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I have selected a free-standing, castiron wood stove for our new house to be used mostly for “therapeutic” purposes (arthritic joints) and to help heat the house when we have the time for a fire. (Yes, I’ve read the discussions on fireplaces & masonry heaters, but this wood stove is the best solution for us I think.)
House is built on a crawlspace, with 3/4″ T&G subfloor. I was thinking of building a base with 1/2″ backer board and tile, but the salesman said that had too much “thermal conductance” (??), that I’d need to buy a base (which he sells of course) that has either either a honey-comb material, or a porous cementious material.
I’m sure some of you have built bases for free-standing wood heaters. How did you do it? I don’t want something massive, but fieldstone would be an acceptable material. Also, did you do anything special for the adjacent walls (1/2″ sheetrock) other than adhere to the recommended spacing, or adding the “optional” ($$) heat shield to the stove? Any advice or guidance will be much appreciated.
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Crusty, There are many options for a base for your wood stove. From simple such as using 3x8x16 cement blocks lying flat allowing air flow through the channels to a bed of aggregate and sand in a wood form( 2" minimun. The solutions can be ornate like tile and stone. Or you can buy a manufactored pad. There are several out there that are less expensive than you think.
Most wood stoves radiate heat from the top and sides, so it is important to extend your pad, what ever you chose, at least beyound a 45degree line from the bottom edge of the stove out to the floor.
I am not all that familiar with the new generation of high tech stoves, but all stoves I have seen in the last 30 years reccommend a bedding of sand or firebrick lining the bottom of the stove to retard burning out the bottom. This helps in minimizing the downward radiation of heat. With that in mind, my reccomendations in the past has been a factory heatshield or 2" of masonry or stone base thickness. I have never had a problem of too much heat transfer through the base, even if the base was solid masonry. However it is very important to consider stove manufactorer's requirements and your own common sense; does it feel hot under the stove?
I hope this is helpful. You must be getting close to being done on your house. You will have one advantage over us builders building our own houses, in that you will finish yours.
Another thought. Don't apologize for using a wood stove. They offer many useful advantages over other heating sources being very democratic(nobody can shut off your heat) and are efficient in other ways such as parking your butt to one on a chilly autumn morning. Speaking of which snow in the mountains this morning. Walk good david
*Crusty, You made a good choice to heat with wood.There simply is no other heat source as satisfying to the "ole" bones..I've sold wood stoves of every typefor many years (wood furnaces as well).. You can make your base with stone and make itlarge enough to catch sparks and ash when feeding and cleaning..Heat does rise ! Stoves do not get terribly hot below the legs or base..we had a Bostonterrier who loved to sleep under our kitchen cook stove..the cooler air in your home is constantly dropping to the floor:cooling it! If you place aluminum foil (shiny side up) below your base,the floor below will hardly be warm.. The wall area is simple as well..A fire proof material with the aluminum on its back side;spaced1"from the sheetrock (1/2" cooper pipe works well)and 2-3" above the new stone base, and 1-2' ABOVE THE STOVE , will keep the walls quite safe .. The tea pots whistling,have a comfortable winter.. pilgrim
*Crusty,I am currently in the finishing stages of my 1300 s/f mountain cabin in Alpine, Arizona (elevation 8,250 -- so it can get quite cold there!). I also decided to go with a Wood Stove for the main source of heat. My cabin also is built over a crawl space with a 3/4” T & G OSB subfloor. I built a 5’ x 5’ platform in the corner of the main living/great room using 2 x 4’s on edge. I built the platform (box) with the 2 x’s positioned about every 12 - 15 inches apart. On top of the platform I used two layers of 1/2” osb which I attached using screws & wood glue. On top of the two layers of OSB I installed two layers of 1/2 inch cement backerboard using regular old thinset tile morter. I have a layer of thinset between the OSB and the first layer of backerboard, then another layer of thinset between the two layers of backerboard. I used special screws to screw down the backerboard about every 6 - 6 inches. On top of the two layers of backerboard, I installed some 1/2” ceramic italian tiles that I picked up at a local discount tile outlet ($1.15 s/f!!). This provided me with about a 2 inch layer of noncombustable materials to set the wood stove on. I have found that the base i have made really does not get very hot when using the stove -- even when I have had the stove burning for 12 - 18 hours. My stove is set in the corner of the great room, where I used 1/2” FIRE RATED drywall in the area behind the stove. My stove manufacturer says that it can be placed as close as 11 inches away from a combustable surface, so i figure 11 inches from the fire rated stuff must be OK. Check with your manucaturer regarding this. This past weekend I placed the italian tiles on the wall behind the wood stove, going up about three feet. I used a latex modified thinset made for this purpose. Looks pretty good.
*David, Don, Adam.... thanks for your input. Just what I was looking for.