Installation of a Woodstove Hearth

Measure the area where you want to install the wood stove. Typically, this measurement will be from the stove at least 24-inches in all directions and under the stove. Mark the perimeter of the hearth with painter's tape on the subfloor.

Dry fit your tiles on the floor to determine your layout and any pattern you are using. Your subfloor should have no flex when you walk over it. Flex will break or crack your tile and grout lines.

Spread thinset mortar over the subfloor using a trowel. Smooth the mortar to an even consistency. Position a polyethylene membrane with waffle-style indentations over the mortar. Press the membrane firmly into the mortar using a grout float. This membrane is used to provide an expansion joint between the expanding wood subfloor and the hard surface of the hearth.

Snap a chalk line over the membrane at the center of the area to be tiled. Measure away from one side and make to marks. Draw a chalk-covered line out of a chalk box and hold the line over the two marks. Snap the line so that it bounces off the floor. It will leave a straight line between the marks. Repeat this with a perpendicular line in the direction you want to tile.

Spread thinset mortar over the membrane at the intersection of your chalk lines. Drag your notched trowel across the mortar at a 45 degree angle. Apply mortar to the back of the tile. This is called buttering the tile. Line the tile up with your chalk lines and press the tile against the floor. Use a level to check the levelness of the tile. Continue tiling away from the center. Add spacers along the sides of the tile. Use a wet saw tile cutter to cut any tiles in your floor design.

Wipe the tile down to remove any mortar on the face of the tile and any mortar filling the grout lines. Half of the thickness of the tile should be clear along the top of the grout lines so that you have room for grout. Allow the mortar to dry for 24 hours.

Mix grout in a trowel pan. Apply grout to the tile using a grout float. Remove your spacers and drag the grout across the tiles at an angle. Hold the float at a 45 degree angle and press to work the grout into the grout lines. Clean all grout off the tiles within 15 minutes. This sometimes means you will grout in sections so that the grout is cleaned in time. Grout the entire hearth. Clean the grout with a grout sponge and water until all haze is removed. Allow the grout to dry for 24 hours. Buff the tiles with a clean rag.