Would Anyone Have Hearth Pad Recommendations

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Parallax

Parallax

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Dec 2, 2013
922
Bellingham, WA
A friend who was supposed to help build our hearth pad hasn't had time. I'm wondering if there's any particularly company folks would recommend for nice prefab hearth pads at a reasonable price. With the tile we were going to pick, the materials alone (at Lowes) came to around $300. Seems like the prefabs are about twice that, which is reasonable assuming the quality of the materials is comparable.
 
I guess I'm surprised the homebuilt pad would cost so much. How were you building it? I would have used 1/2" Plywood,1/2" Micore,1/4" Hardibacker,Tile.

Plywood $25, Micore $40, Hardibacker $15, tile ?? Some thinset,grout, and screws...
 
The tile alone came to just over $100. We were using two sheets of thick plywood, which added about $50. Then we had molding, which was expensive (I don't recall how much). Plus glue, grout and stain for the wood trim. However, I'm not sure wood trim is up to code for a wood burning stove. Perhaps there's some kind of fireproof trim. Alas, all of it together came to about $300. Perhaps a few dollars less but not much.
 
I built this from supplies from Home Depot. Got around 75 bucks in it. [Hearth.com] Would Anyone Have Hearth Pad Recommendations
 
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Ram 1500 with an axe... said:
$75 bucks? You did well.....looks great too.....
Click to expand...

Thanks! This was my first attempt at tiling.

30- Slate tile and supplies
25- 3 pieces of Durock 1/2. I made piers under two sheets for the air space I needed.
15- 8' piece of cedar and stain
Screws and scrap 2x4's for outer frame I already had
 
I bought a pre-fab pad from Woodstock 10 years ago. It still looks as nice as the day I got it. Mine is 12 inch dark blue tiles. You could give them a call. They had quite a few tiles to choose from in 2004....know they still sell the pads, which are not more than 1 1/2 inch thick, and provide excellent heat protection.
 
Hearth Classics is what we've been looking at. Will probably go with one of those but they're not cheap. For a large one, the cost is $600 to $700.
 
Is this for the Ashford? If so, that is ember protection only and substantially reduces the cost. You don't need the full type 2 protection of a Hearth Classic. For example, you could have a custom, hemmed sheet of steel made up for under $100. Or frame in some bricks with sand for grout, or tile a sheet of cement board on a 3/4" plywood backer. For the tile to come to $100 that must have been some very fancy tile, much fancier than what is used on a commercial unit. You should be able to do this with a decent Home Depot tile for under $100.
 
I went with an ember protection Morso metal pad. I think it was about $250.[Hearth.com] Would Anyone Have Hearth Pad Recommendations
 
I built my hearth from a rough cut 1" piece of granite. I placed it on a few sheets of rock board. It was right around $350 for everything.
 
Does anyone know if I need a Type 1 or Type 2 pad with the Blaze King Ashford? If I don't need the Type 2, is there any advantage to getting one anyway? It's going over a Brazilian rosewood floor.
 
Already posted in detail above. The Ashford only needs ember protection. Type 2 is overkill. Yoder type 2 are nice hearthpads, but heavy and costly to ship.
 
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begreen said:
Already posted in detail above. The Ashford only needs ember protection. Type 2 is overkill. Yoder type 2 are nice hearthpads, but heavy and costly to ship.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm going to take a shot at making one myself.
 
Parallax said:
Just ordered the gate. Thanks!
Click to expand...
I think you will be pleased.

As for the install, this is how I decided to mount mine to the wall/baseboard. It seemed more simple than the included mounting equipment. I am not sure if this will work for you application or not.
[Hearth.com] Would Anyone Have Hearth Pad Recommendations
 
Finally finished it. Turned out pretty nice. Not sure this captures the color well. In person, it looks even richer. Total cost was around $150. I used a very high quality piece of plywood so it would be stiff. That was one third of the cost. The sealer was $30+. The tile itself was quite reasonable. All the side pieces were made by cutting larger tiles down, which really saves over buying the smaller pre-cut pieces.

Here's a higher resolution version.
[Hearth.com] Would Anyone Have Hearth Pad Recommendations

Here's where it's going to sit.
[Hearth.com] Would Anyone Have Hearth Pad Recommendations
 
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These photos make it look like the grout spilled out beyond the joints. In real life, the grout lines are straight. What appears to be grout spilling beyond the lines is just variations of color in the stone itself.
 
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