Hearth for a woodstove

[GaryM]

OK guys, I'm getting a Vermont Castings woodstove in the new house. I want a raised hearth about 3'x4' to set it on. I figure about 14" or 16" or so. As I don't want to put a bottom heat shield on the stove, i can't have any combustable materials too close.

Here's my plan:
Use concrete blocks like used for foundation walls to build a perimiter wall. Then fill in the center with more concrete blocks. All will be mortered in place. Then fasten a piece of concrete backer board over the top. Ready for tile!

The concrete board will be fastened down with tapcon screws.

What do you think?

[dummy]

<font color="blue"> I figure about 14" or 16" or so </font color> In the <font color="blue"> or so </font color> part, are you going to leave the opening at a very convenient height for loading ? Should provide a nice, attractive non-combustible surface.

[GaryM]

Yes, the 14-16" height should allow easy loading of wood and provide a spot to sit and warm your back. Or maybe toast marshmellos!

Although it might be easier to just lay some ceramic tile on the existing concrete floor.

[Pat]

Gary, I don't see what the blocks in the middle are for or why you need an expensive backer board on top unless you are doing something special. I would probably make the walls out of flagstone or whatever but blocks are fine. I'd then fill the center void with debris. Rocks, bent nails, concrete dribbles from previous work, gravel, sand, and other non decomposing non flamable items (empty beer botles?). Finish with a little sand and tamp it to avoid the voids. Pour a concrete cap on top and finish however you like.

If you are concerned with subsidance, drill or knock holes in the perimeter wall and stick in some scrap rebar to tie the wall to the concrete top.

This big lump of THERMAL MASS will retain heat and release it for hours after the stove fire dies out.

You could rock the top, brick it, tile it, stamp it, embed found objects, lay out a pattern of leaves and gently press into the surface to make a nice relief of leaves on the surface of the concrete.

Pat

[GaryM]

Pat,

All good ideas! The blocks in the middle were to support the weight of the stove. I was planning to tile the sides and top. That's why I was going to use the backer board, so I could apply tile. But the wife thinks she likes brick better. So, as always, plans change. I spoke to my contractor on Friday. Now the plan is to use block and brick. The hearth will be about 14-15 inches high. Brick on ther sides and top. The brick will extend up the wall behind the stove to the ceiling. We really don't have any rubble, at least non-combustable, on site. So they will probably fill in with block as per my first plan.

Here's a picture of the Versaloc retaining wall on the South side of the house. It curves downslope and then kind of turns back to meet the grade. It should be completed this week. Also want a similar wall on the North, but it's going to wait.

[Pat]

Gary, Wives have a way of simplifying the decision making process... Do it their way. I heard this comment once at a meeting of a bunch of Gov types... Consensus requires compromise. Compromise does not really please anyone. Just do it MY WAY and at least one of us will be PERFECTLY SATISFIED.

I fear wives like that approach.

Regarding the brick veneer on the hearth and up the wall. My mom's previous house had a similar hearth but it was only raised the thickness of a brick and then up the wall to the ceiling. She had a Franklin stove on it which would back draft once or twice a month for just a second or two when the wind was just right. Seems a tall enough stack wouldn't have been pretty.

The contractor thought he had misplaced one of the stove legs and couldn't finish the installation. He couldn't find the MFG and was about to give up when I looked at the illustrated parts breakdown (exploded view) and pointed out that it only had three legs, two in front and one in the midle in back. Boy was he embarrassed. Only mistake I knew about in the job subsequent to his arrival. He was a replacement for a bozo that dug the basement in the wrong lot and tried to foist off blocks that were 2nds on us. He tried to get by with just Thompson's Water Seal for waterproofing. He threatened to sue when my mom refused payment but backed off after mom went to the judge and found out he was in litigation with 5 other widows and his lisc was expired.

I really like the looks of the brick hearth with brick up the wall. That can really look nice, especially if you have room to make the brick up the wall pretty wide, I've seen those brick jobs with a niche or two built in for objects d'art (I just think them a good place to put the matches).

I've heard some good things about your kind of retaining wall. We just formed ours up and poured a plain wall 12 inches thick with a french drain on the uphill side to relieve the hydrostatic pressure. Sort of a brute force approach.

I can see from the photo that you are not lacking gable ends that can contribute to venting. My builder and I intend to do a slight mod to your icehouse roof description. The radiant barrier will stop just short of the ventilated soffit at the eaves so that incoming air will split and go both up the "chimney" formed by hanging the radiant barrier below the trusses and through the attic proper, exiting at the ridge vent where again the radiant barrier will stop just short of the ridge leaving a space for the attic proper to be exhausted.

I will actually have gable ends on all the different sections of the house but they will connect up to one another and not leave adequate space for venting. The gables at extreme ends of the house are over 130 ft apart by way of the ridge lines, too far between vents. I want a decorative and functional cupola which will help vent the garage. I wonder, would two cupolas be TOO MUCH? One on the garage and one on the house?

Pat

[GaryM]

Hey,

That's a great idea for my garage! A cupola and a nice copper weathervane.

I was just out at the house installing some plywood boxes I made to take ceiling speakers for the rear surround sound speakers. I needed boxes so the insulation won't get to the speakers. Ran the wire too. Next trip is to run some cat5 cable for the PC network.

But now I'm thinking about the cupola though!