Suspended 12mm hearth for Solid Fuel Stove?

[sherburn]

Hi all, currently planning to construct a hearth for a solid fuel stove and was initially hoping I'd be able to use a sandstone slab (on steel reinforcement) built up on stones round the sides and back. Here's a photo with a very crude model. The idea would be to use the void below as a wood store.

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• sherburn
• 15 Nov 2012
• 1

The slab is a couple of inches thick, so would be fine for a stove not requiring a constructional hearth, however, upon re-reading part J of the building regulations I realised I'd missed a few words the first time:

"2.23 Appliances should stand wholly above:
a. hearths made of non-combustible board/
sheet material or tiles at least 12mm thick, if
the appliance is not to stand in an appliance
recess"

The bit I'm struggling with is "appliance recess". Is my recess, measuring 130cm x 106 x 48 an appliance recess, or is it big enough to still be able to use a 12mm hearth?

One other thing I haven't been able to find an answer to yet is how much of a clearance is required to non-combustible materials above the hearth. I read 1200mm somewhere, but don't see that anywhere in part J and wonder if someone just got their wires crossed, as that seems like a lot- and would mean I couldn't get someone to fit a stove on my raised hearth anyway!

Got an installer coming round next week to have a look, would be great if I knew by then whether or not this idea could still go ahead, as if it can't I can just forget about it and will be able to have the hearth built before he comes round- working against the clock now to get it all done in time for Christmas!

 

[TheVictorian]

Have you considered a stove with a leg kit to raise it off the hearth? You can then store logs under that.

I've recently had one fitted with a 300mm leg kit and it looks great.

 

[sherburn]

Thanks for the suggestion, have thought about that actually and it's a strong contender if I can't do what I want here, I'd just prefer this option because we'd be able to store more logs in it (plus it'd save a bit of money!).

edit: How sturdy are the stoves with leg kits by the way? Haven't seen one in the flesh yet and my only concern was that it looked like quite a high centre of gravity. Thanks again.

 

[TheVictorian]

I've got this one:

http://www.bfm-europe.com/products/...ortway-2---contemporary-multi-fuel-stove.html

And the legs are solid, the thing doesnt move around mainly due to teh weight of the stove I suppose.

You can store logs to the left and right of the legs as well as between them so I'm not short of storage. The legs remain cool to the touch even when under full burn.