Building stone wall for wood burning stove

[aj bruno]

I will be installing a woodburning stove soon. I want to make the entire wall a stone covered as well as build a hearth. Any ideas where to do research before I begin? Should I used natural stone or synthetic? Backerboard? Codes?

[Kobie]

Aj do you plan on using B-vent for the flue? I would use natural stone for the hearth and synthetic on the walls.You don't what to have to shore up the floor because of weight issues.I seen someone use a piece of black granite for a hearth and it looked good and is easy to keep clean.I can't remeber all the codes for the flue but I'll make a phone call and ask my Dad.

[33pounder]

let me know what size you need for the hearth (if you go w/ granite )
a good friend is a fabricator and has many leftover pieces from jobs that i can look through. can even cut to size but may have to charge a small fee if any thing needs to be polished
could even post some pics of what is available

also 3/4 or 5/4??

[mericanwit]

take a peek at californo dot com crazy ideas and as to how coin you're willing to part with...
good luck....

[aj bruno]

Aj do you plan on using B-vent for the flue? I would use natural stone for the hearth and synthetic on the walls.You don't what to have to shore up the floor because of weight issues.I seen someone use a piece of black granite for a hearth and it looked good and is easy to keep clean.I can't remeber all the codes for the flue but I'll make a phone call and ask my Dad.

The granite would be nice but I am thinking stone. I am not concerned about clean up, it in a wood burning stove the fire is contained in the stove. I plan on using a class A chimney.

[giantfan]

If you can find a cultured stone that you like, use it on the walls as listed above the real deal can be quite heavy and may need additional support.

[carnivore]

I did a job like that for a friend. I'm paranoid about fires so I was cautious. Not sure about codes. I wouldn't recommend unless you had good const. know how. I worked as a mason when I was younger, did not do much fireplace work mostly outside stuff.. Like I said fire is a bad thing so be careful. I would use natural stone/veneer or brick. I'm not sure if the synthetic stuff can handle heat it has a polyester resin in it. I would say that there is more danger of a fire from sparks when you have the door open loading the stove than from heat transfer but like I said I'm a bit paranoid about fire.

I removed the 1/2 sheet rock added some horizontal blocking and sistered up a few weak 2x4's.

Installed 1/2 concrete board. Attached wire lath.

Used natural stone veneer to cover wall behind the stove.

The floor was done with heavy slate right on ply sub-floor.

I did a test with a 1' x 1' square I made of the material (1/2" concrete board, lath/mud and stone). I held a mapp gas torch against it for like 5 minutes... no heat transfer at all. So I guess you could build a hearth that way too any shape... could use standard wood framing cover it with concrete board and stone... done.

[barrell]

I have done it all kind of ways and I prefer tile for both the wall and the base. Tile comes in so many colors, patterns ,and materials. You can get the base nice and level so you dont have any problems with the stove rocking.
I have tiled right to concrete basement floors and I have built up the base 6 or 8 inches off the floor. I have seen where guys build up the base a little higher and then have some wood storage under the base. I like to put down 3/4 inch plywood on the base and then 1/2 tile backer board before the tile.
On the back wall there are foreproofing requirements depending on the type of stove. A single wall stove needs to be further away from the wall then a double or triple wall stove. Basicaly you will want to have a one inch air space between the tile backer board and the studs.
To buld a freefloating mantle piece I always take a nice thick piece of wood and then drill a series of 1/2 inch holes from the back toward the front. I then slice off the back two inches verticaly. I then glue 1/2 doweles into that 2 inch strip and lag bolt it to the studs where I want the mantle. I then coat the strip and the dowles with glue and slide the mantle onto the strip. What you end up with is a nice looking free floating mantle with no vertical suports needed so you dont have to tile around those suports.