Yet ANOTHER hearthboard/install thread....

[rickw]

If you can give yourself PLENTY of room in front of the loading door, 18" is code but it isn't really a lot of space. Eventually something always falls out.

I just finished a fairly large (44" x 72") flush pad for my new Fireview. Went down to the subfloor (actually replaced it as well, it was cracked), put on one layer of 1/2" Wonderboard, and tiled with quarry tile from Home Depot. The quarry tile is very strong (a little bland in color though). I'd recommend the Wonderboard or Durock as they are known to take the temperature. Be careful and look a the edges, H-D has something called Perma-Base that has foam beads mixed in - no good. Scoring the Wonderboard is pretty straightforward, Mark it , lay it on a working surface, use a 2 x 4 as a straightedge and score it a good 10 to 20 times, hard. Flip over and repeat. You have to get through the fabric - on BOTH sides. You do this it just falls apart.

A comment on tiling and grouting for the DIY crowd: Thinset that is hardening while you're placing tile is an inherently stressful situation. My project was successful; my wife hasn't left me (and she helped!), the kids didn't run away.

Good luck!

 

[firefighterjake]

If you can give yourself PLENTY of room in front of the loading door, 18" is code but it isn't really a lot of space. Eventually something always falls out.

I just finished a fairly large (44" x 72") flush pad for my new Fireview. Went down to the subfloor (actually replaced it as well, it was cracked), put on one layer of 1/2" Wonderboard, and tiled with quarry tile from Home Depot. The quarry tile is very strong (a little bland in color though). I'd recommend the Wonderboard or Durock as they are known to take the temperature. Be careful and look a the edges, H-D has something called Perma-Base that has foam beads mixed in - no good. Scoring the Wonderboard is pretty straightforward, Mark it , lay it on a working surface, use a 2 x 4 as a straightedge and score it a good 10 to 20 times, hard. Flip over and repeat. You have to get through the fabric - on BOTH sides. You do this it just falls apart.

A comment on tiling and grouting for the DIY crowd: Thinset that is hardening while you're placing tile is an inherently stressful situation. My project was successful; my wife hasn't left me (and she helped!), the kids didn't run away.

Good luck!

RickW's post reminded me of something that I thought is worth passing on . . . I found it easier to mix up several smaller batches of Thinset rather than mixing up one larger batch to avoid having the stuff set up too quickly.

RE: Durock . . . it really isn't that much of a challenge to cut. I scored it several times with a utility knife and snapped it like you would a piece of sheetrock. Your blade will be toast afterwards though . . . but other than that . . . it really wasn't that big of a deal.

 

[Drumaz]

This is all awesome info. Thanks to all. I have a grinder I'm going to use to cut the Durock. I drew up my plans for all the materials and I'm going to HD this weekend to start it. The "plan" is to build a frame of 2x4's and cover that with 3/4" plywood. I plan on screwing that all together. Then apply thinset and lay the durock over that. Adding applicable screws as well...
*What do I do about the seems in the Durock? It's going to be puzzle pieced together*
Apply tile - *Is there a special material I should use to apply the tile?
Grout - *Is there special grout as well?*

Thanks again.. I'm ready to make a mess!!

 

[firefighterjake]

This is all awesome info. Thanks to all. I have a grinder I'm going to use to cut the Durock. I drew up my plans for all the materials and I'm going to HD this weekend to start it. The "plan" is to build a frame of 2x4's and cover that with 3/4" plywood. I plan on screwing that all together. Then apply thinset and lay the durock over that. Adding applicable screws as well...
*What do I do about the seems in the Durock? It's going to be puzzle pieced together*
Apply tile - *Is there a special material I should use to apply the tile?
Grout - *Is there special grout as well?*

Thanks again.. I'm ready to make a mess!!

We're pulling for ya Drumaz . . . and we expect pics of the finished product.

As mentioned by another poster . . . adding extra support where the stove legs land makes a lot of sense (if for nothing else the peace of mind).

Some other suggestions:

More screws and nails is better than not enough screws and nails in my opinion. It's always easier to drive in a few extra screws or nails and make sure there is no flexing than to opt to not take the extra 15 minutes and down the road have the hearth flex and tiles crack.

Seams in the Durock . . . I had a seam and used mesh tape. Supposedly there is a special mesh tape you can use for this application . . . however this mesh tape seemed identical to the sheetrock mesh tape I was using . . . of course I could be really off base on this and live to regret this . . . but the seam I had was relatively small. Also, per installation requirements there is a space between the Durock . . . which unfortunately I failed to notice.

RE: Material for the tile . . . I used Flexibond . . . it was quite a bit more than the regular stuff or pre-mixed, but folks recommended using the Thinset mortar with latex (and a few specifically mentioned Flexibond) as it does allow some flex and doesn't contain any potentially combustible chemicals. I used a similar grout.

Again, good luck . . . go slow . . . plan out your steps . . . and if you have questions, ask away.