Suggestions/thoughts on stone wall

[BucksCounty]

I am going to put up a stone wall behind the stove. Plan is to be same width as the hearth, floor to ceiling. I am going to use 1 inch ceramic spacers to leave an air gap to the wall. I will have 1/4 inch wonder board, then lath, and then the fieldstone. On the bottom, I am going to have 1/2 inch pieces of wood every couple of inches to help support the weight and leave space for air to enter. I originally was going to have the stone right up to the chimney pipe, but that would make it tough to take the thimble cover off if I ever needed to for some reason. Does anyone have any suggestions/thoughts? Am I missing anything? More feedback the better. Thanks and this forum is awesome!

 

[Highbeam]

I'm watching your project closely. I too have a sheetrock wall behind the stove with no proper mantle that I would love to cover up with stone. You have a challenge in that your hearth is already stone so you need to either match it pretty well or use something totally different.

 

[Heem]

make sure to send up pics if you do it, that looks like it might be nice.. sorry I can't help you at all with the technicals of it. We have the same color scheme here.. medium dark hardwood, white trim, coffee-ish walls, stone hearth pad. Can't wait to see what it looks like because I'd love to do the same thing!

 

[Wet1]

Just an OT thought, you might want to go wider than the width of that existing hearth (base). If the stone going up the wall is narrow, I suspect it might look rather odd.

 

[madison]

If it helps, there are pictures of our recent stone wall (with thimble) and hearth project via the link in my signature. The class a passed thru the thimble to a "T" behind the stone wall. Thimble mounted to wall, with stone around the thimble. With the T6 and it's low clearances (which we doubled) we did not use any air gap.

Also agree with the width suggestions.

What is behind the wall, and does this connect to a masonry chimney, interior class a or exterior class a ?

 

[BucksCounty]

Thanks guys for the replies. I understand the ideas of it being too narrow but the picture is very decieving. It is much wider and fits well width wise within the room.

Madison, your pictures were a big help. The thimble leads to the outside of house. Insulated double wall chimney pipe.

I was thinking more about the air gap and if it is even needed. Specs call for 9" clearance to combustibles. I am 11 1/2" from wall now. Should I just put cement board to the wall and lath/stone directly to that? I would be just about 9" after stone is up. My thought with the spacers would be extra safety and easier to take down if we ever move and buyers don't want the stove.

 

[Highbeam]

The 9" is measured to the first combustible surface so the sheetrock will still be the only thing that is combustible. You can do whatever you want between the wall and the stove so long as it is not combustible. Air gaps and wall shields are usually installed for no valid reason by good meaning people.

This is about aesthetics.

 

[madison]

My understanding of the clearance issue: "noncombustionable" material (stone) applied/connected to a combustionable material conducts heat, so the clearances are to the closest material. So without a 1" airspace, In this case, it would be rock NOT the substrate that the rock is applied to. I would double check with your local building inspector, as I learned, there are many interpretations to this issue, and your local code persons may each have their own opinion. Which may influence your design.

Hopefully your stone is fairly consistent in thickness, but I would leave some extra clearance space to allow for variances in stone thickness.

Also as you know, the class A pipe passes/slides thru the thimble, to your exterior chimney, so I can not think of a reason to mess with the thimble after the stone is applied... Unless you change stoves to a top exit.....

 

[Highbeam]

Well air conducts heat too but we don't measure to the air do we? I will agree that this is an ongoing debate here much like how to measure chimney height, burn time, or whether to use outside air. Best to speak with the AHJ since a lot of work can be ruined if you do the wrong thing.