Building a hearth pad

[greenthumb]

Has anyone ever made there own hearth pad that sits under a wood stove. I would like to be able to remove it someday if we decide the stove is no longer what is wanted. The pad would sit over a wood floor. I relize that the floor would have to be redone at some later date if covered for a period of years. what I am trying to find out would be materials. would plywood may be 1/2 wonder board then tile be enough to protect the wood from the heat. When I see hearthpads in stores they don't seem very high tech. just expensive.

 

[beenthere]

I made a pad for a Vermont Castings Wood stove, and followed the recommendations (also followed by the building inspector) that were in the stove manual. I downloaded it from their site.

If I remember correctly, on the plywood subfloor, I put a sheet of 28ga steel, then 1/2 inch cement board, with 1/4 inch tile on top of that. I didn't use adhesive to fasten the cement board to the plywood sheathing, but only screws and roofing nails. The tile was glued to the cement board in the conventional manner. Their are some guidelines for using heat shields on the stove (Defiant) which sets on about 4" legs.

 

[hazmat]

First stop is to check with your local building inspector. They may require the pad be UL listed. We are puting a wood stove in this fall. Everything is ducky w/ the inspector if it has a UL listing. Just follow the manufacturer's instructions. If not UL listed, the required clearances grow tremendously.

PS What's expensive? Our shop had them for $200-$400 and up. Almost doesn't seem worth the time for $200.

 

[dmccarty]

greenthumb,

You have a timely question. I was reading up on this last
night on <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.woodstove.com>http://www.woodstove.com</A> They have a section
on how to make a hearth as well as mentioning that you can
buy a UL approved version from some suppliers.

From memory they suggested 3/4 inch plywood, next add a
sheet of then metal, then a fireproof board material and finally
your slate, brick, tile, whatever. Trim it with wood to make
it look nice. They suggested 4' x 5'. Anything smaller would
be messier when cleaning the stove and when storing wood.

We are thinking of getting a woodstove. Have been for years,
even though we should be gone from our current house
next year if things go as planned. We might get the stove
to make sure it does what we want it to do....

Hope this helps...
Dan McCarty

 

[JJT]

About 10 years ago I installed a zero clearance fireplace. Code and manufacturer's spec's back then required 1 inch of wonderboard. Check with your building inspector or local fire dept, around here they still inspect all new fireplace and wood stove installations.