What materials are commonly used for a hearth under a wood burning stove. The Jotul manual is confusing as it states R2.0 in one part and R0.5 in another and yet contains an example requiring R1.2xx or something.
Is simple brick over plywood subfloor acceptable? I know there is always concern of heat transmission. Brick can still get hot enough to burn the subfloor if the stove gets really really hot.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Tim
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Replies
Is simple brick over plywood subfloor acceptable?
usually not to an insurance company...insulated metal is accepted...hokey stoveboards are availible where wood stoves are sold - you could float a mud bed over sheet metal - - what I did was to cut out the flooring, frame in a plywood floor, float a mud layer (1 1/2"), and then had the metal shop custom cut a nice piece of fairly heavy sheet steel - all neatly trimmed and ended up with the hearth level with all the floor in the room...
I expect you'll hear some innovative ideas here..
Well, ... there would be different sides of the stove to be considered. The bottom is differerent that the back or sides . Then theres the top to be considered.
There should ba an uninsulated minimum also.
But any way , if a stove was at least a foot from the brick floor , I would be comfortable. All the cold air in the house will rush under a circulating stove thus cooling the bottom. If the stove has fire brick in the bottom of it , thats even distribution of mass insulation to protect the bottom of the stove from burning out from intense heat. It also to some degree protects the floor.
Manufactors listings is our bible in this case as it deals with that particular device. If you dont understand it , call the service hot line. When in doubt , whup it out.
Tim Mooney