What's the latest on backer boards?

[southbalto]

I currently have Hardiebacker cement board serving as a shield with Durarock Next Gen on the wall (secured with metal studs).

I've decided I want to top vent the stove which will require me to add to the height of the shield (hardiebacker) and wall board (next gen).

I've read that these boards are not approved for hearth construction......but is there any issue with using them as a shield/wall board?

If so, is there any other product I should be looking at? Wonderboard maybe?

Thanks

 

[southbalto]

 

[begreen]

This topic got beat over the head pretty seriously last month. No real conclusion. Some got the go ahead from USG saying the next Gen only has perlite in it. But someone also got another dept. person saying, no go. It is approved for wall shields according to their docs. But this is sort of a case of the head not knowing what the tail is doing. I think you will be fine using next gen. Why are you switching to top vent? Is it drafting poorly? Also, will you be connecting with double wall?

 

[southbalto]

!Hey BeGreen!

Hope all is well...Yea, I got the install done last year and never got around to putting up the stone.

I decided to go with the top vent since it will give me more flexibility in the future and I figure I'll have a bit more surface area (single wall pipe) to heat the room. I made pretty good progress last year learning the stove. I initially had some issues getting the stove up to temp. I'd pack it with relatively small splits and let it run and still had issues getting it to the 500-550 range. I really think it must have been the wood because the draft is pretty strong. It's out the back into a tee then up about 24'.

As you can see in the pictures above, I'm using hardibacker as a shield. Any issues with this product? As you can see it's slightly larger than the nextgen and I like having the overlap.

 

[begreen]

I've not been a fan of Hardibacker because of the cellulose filler, but others have used it. For a wall shield I expect it would be fine though.