Advice for Buying a Hearth Pad

[DanCorcoran]

I know, I know, I should make one, not buy one. Problem is that I live 3 hours away from my cabin and my shop and tools are all here at home (no pickup truck to move it, anyway).

Background: the place I ordered the stove from wants $529 for a 48"x48" tiled hearth pad, which they'd install when they bring the stove. The next cheapest choice they have (and only other choice) is the same size pad covered with black sheet metal for $149.

I've looked online and found a 48" x 48" "Hudson River Wall Sand Storm Hearth Board (those are their words, not mine) for about $350 including shipping. There's no mention of an "R" value, and it looks like they've mixed together a wall board with a hearth board (sand storm is the color). This makes me think maybe they don't know what they're talking about. The site is "iBuyWoodStoves.com" and they are apparently located in NJ. I plan to call them tomorrow, but before spending $350 with a company I've never heard of, thought I'd check here with those in the know.

So, do any of you know where I can find a decent looking 48" x 48" tiled hearth pad for somewhere in the neighborhood of $300-$400 (less would be great) with an R value of 1.0 or more? If so, can you recommend the company and their products?

Thanks for any help or leads you can provide...

 

[thinkxingu]

Hello There,
If I remember correctly, I was getting quotes for $250 or so for these: http://www.ajhearthoriginals.com/. Otherwise, I found hearth pads to be way overpriced.

Good luck,

S

 

[DanCorcoran]

Well, I take it from the lack of replies that no one has found a good source for hearth pads. (I checked out AJ's hearth pads, but it doesn't appear that they ship or sell to anyone except retailers.)

Thanks anyway, folks.

 

[ChipTam]

I was faced with a similar problem about two years ago, i.e. trying to figure out the R-value of commercially made hearth pads. Specifically, I was looking at one of those thin black steel faced pads for our stove in Canada. I believe the brand name was Imperial stove boards. Anyway, I called their 800 number and was kept on hold forever. When someone finally answered they told me they would transfer me to their technical department and then promptly hung up. The outside of the package gave no information about R-value but I took a chance and bought the board anyway. Only after I opened the package and did some math did I discover that it was rated at less than half of the R-value I required. The hardware store was nice enough to accept a return of the product but I became convinced that the manufacturer was doing it's best to obscure the actual R-value of the board until after the sale. I finally built my own pad for only slightly more than the cost of the stove board. Good luck with your project.
ChipTam

 

[burr]

Check on the NorthernTool site, search heat shield or hearth pad. I'm not sure of the requirements, but these are priced better...

 

[Pagey]

We got ours here via our dealer: (broken link removed to http://www.americanpanelhearth.com/Product) Line/default.htm

High in price compared to making one, but I am not handy. Sometimes you have to pay more due to your inabilities. However, since I can build a PC and administer an Ethernet network, I save us on that end. Life's a series of compromises.

 

[heatwise]

we ended up getting our installer to order a yodders pad . i am quite capable of constructing one however my time is best spent on other projects. it wasnt cheap. and i had my youngest son pick the colour off the company web site . i like many of the custom hearth set ups that are one of a kind and would definately recomend the custom approach if you have the time. pete

 

[DanCorcoran]

ChipTam,

See my new thread in this "Gear" section. I contacted Imperial Group with no problem and they said all of their stove boards have R= 1.08. I paid $43 US yesterday at Lowes for a 36" x 48" pad.