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Ontario lakeside
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# Posted: 25 Sep 2016 06:11pm
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I just finished putting in our hearth for the wood stove. Total cost about $40. I think it turned out very nice and though I would share for anyone else that wants a low cost solution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip31Z2Znks4
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 26 Sep 2016 08:50am - Edited by: bldginsp
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Looks nice Ontario. I like the rough texture, although the only way to clean ash off a rough texture is with a vacuum, that is, if you insist upon getting it all up.
Necessary hearth thicknesses vary with different wood stoves. The closer the stove is to the floor the thicker the hearth needs to be because it will get hotter. Should always check the instructions for your stove to see what the manufacturer says. The 3 inches Ontario used will probably work in most circumstances, but not all.
It's also wise to put sheet metal under the hearth. Concrete and mortar will crack over time. Wire or rebar in the concrete will hold it together but not stop the cracking. Embers can get into the cracks and conceivably contact wood below and start a fire. Rare possibility, unlikely with a new installation, but that woodstove might outlast you, and 50 years from now, things might be different. Sheet metal is cheap.
Wood stoves are a major source of building fires in North America. It pays to research and go the extra mile.
The instructions for my little Morso don't even mention thickness of hearth, because it's shielded and stands on 14" legs. On the other end of the scale would be a fireplace insert stove, meant to be installed in a standard fireplace. Codes prohibit any combustibles at all below a standard masonry fireplace- it has to be built on concrete- so inserts are made without regard to bottom clearances. If you installed an insert stove like a free-standing stove on a brick hearth, it could easily heat the brick to the point that it would cause the wood beneath to burn. In the middle between a shielded stove and an insert incorrectly installed are the many unshielded freestanding woodstoves that have been manufactured over the last few decades. That stove you got on Craigslist might have requirements very different from the new stoves for sale today.
Most codes require 16" of hearth in front of the stove, and 8" on the sides and the rear. From the photo, not sure that Ontario's install meets the rule for the rear.
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Ontario lakeside
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# Posted: 26 Sep 2016 10:38am
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Bldginsp thanks for the comments, they are all good points and well worth considering.
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rockies
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# Posted: 26 Sep 2016 08:51pm
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I'm a bit curious about the direction the stove faces. How come the back of the stove doesn't face the wall?
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Ontario lakeside
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# Posted: 26 Sep 2016 10:56pm
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Hey Rockies
Its one large room with kitchen and dining at one end and living room at the other. The stove faces the living room end so you can see the fire from the couch.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2016 10:57pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Rules are rules, but with that 16" out front rule, I've always wondered how many people, young and old, have tripped on the raised surface doing more cumulative damage (burns! brushes! breaks) than the old stray embers ever have done. A sheet of thin tin on the floor might be safer than a 3" lip sticking out in front if the stove orientation causes it to project into a walkway.
In the photo above the extended platform likely serves a very useful purpose. It'll keep the back of your chair or your hair from catching fire.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2016 11:38pm
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There is no rule saying that the hearth has to be higher than the surrounding floor, as far as I know. It can be flush, but then you have to build a separate lowered subfloor for the hearth depending on thickness. Yes granted it constitutes a trip hazard and actually violates the basic building code rule that floors cannot have changes in elevation more than 1/2".
Here's one I'll never forget. A guy remodeling his house left the existing fireplace intact, but modified the 16" hearth extension in front. He mounted it on rollers so it could slide to one side, exposing a storage box below for wood and pressed logs! Very creative, but the gap between the fixed hearth and hearth extension could easily let embers in, onto the pressed logs beneath... The owner and I had a lengthy discussion on that one....
One other incidental issue here- a 'hearth' properly is the surface on which the fire is made, and the stone in front is the 'hearth extension', though the two are often used synonymously. Not that it makes much difference but the word 'hearth' goes back to very old English, German and Scandinavian, and was limited then, apparently, to the former definition. Beowulf didn't have any building codes though, as far as we know.
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Ontario lakeside
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2016 08:16am
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Then is the hearth a part of the floor? I often see fireplace hearths that are raised above the floor, often by as much as a foot or two. clearly these are areas not intended to be walked upon and do not need to be flush. In my case I believe this raised area creates a visual barrier that should be walked around.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2016 08:54am
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I agree Ontario, and I'm sure all building inspectors would too. It's just another one of those things in the code that isn't clarified but everyone assumes.
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Ontario lakeside
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2016 10:27am
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So far my local inspector has been great. He spotted a few minor issues during construction that I agreed with, overall I think his approach has been based on common sense.
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2016 12:12pm
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Just a note for anyone popping onto the thread... Be cautious & careful with Radiant Floor Heating. Yes it is obvious but surprising how some forget only to come to a bad realization.
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Nik4Me
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2016 08:54am
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Let me offer another option: tempered glass hearth from Morse designed for woodstoves. I believe I paid $220 US in 2002 - so far is a very elegant solution: one has to be careful not to drop the poker too many times on it 
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Nik4Me
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2016 09:53am
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This is tempered glass hearth from Morse.
The Jotul 3 stove weighs around 200 lb? Now I have a much heavier stove still the same hearth.
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Ontario lakeside
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2016 11:26am
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Nice hearth, angry cat!
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