Place the wood-burning stove on a floating screed

Hello forum,

I would need your experiences regarding wood-burning stoves.

In our new build, we will have a fully floating screed in the living room. I actually thought it wouldn’t be a problem to place a wood-burning stove on it that weighs only 155 kg. Under the stove, there would also be a fire protection plate made of glass, which also distributes the weight a bit.

Now I have received an inquiry from my builder about how much screed they should recess in the stove area so that I can underpin this area or so that full screed can be laid in this area.

I can place a wood-burning stove weighing 155 kg normally on the floating screed, right, or does a screed recess really have to be made in this area and a special substrate laid???

Construction: floating screed - PE foil - 2 mm impact sound insulation - 8 mm laminate - 8 mm fire protection plate made of glass

Thank you very much

Regards

Dean

Hello Dean,

Under the stove there would also be a fire protection plate made of glass, which also distributes the weight somewhat.

This is the most commonly chosen option; I assume that no underfloor heating or supply lines were installed at this point.

"Building service supply lines such as water, gas, or electrical lines must not be installed inside the partition walls of a fireplace or tiled stove system. Despite the thermal insulation with which the partition walls inside the fireplace cladding are provided, these can warm up to 80 degrees C. Due to this heating, the supply lines can be damaged over time. In addition, these lines are no longer accessible after the fireplace system is installed. If a repair of the lines is necessary, the fireplace system would have to be dismantled again."**

Now I have received an inquiry from my builder as to how much screed should be left out in the fireplace area so that I can underpin this area or so that full screed can be laid in this area.

"For thermal and impact sound insulation, a polystyrene layer is laid under the floor screed. This polystyrene layer can be compressed by the weight of the fireplace or tiled stove, which can cause cracking in the floor. Therefore, a bonded screed with a particularly load-bearing insulation layer must be applied in the installation area of the fireplace system. The bonded screed should correspond to the course of the fireplace or tiled stove base. Planning documents for this are provided when purchasing the fireplace."**

I can just put a fireplace weighing 155 kg on the floating screed normally, right, or does a screed recess really have to be made in this area and a special subfloor installed???

I have taken the descriptions in quotation marks from my documents of a renowned fireplace manufacturer so that you recognize the necessities.

What you think you can do or must refrain from should actually be answered by your structural engineer. Your fireplace builder should provide you with corresponding documents, including for the construction of the subfloor.

When our customers want to install a fireplace, we always point them to this procedure. Your builder acts similarly, otherwise he would not have asked you how many square meters of full screed he should lay.

**Source: Hark

Best regards

I personally would tile the floor where the wood stove stands with natural granite broken slabs. We also have Styrofoam boards under the screed. That easily holds the 150 kg mini stove. That’s not weight at all.

And I would return the glass plate right away because it’s junk.

If it should break then? Hack it up with a sledgehammer, lay in a 20 mm special insulation mat, mix 7 bags of ready-made screed from the hardware store and fill it in. Don’t forget to vibrate it, otherwise it will collapse again.
Possibly cut and lay in steel mesh, with spacers?

Hello Dean,

I also retrofitted a stove back then, weighed about 230 kilos... What did I have to listen to... The screed will crack, the insulation will compress, the laminate anyway... blah blah blah. Placed a glass pane on the laminate, set up the stove, connected it, runs. Nothing happened, the thing has been standing there for 12 years now and still gives off wonderful warmth. P.S.: apply a very thin bead of silicone all around under the glass plate (right at the edge) once, then place it and press it down, otherwise dust will get under the plate that you won’t get out again.