What type of floor protector to place under a wood burning stove?

We just purchased a small US Stove and I know the dimensions that the floor protector needs to be.  However, the owner's manual only says it needs to be R2.06, but does not give any more info other than dimensions away from stove front, sides, and back.  We were wanting to set it in paver blocks, either 1" or 1-1/2" thick by 12" square.  I prefer the 1-1/2" thick, but my husband prefers 1" or ceramic tiles.  Years ago when we had a woodstove, we had an asbestos, woodgrain, thick mat that was ugly.  We are trying to go safe, but the least expensive.

Any thoughts, advice, guidance, or suggestion?  Thanks in advance for any and all help.

TO:  M. A. Carey
FROM:  Eric Koperek = erickoperek@gmail.com
SUBJECT:  Underlayment for Wood Stove
DATE:  PM 7:24 Thursday 18 August 2016
TEXT:

(1)  Any type of concrete patio blocks or house bricks will make a safe, heat & fireproof floor for a wood stove.  Used = recycled materials are least expensive.  If you live near a brick factory you can obtain cull bricks or brick tiles cheap or free-of-charge.

(2)  The cheapest solution is to use plaster board = gypsum board to protect wood floors then overlay with common cement board = tile board.  It looks ugly but is very cheap especially if you recycle materials from a construction site or dumpster.

(3)  I lived in platform tents for many years while working in developing countries.  A sheet of cement board won't win you any design awards but it gets the job done with minimum labor and materials.

(4)  You can improve appearance by grouting floor tile or bathroom tile on top of cement board.  Home-Improvement-Box Stores in the United States usually have cheap ceramic floor tile on sale for $1.00 per square foot or less.

(5)  Contact the manufacturer directly or call the local building inspector or fire chief and ask for their recommendations.   Alternatively, call your insurance company and ask for help.  Fire safety codes vary from State to State within the USA so it is important to check and make certain that your installation is safe.

(6)  NOTE:  Improperly installed wood stove can void your home insurance policy.  I strongly advise you to contact your insurance agent immediately to protect your investment in your house.

ERIC KOPEREK = erickoperek@gmail.com

end comment

(6)  NOTE:  Improperly installed wood stove can void your home insurance policy.  I strongly advise you to contact your insurance agent immediately to protect your investment in your house.

Very true.  I know a family who went through this.  Their mortgage lender was up-in-arms when they saw the installation.  Demanded that they get their fire insurance agent involved.  Reworking the installation made the final cost sky high in price.

On vinyl floor I put cement board, then a 1" cement paver under each foot of the stove, then a  thin sheet of aluminum and the stove on top of that.
That gives me a reflector under the stove with an air gap before the cement board insulation.

I like to use flat rocks taken locally and then shim the stove to take out any wobble. There is not a lot of heat down low, but it does act somewhat like a heat sink, then grout with a little cement between the rocks, painting the grout to keep down the dust that comes from cement, and you have a cheap, good looking stove substrate in my opinion.

As for your stove, I have a few of them too but they are not overly known for their quality. Due to lots of air leaks make sure you get plenty of firewood, or a better alternative is to invest in woodstove gasket material and make your own airtight stove. I did that on a US Stove pot bellied stove and the silly thing actually worked pretty good. Even added a bi-metric damper off another stove and it kept the house at an even temp without me fussing with it.

The dirt cheapest way is to just dump sand down upon the floor and put your stove on that. It is what they used on sailing vessels for thousands of years and those wooden vessels never burned.

Thanks much for everybody's input.  We decided to buy the pavers and they are 1-9/16" thick, 12x12".  The cement board was higher than 15 pavers, and therefore our choice.  We won't need anything on the back wall as the wood stove will be in the middle of the room.  (A one-room cabin).  The sand would be interesting, except that we have 2 cats and they may think the warm sand would be a nice potty...DON'T want that!

We might add some rocks near the stove to help give some thermal mass heat retention.  We have plenty of rock around here.  

Now I need to learn how to cook on a wood stove.  I have a Dutch oven with legs, and three different sizes of iron skillets, one of which the Dutch oven's lid fits perfectly.  I may buy a trivet for the skillets but won't need for the Dutch oven.  This winter shall be fun cooking.  If I succeed in learning, we won't go hungry for hot meals.  If I don't succeed, we just might lose some weight.

Thanks to all of you.

M. A.