Craig and I went to Grossman's Bargain Outlet and picked up three (3) pieces of 18" travertine tile and strips of small travertine accent tile for the hearth.
From that point on my job was to keep the girls occupied while Craig used an electric saw to cut the hard wood floor in front of the existing hearth. He pried up the boards and tore up the small tile squares. Then he placed some cement board in front of the concrete slab that had been under the tile.
Based on Elk's info on these boards I wanted 18" clearance but the 18" travertine tile wasn't enough to achieve this since it doesn't start at the front of the insert. Rather the insert sits on the tile so we needed the accent tile to increase the clearance by about 3".
The accent tile is basically just small pieces of tile in a pattern held together by webbing. It's easily cut to fit. Which was good since the sections he used on the side are a little narrower than what he used to extend the front.
He finished tiling yesterday evening but he has to wait for the mastic to dry before he can grout them. I have to say that Craig can be pretty meticulous and overall everything has a nice finished look. There is a very slight difference in height between the existing concrete pad and the concrete board but it should be virtually unnoticeable once it is grouted.
He also went to a local steel fabricator and had them make a heat shield he designed to rest on top of the insert's surround. Basically it's a triangular tube. It's open so that about 1" or more of the back side slides behind the surround. The top side of the triangle creates a shelf that is 6" or so deep. The front side angles back towards the surround. The sides are open so the heat will escape. He used matte black heat paint to match the surround.
While the heat shield isn't necessary it does provide a little more piece of mind. Also, if it's sturdy enough it may hold the weight of a coffee cup or perhaps an Ecofan.
We still need to fix the missing rope insulation around the damper. Craig does want to add the offset box. And I have a lead on a used hearth fence with a 2' gate to keep the girls away from the stove. These can cost as much as $200.00 or $250.00. You can get them a little cheaper on Amazon but I think I can do better on Craig's List.
I wasn't sure the fence would be necessary since I didn't know how much we'd be using it but all indications are that we will be running it fairly regularly if not daily.
I am hoping to find the time to figure out how to post pictures.
Thanks again to everyone for all of the information and support, especially from Elk.
~Cath
From that point on my job was to keep the girls occupied while Craig used an electric saw to cut the hard wood floor in front of the existing hearth. He pried up the boards and tore up the small tile squares. Then he placed some cement board in front of the concrete slab that had been under the tile.
Based on Elk's info on these boards I wanted 18" clearance but the 18" travertine tile wasn't enough to achieve this since it doesn't start at the front of the insert. Rather the insert sits on the tile so we needed the accent tile to increase the clearance by about 3".
The accent tile is basically just small pieces of tile in a pattern held together by webbing. It's easily cut to fit. Which was good since the sections he used on the side are a little narrower than what he used to extend the front.
He finished tiling yesterday evening but he has to wait for the mastic to dry before he can grout them. I have to say that Craig can be pretty meticulous and overall everything has a nice finished look. There is a very slight difference in height between the existing concrete pad and the concrete board but it should be virtually unnoticeable once it is grouted.
He also went to a local steel fabricator and had them make a heat shield he designed to rest on top of the insert's surround. Basically it's a triangular tube. It's open so that about 1" or more of the back side slides behind the surround. The top side of the triangle creates a shelf that is 6" or so deep. The front side angles back towards the surround. The sides are open so the heat will escape. He used matte black heat paint to match the surround.
While the heat shield isn't necessary it does provide a little more piece of mind. Also, if it's sturdy enough it may hold the weight of a coffee cup or perhaps an Ecofan.
We still need to fix the missing rope insulation around the damper. Craig does want to add the offset box. And I have a lead on a used hearth fence with a 2' gate to keep the girls away from the stove. These can cost as much as $200.00 or $250.00. You can get them a little cheaper on Amazon but I think I can do better on Craig's List.
I wasn't sure the fence would be necessary since I didn't know how much we'd be using it but all indications are that we will be running it fairly regularly if not daily.
I am hoping to find the time to figure out how to post pictures.
Thanks again to everyone for all of the information and support, especially from Elk.
~Cath
