After we ripped the carpet out of our second living area and put in the wood floors I knew that I would want a bit more tile on the floor surrounding the stoves so as not to singe the floor with embers from the fire. Please ignore the fact that my wood stove needs to a good deep clean. It gets A LOT of use during the winter months here (awwwe look how shiny it used to be) and we've been uber busy with the remodel since February.
I purchased the slate tile from Lowe's back in 2002 or so. I'm so glad they still carry it so that I could continue with this project. In 2002, Travis hand milled the redwood mantle piece and built the raised platform with a pallet. We had a solid starting point, over the years the edge tiles in the picture above began to chip and fracture off...which is the nature of slate. Major dilemma.
My solution was to cut the edges of the surround tiles at a 45 degree angle so that it couldn't shear off. We added tiles to the face of the platform as well as another whole run along the floor. I think that it looks much nicer now. Also, it's great to have an electrical genius as a husband. I get outlets wherever I want them :)
I found that the transition piece that looked the best between the tile and the flooring was a laminate marbled brown. It was not inexpensive, costing much more than a piece of transition wood does, but I'm glad for the splurge as hopefully it's low profile and durability will be a bonus as we trudge in wood and lug out ash in the winter.
Hope you're having a grand week. Stay crafty, or thrifty, or just plain busy.
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