised hearth to fit a freestanding stove?

[nanama72]

I want to heat my entire house with wood instead of paying for oil, and as I posted elsewhere, I am considering a fireplace insert, (PE Summit vs. Lopi Freedom vs. Avalon Olympic), ranked in that order right now according to posts here. What would be even better would be a freestanding stove.

The problem is that I have an 18-19 inch raised hearth made of stones in front of the existing masonry chimney (external). As I have previously mentioned, I have a decently insulated house with cathedral ceilings and a very open plan. This hearth is good looking since the fireplace is the center of the living room, but is the main barrier to me having a freestanding stove.

So far the options I have considered in terms of extending the hearth have been

#1. To have a mason extend it, which might look weird with different stones but who cares because the stove will be over it. This would be the nicest option but too expensive.
#2. To have a mason remove the existing hearth, or try to do it myself, and then have someone install a hearth along the floor. I have no experience with this sort of project and am willing to look into it but don't know how much expertise is really needed to install a new hearth that looks nice. Also not sure how to approach the carpet that's currently there.
#3. Put some sort of hearthpad in front of the chimney and find a stove that's small enough to fit on the existing hearth. One problem I see with this is that the hearth has an irregular border according to the irregular nature of the stones, and the floor protection would likely not be flush so small bits of the carpet could catch fire if anything fell out of the stove. I am also concerned about getting too small a stove since everyone says they wish they had gotten a bigger one. We want the stove to run 24/7 but we have busy schedules and are often not home for many hours, making long burn time a necessity.

I would appreciate input from anyone with any experience with this problem. Thanks so much.

 

[DriftWood]

Hi photos would help. The stoves required hearth R value and its the clearance to combustibles will ultimately dictate you options. Download the stoves manual to see what clearances up, down and around are needed. Also listed will be the r value or some such thing for the hearth.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We installed a new stove this past summer. Our pipe runs through the wall then up the chimney. We did not want to change the wall and the new stove was much shorter than the old one. Idea time. Both wife and I have poor backs that do not take kindly to bending. New stove door is much lower than old one. Hole in wall is too high for new stove. Ah ha! We simply built a hearth. Using 2 x 4's for the frame we then put cement board on top and sides then ceramic tile.

We built the hearth much larger than was necessary for the stove, but boy that has really worked nice for us. Stove is right height to fill firebox while sitting on a chair. We also have room to put winter boots by the stove for drying and also a place to pile some wood. This did not take as long nor require much skill to do and you could save yourself lots of money by doing this as a weekend project. Well, maybe two weekends considering you have to go purchase the goods and draw up a plan. Give it a try. Good luck.