What kind of tile for the floor? Going directly over cement, under and around the stove.

[snow4me]

Taking delivery of my Jotul F100 this week and hauling it up north this weekend. I need to figure out what kind of tile I will be using as a pad and to cover the one row of cinder block around the bottom of the walls. The way the cabin is built is there is a cement pad with a row of cinder block and then the 2x4 walls set on top of that. So, I have some exposed cinder block that needs to be covered up as well as the floor. The walls will be knotty pine and according to the manual, 10 inches to the wood wall will be fine. Any ideas on what to use for tile???

Thanks!!

Daryl

 

[cgeiger]

Congrats on the new F100 - be sure to send us pics of her burnin' when you're done with the install. As for the tile I can only speak from my personal experience, I'm sure there are many others who can offer better/more experienced advice. Fwiw, there are tons of tile choices available any of which seem like they would be fine in your situation. Tile size should be proportional to your room size, focal point, stove size, etc. from a design perspective. In my situation, I chose 12" ceramic tiles that had a simulated stone finish on top (it wasn't smooth and had a beautiful glaze). It was fairly inexpensive down at Lowes. I would assume you could also use stone products but that will obviously increase the cost tremendously. Is this the kind of info you're looking for or are you wanting something more specific?

 

[snow4me]

Yes it is but I am also concerned with heat. I read on here about all these hearth pads made of durock and stuff for heat but I don't think any of that applies to me since I am installing over concrete. My biggest area of concern is the tile that is going to go over the cinder block. My clearance to the knotty pine is 10 inches(within spec) but at the lower part of the stove I am only 5-6 inches from the cinder block because the wall is built to the outside of the cinderblock I have a step. I did order the long leg kit go give me some extra clearance and it is going in at a 45 degree angle so the two back lower corners are the closest points to that cinder block. The store I bought it from doesn't seem to think this will be a problem. Don't know. Any ideas?

Daryl

 

[cgeiger]

I don't think the cinder block or tile would get so hot as to deglaze, crack, or have some other adverse effect, especially with the tall legs you've purchased.

 

[begreen]

Your floor and wall are non-combustible. This is a non-issue unless combustibles are introduced within the clearance specs for the stove. Use whatever tile or brick or stone veneer you like. Just be sure to not use a combustible adhesive to mount the tile. Use latex-modified thinset.

 

[brewster]

"Just tile it" will in 99% of the cases be just fine but consider the following (from a tile guy) if you want to be 100 %

Tile has a different expansion coefficient than concrete/cinder block unless your tiles are the same material. I'm not saying your tiles will get hot enough to make this effect cause problems, just something to be aware of. Ideally you should decouple the tile from the substrate, best bet is to use a product along the lines of "Ditra" which can be found at home centers (seen it at HD).

Use a latex modified thinset (i.e. versabond, Maipei ultraflex, etc. about $12-15 a sack) even with porcelain tile.

Your stove is very heavy and with a leg kit, all that weight will be concentrated on the tile. This has a good chance of cracking/spalling cheap tile. Look for something with at least a floor rating (about 3/16-1/4 inch thick as well).

Natural stone is very nice, but avoid slates since the constant hammering from dropping loads of logs will eventually cause it to flake and separate.

If I was doing it 'on the cheap' but still wanted something that would last, I'd go for a good floor rated tile applied with latex modified thinset. If I was doing the job for a customer, I'd go with the Ditra to sleep better at night and not worry about any callbacks.

 

[fossil]

OK, so...the floor of the structure is a concrete slab, and around the perimeter of that slab one course of cinder blocks was laid up on it to create a stemwall, then the structure above that stemwall is conventional balloon framed (2"x whatever studs & insulation & drywall inside & some sort of siding outside)...am I reading this correctly? And you're wanting to figure out what sort of tile you might use to create a hearth and also become a "baseboard" trim on the exposed block sitting around the outside of the floor? If that's the case, and you carefully observe the clearances to combustibles all around the sides of your stove, then you can pretty much use any non-combustible material you want to trim it all out. There are some really beautiful porcelain tiles very commonly available in a myriad of styles & colors that would serve. Some are made to look like natural stone, some more obviously decorative, fanciful, whatever. Rick

 

[snow4me]

OK, so...the floor of the structure is a concrete slab, and around the perimeter of that slab one course of cinder blocks was laid up on it to create a stemwall, then the structure above that stemwall is conventional balloon framed (2"x whatever studs & insulation & drywall inside & some sort of siding outside)...am I reading this correctly? And you're wanting to figure out what sort of tile you might use to create a hearth and also become a "baseboard" trim on the exposed block sitting around the outside of the floor? If that's the case, and you carefully observe the clearances to combustibles all around the sides of your stove, then you can pretty much use any non-combustible material you want to trim it all out. There are some really beautiful porcelain tiles very commonly available in a myriad of styles & colors that would serve. Some are made to look like natural stone, some more obviously decorative, fanciful, whatever. Rick

Yes sir Rick, that's exactly how the structure is. Since it is sitting kitty corner, the closest the stove gets to the wall or step is at the two back corners. I have 10 inches from the knotty pine walls to the two rear corners of the stove. The concern is the tiled area that will go over the cinder block being to close to those back corners. The long leg kit will help a little. I just don't want to have to be 10 inches from the tiled lower area if possible.

Thanks, Daryl

 

[fossil]

I don't see where there's a problem at all. Pick a nice tile that works for you, use latex-modified thinset adhesive, and let 'er rip. Should work well and look fine. Rick