I've tried to answer my question without posting... I hope its not a repeat.
In reading past posts about clearence it seems that it is taken very seriously and very literally. I have a alcove that is perfect for a wood stove and building a hearth, however its about 4 inches too narrow for the stove I ultimately want. The question I have is... if my stove requres 18" clearence on the sides, but the best I can come up with is 16" clearence, is it possible to build a heat shield of sorts. I've seen cement board with air gaps used for other hearths, but I don't know if that effectively reduces the clearence requirements or what kind of construction I would need to do to achive this clearence reduction. For example, if I have a 1 inch air gap with half inche cementboard, and a half inche of stone and mortar, my clearence on either side woudl be only 14 inches where 18 is required..
Do I just need to face facts that the stove I want will not work in that space? (FYI.. I'm looking at Woodstock Fireview or Keystone)
In reading past posts about clearence it seems that it is taken very seriously and very literally. I have a alcove that is perfect for a wood stove and building a hearth, however its about 4 inches too narrow for the stove I ultimately want. The question I have is... if my stove requres 18" clearence on the sides, but the best I can come up with is 16" clearence, is it possible to build a heat shield of sorts. I've seen cement board with air gaps used for other hearths, but I don't know if that effectively reduces the clearence requirements or what kind of construction I would need to do to achive this clearence reduction. For example, if I have a 1 inch air gap with half inche cementboard, and a half inche of stone and mortar, my clearence on either side woudl be only 14 inches where 18 is required..
Do I just need to face facts that the stove I want will not work in that space? (FYI.. I'm looking at Woodstock Fireview or Keystone)