Beefed Up Hearth Rug?

[mellow]

The new insert is sitting out a bit more than our old one and with the way our room is setup and with small kids running around I would rather not extend the tile out further in the room than it currently is. I am only about 2" short with the current setup, but 2" is 2".

So I thought about putting down a beefed up hearth rug, from what I have read Fiberglass or Wool rugs are no better than regular rugs when it comes to ember protection, so I am looking at taking a standard non flammable rug and turning it into a super duper hearth rug.

I have some extra Aluminum Tread Plate sitting around doing nothing so I thought I would take some non-flammable adhesive and glue down the rug to the plate, there is no way an ember can get through that! I would flip the tread plate upside down so it has traction on the tile and carpet it is protecting, maybe leave an inch of overhang on all the sides so no one breaks a toe if they run into it.

And yes as a seasoned burner I know the best thing would be to extend the hearth out more.

Code in my area does not require it to be fastened down. Insurance doesn't mind as long as it is not flammable.

The reason for posting this is I have scoured the threads and not seen something like this done before other than hearth extenders, for my setup that would add to much height.

Ok, I am putting on my flame suit.

Attached a picture of my break in photo so you can see what I am working with(reason for the smoke), also keep in mind a kidco gate goes in front as well.

 

[DianeB]

What about an ember board.
http://www.amazon.com/Black-UL1618-Ember-Protection-Board/dp/B008748N28

You can remove it after heating season. Find some temporary adhesive to hold it to your flooring during heating season.

 

[TradEddie]

I was in the exact same situation, and after looking into the various options, I ended up buying a 12" hearth extension, see below for pics. It weighs about 40lbs, so no problem to pick up and store over the summer, and it matches very well with the stove and surround. I bought mine on Amazon, far cheaper than anywhere else I could find. That picture may be deceiving but it looks like you're much more than 2" short, but it does look like your hearth is only slightly raised over the carpet so an extension might not work anyway. The HearthSafe one I bought is only 1.25" high. Even if you are 2" short, that wood trim means that nothing you add is extending your clearance to combustibles unless you remove the trim.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/last-piece-hearth-insert-finally-installed.92190/

TE

 

[mellow]

I was able to push the insert back further than when that picture was taken during the initial break in fires.

How thick is that black ember board? I am looking to keep this as thin as possible, if I have to I can remove that wood trim but would rather just go over top of it.

 

[mellow]

The other reason height is a concern is I have a kidco gate in front, not wanting it riding high in the center and teeter on the edges.

 

[mfglickman]

I was in the exact same situation, and after looking into the various options, I ended up buying a 12" hearth extension, see below for pics. It weighs about 40lbs, so no problem to pick up and store over the summer, and it matches very well with the stove and surround. I bought mine on Amazon, far cheaper than anywhere else I could find. That picture may be deceiving but it looks like you're much more than 2" short, but it does look like your hearth is only slightly raised over the carpet so an extension might not work anyway. The HearthSafe one I bought is only 1.25" high. Even if you are 2" short, that wood trim means that nothing you add is extending your clearance to combustibles unless you remove the trim.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/last-piece-hearth-insert-finally-installed.92190/

TE

Does that stay in place if someone (ahem, my 135 lb dog) steps on it, or does it slide?

I love your mantel, btw. I'd love to replace my 18th century wannabe (1970's reality) mantel with a nice hefty beam like that.

 

[rdust]

The other reason height is a concern is I have a kidco gate in front, not wanting it riding high in the center and teeter on the edges.

Looks like you have plenty of room to extend the hearth without creating a trip hazard/toe snagging since the gate goes around the stove/hearth. How much space is between the hearth and gate right now? It looks like much more than the 2 inches you need.

 

[mellow]

The trip hazard has more to do with when the gate is not up the other 7 months out of the year.

 

[begreen]

If you extend the hearth using the same tile and same softly sloped trim molding it shouldn't be a trip hazard. That will look the best I think and will be permanent.

 

[TradEddie]

Does that stay in place if someone (ahem, my 135 lb dog) steps on it, or does it slide?

I love your mantel, btw. I'd love to replace my 18th century wannabe (1970's reality) mantel with a nice hefty beam like that.

The hearth extension won't move unless I really want it to. I did put some felt pads on the underside of the metal edge to prevent it scratching the floor, and even then it takes a lot of effort to move. We love that mantel too, one of the big attractions when we bought the house, but it's also a 70's wannabe, so the mantel is really just a hollow box. I'm glad because I had to remove it once and it was more than heavy enough!

TE