Installing hearth pad over carpeting

[brider]

Newbie here, I'm going to put my money where my mouth is on Sat and buy the Harman Oakwood freestander. Thinking ahead, is it possible or practical to build and install a hearth pad over carpeting?

The room the stove is going into is 17 x 16 with a-non-permanently installed carpet that is trimmed about 8-10" from each wall, with carpet pad underneath. The stove is going in a corner, facing 45 deg into the room.

If I build a hearth pad out of the .84k-value .75" mill board (what's that?) specified in the manual, covered in my favorite ceramic tile, will the pad tend to bend/crack at the grout lines when I step on it, since it's on a carpeted surface? I figure I'd have the same potential problem with the point loading of the stove feet, unless I design the tile so that each foot is centered on a tile, to distribute the load.

If I double-up the mill board (1.5"), will that eliminate the problem?

Should I cut the carpet away? This seems like the most fool-proof solution, but then I'd have un-bound carpet edges that'd look like crap.

 

[begreen]

K value refers to thermal conductivity. At .84K, the hearth for the Oakwood is not too demanding, but this is a heavy stove. You don't want any flexing of the hearth. I would remove the carpet from the hearth area and build up a couple layers of durock cement board and tile it. Surround the hearth with a nice wood or tile edge trim that can cover up the cut edge of the carpet. Or there are carpet binding products that don't require sewing. Perhaps that would work for the cut edge? http://www.instabind.com/?gclid=CLHwmOWKlZQCFSoZagodFEOPtQ

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/k_values_what_does_it_all_mean

 

[Tfin]

I definately concur with BG on this. You don't want that pad flexing at all, and with some oak trim on the hearth pad, it will give everything a nice finished look.

 

[brider]

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! Never knew there was an in-home binding kit available.

Now, where do I get that Micore 300?

 

[Tfin]

I had to order mine through my local building supply store (Hammond Lumber). The company that actually distributed the Micore, wouldn't sell it directly to the consumer.

 

[paulslush]

Any vermont casting dealer should be able to get it. It comes in 16x24" pieces I think it is ec1624, it is 1/2" thick micore 300. Good luck I would remove the carpet also.

 

[BrotherBart]

Definitely cut the carpet. I put a brick hearth over carpet in 1977 and ended up tearing it back out and cutting the carpet.

 

[fossil]

Bite the bullet. Cut the carpet. Cut the cheese if you have to, but cut the carpet. That's ~500 lbs of cast iron (and a beauty!), and it really really wants to sit on a good, solid, level base. Rick