Q&A Woodburning stove surround/hearth

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QandA

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Nov 27, 2012
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Question:

I have a few questions concerning my woodstove. My stove sits in the corner of my living room and has a four foot high brick heat blocker(I guess) behind it on each wall. These walls or hearths are falling apart and I want to replace them. Are there certain products that I have to use or can I use regular bricks to re-build the walls? Also, I have seen these fake stones that you put on a substrate with mortar and wire mesh. Do you know anything about these? Can I use these for around my stove? Do you know where I can get this product? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!



Answer:

First, you have to determine if your existing wall was being used to reduce clearance. Many times, the wall is just decoration. If the wall was installed against another wall..with no air space, then the reduction in clearance is only 33%. So if the stove had to normally be 36" away from the wall, it would be reduced to 24" FROM THE ORIGINAL COMBUSTIBLE WALL. Many other materials can be used, however a 1" ventilated air space must be used to get the maximum reduction. A 50% to 66% reduction can be gained by the use of the following materials:
1. sheet metal mounted on spacers 1" from wall
2. Brick or other masonry units mounted 1" from wall
3. Wonderboard, Durarock or other similar cement board mounted 1" from wall
You can then mount tile or the fake stones on the cement board. Many masonry supply yards carry this type of stone.
 
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