wood stove hearth

[mtalea]

asking for a friend.....what is the general requirements for a hearth under a wood stove?

 

[fossil]

Does your friend's stove have a make & model? Are the manufacturer's clearance and hearth requirements known? If not, then the only "general requirements" are those found in NFPA 211. More specific information about the appliance and the application will yield more specific information about the requirements for the safe installation. Rick

 

[mtalea]

I do understand that this is a vague question....let me put it this way..if u had a wood stove...freestanding/standalone....and u had rug in the area u wish to place it what would u do...build up a hearth....? basic idea of coverage around the stove and what materials?

 

[fossil]

Well, in the world of woodstoves and safety, "vague" doesn't really cut it. What kind of a stove is it? If it's a pre-EPA unlisted stove, then you need 36" clearance to combustibles all around (unless you build an acceptable shielding system), and you need to build a hearth to put it on that meets or exceeds the requirements of NFPA 211, which is likely going to invlove some masonry and some sheet metal. Rick

 

[edthedawg]

I do understand that this is a vague question....let me put it this way..if u had a wood stove...freestanding/standalone....and u had rug in the area u wish to place it what would u do...build up a hearth....? basic idea of coverage around the stove and what materials?

As you can see, it's entirely stove-dependent on what you decide to do. If the stove needs a lot of insulation (high R-value in the floor), it'll be either very tall or very expensive or very difficult to build - or some combo of all 3. There's a bunch of other dimensions but in general you're probably looking for at least 18" coverage extending every direction from the stove. Presuming you want to do something quick and cheap, I'd offer my own experience:

(broken link removed to http://picasaweb.google.com/edthedawg/newhearth)

Toward the end you see the 68" wide x 48" deep x 3" tall hearth I built over our hardwood floors. With carpet, you would want to cut the carpet out and build on the subfloor if it's wood framing, or on the slab if it's, well, a slab. This hearth cost me less than $300 and took a day and a half to build. Durock / Wonderboard w/ some tiles, slate, or other stone are very common hearth surfaces.

Answer some of your questions? If you're asking how to lay tile, then I'll recommend you google search or check out This Old House's website - plenty of resources out there to teach basic constructions stuff like that.