Quick And Easy DIY Hearth For Our New Wood Stove!

This simple DIY hearth can save you hundreds of dollars.
Help support our family and channel! Shop Amazon through this link: www.amazon.com/shop/countryli...
This hearth is beautiful and was easy to construct. We spent $30 on the tile, $20 on the concrete backer board, and $11 for the aluminum reveals for a total of $61.
We show you step by step how we constructed, built, and installed our hearth.
Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to come see us on:
Facebook: / countrylivingexperience
Pinterest: / pins
Instagram: / countrylivingexperience

[@doro19]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I literally looked at dozens of videos on this topic, and all were either unnecessarily complicated or sketchy at best. You captured my attention with your opening sentence. I knew immediately that this was going to be the video that answered my questions. THANK YOU!!

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You're welcome. Glad we could help.

[@bluvapors]

I love your idea. I will be recreating this very soon. Thank You.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thanks Chris. Just make sure, as I mentioned in the video, that you adhere to the specs of your stove. Some require a thicker base depending on how they are constructed.

[@petebeasttexashomesteading]

Looks great 👍

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thanks Pete!

[@ericyoung9995]

Thank you for the video. Nice job and answered many questions I had about building my own hearth in the near future.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You're welcome. Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching.

[@suzannegoard3782]

Very helpful for me. I have an older woodstove and a concrete floor but with the tutorials , I feel confident a homemade hearth will be fine ( once the roof flu track is established) thank you

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You're welcome

[@RiverPlaid]

🌸Great job that I will definitely build. Thank you 🌸

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Great. Have fun with the build.

[@terryleecone9675]

Thank you 😊

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You're welcome

[@bhill6213]

This is great 👍

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you

[@AnnieFarmerFarm]

Nice job!

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you Annie.

[@Towndrunk]

Fantastic video

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you

[@jamesfields1533]

GOOD JOB

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you.

[@mountainmelts5221]

good info! thumbs up because your kids are adorable

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you so much!

[@danielleterry2331]

Thank you for this vid! I bought a epa mobile home wood stove the mobile home install kit and double wall pipes then ran out of $🥴 but this helped me and gave me hope that I can get a hearth made

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You're welcome. You can do it!

[@Three-leggedRanch]

First! I love your videos. They are great DIY ideas!!

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you! We truly appreciate it. Thanks for being here.

[@ivanpomy]

great video! no stone left unturned on this one!

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you

[@grcerosa]

Great job I have a brand new joule 602 compact wood-burning stove so your compact medal flame will be perfect

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you

[@lyndabelknap8367]

Does the weather get cold enough in Texas for a woodstove? We have a findlay cookstove, airtight stove, pellet stove and a propane stove to heat our old farmhouse in Canada. We burn 12 cords of wood per year from our property. Really enjoy your videos. God Bless.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Hi Lynda. It does get cold here in East Texas. We are at 30 degrees F (-1C) right now. North Texas gets a decent amount snow too. We have an electric heat pump type of heating system that works in conjunction with our air conditioning unit. This is common in the Southern US. It does not really work well below 30F and consumes a ton of electricity making it expensive to run. So we are supplementing that system with the wood stove. Most people here burn about 2 cords per year if they are strictly using wood to heat. Thanks again!

[@Mr.Tabs.Guitar.Lessons]

How far should the outer frame be from the wood stove? Wouldn't want the aluminum to heat up and burn anyone who might touch it.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Heat transfer to the floor should be minimal. I would not worry about it at all. For my stove, 8" is the recommended distance on the sides, 18" in the front, and 8" in the back. Stoves can vary so please check your stove's specific installation instructions.

[@franksumina]

What was the thickness on the aluminum channels? And what was the thickness of the cement board? And were the tiles just standard thickness?

[@stuckinmygarage6220]

Thank you. Dis u video the stove install??? Best regards

[@CountryLivingExperience]

I actually will be putting that video up very soon. Hit that little bell symbol next to the subscribe button and it will tell you when we put out a new video.

[@grcerosa]

👏👏👏👏👏

[@homesteadsissies3916]

Hey there! How did dry stacking the tile hold up over time? We planned to follow your tutorial, but the tile we initially bought cracked when we stepped on it. It seems most videos use mortar and grout, but we really don't want to mess with all that, as our hearth is just for a wall tent! We were wondering if dry stacking held up, or if you ended up with cracking? Editing to add: Our stove has four legs instead of a pedestal.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Hello. We have not had an issue with ours at all. Your last sentence said it all....legs. The legs have what is called a point load on them. All the weight is on those 4 points causing more pressure where they contact the tile. You will need a much thicker material to carry and distribute those loads.

[@rozchristopherson648]

I haves concrete floor already in the room where I want to put my wood stove so I guess I wouldn’t need a hearth. PS. The 2 babies made my day.😊

[@CountryLivingExperience]

If you have a concrete floor, you should be good. Check with the manufacturers installation instructions just in case.

[@rozchristopherson648]

Country Living Experience: A Homesteading Journey Thank you for your reply. Will do. 👍

[@haleylynne1768]

Could this be done over vinyl slab? We have slab foundation and vinyl flooring. Could we put down concrete backer, then a nice brick over it? Or does vinyl flooring have to be removed? TIA were also in east Texas

[@CountryLivingExperience]

It should be fine to lay the backer over the vinyl but a "professional" will tell you to cut the vinyl out and then lay the backer. Honestly the bottom of the stove never gets over 90° so the hearth only functions as a spark arrestor.

[@Jkevinking3]

I may have missed it - did you need to do anything for the wall?? Great video btw.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Thank you. Nothing for the wall. We are far enough away from it to not need anything.

[@brightphoebus]

Your backerboard snapped so easily! I had to score mine several times before it would break. Cutting 2mm in or so, and even at that it did not break cleanly. I had to go in and pare it down after to straighten up the break. 7/16" thick, James Hardie brand. Heavy as hell! Yours seems to have some bounce. And mine was convex too. I laid it curve up so I could weigh it down after I mortared in the tile. But now I've got a 1/4" gap between the stone and the skirting board. I'm wondering about taking the skirting board out and putting in a backsplash row of tile ( they're 3"x6") with mortar, to fill the gap... Don't want any embers getting down there. Can you use caulking?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

They have different thicknesses and types. Ours was fairly easy to snap for sure. Ours is just dry set and we did not mortar it.

[@brightphoebus]

@@CountryLivingExperience I wanted to get 1/4" as it would be lower profile, and lighter and easier to cut but it wasn't available unfortunately. It was the fire chief that recommended I caulk the gap at the back well. Thanks for your reply. I'll have to fill the gap with something as it's not butted right up against the wall like yours is.

[@bw6267]

Video starts at 4:30

[@malkiyyahuriel1217]

What screws did you use for mailing the board down?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Concrete backer screws

[@precisionanglingYT]

Where did you get the channel reveals? Is it standard aluminum stock from Home Depot? I’m not familiar with it, and I couldn’t find it with a good search

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Yep, Home Depot. Here is the link to the one that I bought: bit.ly/2m02pzo

[@gusgarcia3443]

@@CountryLivingExperience FYI , The link you provided for reveal was for the 1/2in 1/16th x 8ft ... In your video you clearly said you used 3/4in 1/16th. I found this out AFTER I purchased the 1/2in from your link.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

@@gusgarcia3443 Ok. Companies like Home Depot change links all the time depending on inventory.

[@anniespencer9010]

Do you happen to know the R value for the 1/2" cement backer board and porcelain tile on top of your wood floors?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

I get a 1.5R for the tile and backer I bought. That is good for my particular stove but every stove has different parameters. An additional ceramic fiber insulating blanket may be added under the tile if needed.

[@anniespencer9010]

@@CountryLivingExperience Thanks for the quick response!

[@adame6169]

Probably more like r0.4.

[@clintanderson5985]

Is that in the metal rack section or in the wood stove hearth area

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Neither section. Each store is different. They can help you find it.

[@02air]

Assuming you are placing this on concrete floor, would you change your plan?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Nope. I would do the same.

[@prairiemountainhomestead]

We have a floating floor. Lvp. Could I install a hearth like this just on top? Or would I need to rip up the flooring😩🙄

[@CountryLivingExperience]

You probably can. You will have to check with your specific stove for the thickness of the hearth though.

[@swu7308]

Put some cement paste between cement and tile,otherwise Tile cracks when you put stove back on

[@CountryLivingExperience]

No cracks at all. I even changed to a heavier bigger stove… still no cracks.

[@swu7308]

@@CountryLivingExperience love it lol. I’m buying materials you used for

[@lappap4262]

a quick question, dont you need to grout the tiles? I dont see a reason but still asked.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

We didn’t grout them for two reasons. They are tightly set together and the frame on the perimeter keeps them locked in place. Thanks for the question.

[@Tom-Fisherman]

I have 4 points from leveling feet. Total weight overall is like 165lbs. It is a small pellet stove…..Do you think this would be an issue for the porcelain tiles?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Unfortunately, that may be too much for 4 point loads on loose tile.

[@zakksrage]

16 inches

[@jenniferowen322]

Did you need to put tile on the wall behind the stove?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Not in this installation for two reasons. 1. I have double wall pipe that allows me to get close to noncombustibles. 2. The stove was pulled further out from the wall because of the truss location for the chimney pipe clearance. Make sure you check your specific stove and stove pipe for their clearances. Some double wall pipe can be as close as 6" from a noncombustible material.

[@Alex.smiffy]

Now that it's been over a year, have you found the hearth to be a tripping hazard at all? I am considering recessing mine to be flush with my finished floor.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

No tripping at all. My kids run around it all the time with no problems. If you recess yours, I am sure that would be beautiful. We did that at my previous house and it looked amazing.

[@Alex.smiffy]

Thank you!

[@MrMilesThompson]

Do you think it would be ok to put grout between the tiles without grouting beneath them?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

I think the weight of the stove would just crack the grout instantly.

[@MrMilesThompson]

I just finished building my tile hearth, ended up cutting the floor to recess it then set the tile using thinset and 1/8 grout between tiles and sanded tile caulk to join tile to wood flooring. Came out looking mint and no cracking.

[@clintanderson5985]

Where did you get your aluminum reveal

[@CountryLivingExperience]

We got that at Lowe’s.

[@billycarroll738]

That's nice. Would have made the corners not as sharp. The definitely going to hurt if you jam your foot into on of those corners.

[@mattfetter4123]

Tripping onto a hot stove. 🔥

[@samanthameadows7051]

Did you post what tiles you used?

[@samanthameadows7051]

And how did you get your R value? When we are doing the math the combined tile and concrete board don’t add up to 1.5 Unless we just have no idea what we are doing.

[@CountryLivingExperience]

R-value of tile and concrete backer is fairly low. Although most modern stoves you do not need a high resistance because of the height of the firebox from the floor and low heat transference through the pedestal. Hearths are mainly just spark arrestors. the bottom of my pedestal doesn't get over 95°f even when the firebox is 500°f.

[@allenfrankin]

What about he cost of the screws?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

Those were a million dollars.

[@allenfrankin]

@@CountryLivingExperience I knew it! the secret is out

[@CountryLivingExperience]

@@allenfrankin Inflation is a killer tax. Honestly they were only less than a dollar probably. Negligible.

[@boboscurse4130]

So you don't need anything on the walls?

[@CountryLivingExperience]

We are going to cover that in an upcoming video. The simple answer is, "It depends." It depends on how far your stove is away from the wall and it also depends on what type of stove pipe you have.

[@claibst]

AMAZON NOT!!!!!!!!!!