Simple Easy Hearthpad Idea for concrete/tile floor basement

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Charles1981

Minister of Fire
Feb 19, 2013
762
Michigan
We currently have had our stove on a concrete slab floor the past few years. We are now in the process of having the basement slab tiled finally. We have a very nice wood floor type of large format tile going down.

That being said I would like to place the stove on more of an accent piece than directly onto the wood floor tile.

I am having trouble finding the best simple and easy solution.

Encore 2040 stove. So the stove itself is about 23 inches deep and 27 inches wide inches. I was hoping to have something small around say 32 inches deep and 42 inches wide inches. This would mostly be an accent piece and provide some minimal protection from the ash that accumulates under the stove when loading and dumping the ash pan that we don't always clean up immediately.

1) A pre-made hearth pad seems overkill and expensive but all the work is done. It still seems that 400-500$ for one that doesn't look cheap is excessive. And we just drop it in place and done.

2) Make my own with OSB, mortar, Durock, screws, mortar, tile. That being said trimming the edges would be a job I probably would not make look professional, and time again is another thing I don't have a lot of either at least not for this project. This seems fairly inexpensive. Maybe 50$ total. But again I don't necessarily trust myself to make it look pro grade especially with my time constraints.

3) I asked the tile guy to consider making one with our extra tile shower tile that is a large format slate look but he wants to do a 2x4 setup and then osb then Durock and well we don't want something that extravagant. Making something smaller and slimmer for him is not in his comfort level especially trying to trim it and keep its weight down and it will be far heavier than the pre-made hearth pads that he says are made from metal and noncombustible lightweight fiber material. I honestly don't want something as big as he wants to make.

4) Single piece of cut stone. It seems like I would want around 10 square feet of a granite stone slab. It seems like this at ~50$ a square foot would only be about 400-500$ or... the same price as a pre-made hearth pad. Is there less expensive better material for a slab? Can I go for a thinner slab piece? I also am concerned about cracking of the slab piece especially when moving and then ultimately placing the stove back in its resting spot on top.

5) Consider purchasing large format tiles? It seems if I look hard enough they are making 40x40 large format porcelain tile but not anywhere near so far I can find. I haven't reached out to any tile stores about this option but I also don't know how well a single piece of tile would take to placing a cast iron stove on top of it.

6) Finally Just plain old stove board. Can I just place a piece of stove board underneath? I haven't actually touched this product but it sounds flimsy and cheap, but it comes in sizes large enough to fit my needs and honestly a jet black piece of top of the wood like tile floor we have probably wouldn't look all that bad.

7) Any other options anyone else can think of?

Cost isn't the biggest concern. Its feasibility and simplicity that we want the most.

Hearth pads pre made, hand made, tile setter crafted or not are unnecessary for our setup, bulky.

The same goes for a giant slab of stone that we have transport concerns with

I don't know how feasible a single large format tile would be or if it was even hardy enough to support the weight of the stove on top of it.

Is a piece of stove board the simplest easiest answer for the stove to sit on? Will this even work? I don't know if stove board is able to support the weight of the stove.

Thanks for any input!
 
Pick any tile that they make bullnose for. You can tile on top of tile if you rough up the bottom tile.

Do you have a river or other source of local stone? A river rock pad is fun to make (you get to pick out all the rocks and jigsaw 'em together, no cutting required).
 
Personally I would just tile the floor in the hearth area with a contrasting or accent tile in the stove area when the floor tiles are going down. No need for anything else.
 
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I didn't read the whole post honestly. I see no reason whatsoever to introduce a combustible product into this project. It's a cement floor, keep it that way.
 
I read your post as saying that you want to build a raised platform for the wood stove?

I agree using wood seems like a step backwards by introducing combustibles into the equation.

I would use masonry units, depending upon the height desired there are choices...... 4x8x16 block or 8v8x16 solid top block, bricks, natural stone, etc.

Dave
 
I guess that was a pretty long winded post sorry.

1) I don't really want combustibles but it seems if I made my own heart pad I would use plywood base with durock on top and then tile on top of that. It seems most hearths are made with 2x4 construction and then durock that I could find and thats what my tile guy wants to do. But I just don't want something that permanent. I felt like plywood with durock on top would give me an improved thickness to come up with a solution for trim. It seems I don't have much room to work with just tile on Durock in regards to thickness but maybe there is a nice tile with an edge trim piece I could use. It does seem silly to introduce a combustible material if not necessary.

2) Didn't really want a different accent tile for the hearth but maybe we should have considered that further but too late now. I was originally planning to just purchase a heart pad but now the 400$ or so is getting hard to swallow now that push comes to shove.

3) The Stove board seems like the simplest and cheapest (60$ for a 48x58 piece at lowes..I will take a look at this this weekend and see how it looks. This my wife's least favorite option but honestly to me it doesn't look bad unless its going to easy dent ect. Plus it would give us time to explore other options. I would like to move the stove back in place as soon as possible as right now its ratchet strapped to a dolly in another room and is rather a POS to move. for us.

4) I really don't want an elevated hearth...but if we were going to do that it does seem like CMU are and ideal substrate to be used. Good suggestion but I don't think that fits our application. We just wanted an accent for the stove to sit on while having the wood floor tiles be continuous throughout the whole basement. That way someone else down the road wasn't necessary stuck with our decision (other than the wood style tile floor!)

Thanks for reading all and the suggestion.
 
Thanks for the clarification.

What is wrong with the stove on the wood grained tile?
Appearances only?

Durock is a flat stable concrete product that accepts tile easily. Your issue would be how to treat the edges visually. They do tend to crumble.

If you must have a contrast, I'd pick up some finished bluestone. It is often dimensionally consistent, square edges and can be had in various sizes. Simply set them on the floor edge to edge as desired,

Dave
 
Not understanding why a basic stove board would be better than just putting the stove directly on the tiled floor.
 
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Go to a counter top dealer and get a cut piece of stone, they can polish it, round off the edges ect..
 
I'm in on this for pics and ideas.. I have to put one in for a potential new stove..
 
Pick a different tile for an accent area around the stove. Right on the slab, in place of your wood floor tile. Done.

Keep in mind, if this "wood" tile is combustible, it must be kept 16"-20" from front of stove or any loading door, for ember protection.