Designing your wood burners look
When considering a wood-burning stove, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. To simplify the process, there are four design options to choose from: Squared Opening, Oak Beam, Surround, or, if your property doesn’t have a suitable chimney, we can still install a stove using a Twin Wall Flue System. Each option requires a hearth, which serves as the base for the stove and protects the floor.
For simplicity, all installations start with a basic squared opening, and adding an oak beam or surround is optional, purely for styling purposes. Each of these options is explained in more detail below, along with example images. For the latest installations and additional examples, please follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Squared opening
A squared opening provides a clean, minimal, and contemporary look. The wood-burning stove sits directly on the hearth inside the chimney opening, with no oak beam or surround. In this design, the stove becomes the true focal point of the room.
Oak beam
A solid oak beam is the perfect complement to a wood-burning stove. Each beam is handcrafted and carefully selected for its unique splits, flecks, and knots — the natural characteristics that give oak its authentic charm.
Mantles and surrounds
Surrounds made from marble, Aegean limestone, or cast iron create a timeless centerpiece that complements the traditional features of period properties, while also offering the high efficiency of a modern wood-burning stove.
twin wall flues
Twin wall flues allow stoves to be installed in properties without suitable flues for solid fuel—whether in houses built without chimneys, extensions, or where the original chimney breast has been removed. Installing a stove is still possible with a twin wall flue system, which can either pass through the wall and up the side of the property or through the roof.
Hearths
All wood-burning stove installations require a hearth, which serves as the base for the stove and protects the floor from ash and embers. There are many suitable materials to choose from, allowing you to match your style and budget.
Italian riven slate
Italian riven slate is the highest quality slate available — a premium material with a consistent shade and a 20mm thickness. Formed by splitting along natural fault lines, it has an unpolished, rustic texture that makes it ideal for fireplace hearths.
Its deep, muted finish is both hard-wearing and visually understated, making it suitable for both traditional and contemporary interiors. I stock large slabs of Italian slate, allowing me to cut and install single-piece hearths with no visible joints — a bespoke feature unique to The Stove & Stone Co.
Slate pairs especially well with oak beams and exposed brickwork, thanks to its natural riven texture. Its matte finish also complements surrounds made from limestone, tying the fireplace design together with subtle elegance.
Yorkshire Sandstone
Sandstone has a timeless look, Sandstone is an extremely versatile natural material and has been used for thousands of years. Its uses provide a variety of products such as paving, walling, roofing and masonry. Sandstone can be seen throughout the UK in many prestigious structures and grand landscape surroundings.
Quarried in West Yorkshire, This Buff/Yellow Sandstone has a uniform close grain with dark flecks which are black iron oxide. The honed finish is smooth but without any traces of a shine.The surface is however fairly porous and treatment is essential to prevent it absorbing soot and ash.
Quarry tiles
Quarry tiles are made from clay and once fired become very hard. They come as 6″ tiles in black, terracotta and cream but can be cut in to smaller tiles to make diamond patterns. They are very hard wearing and perfect for a fireplace hearth.
The diamond pattern hearths are hand made and look great with a fireplace surround stood on them. Perfect for people wanting to maintain some of the houses original styles and features.
Openings walls – Boarded or Brick
The inside of the opening that the stove sits in is referred to as the chamber, There are two options when it comes to the walls of the chamber, Lining the walls with a heat resistant fireboard gives a neat, clean and smooth finish. the boards can be left white or painted afterwards using any water based emulsion.
For people wanting a more rustic look, occasionally the original brickwork can be cleaned and repointed, I say occasionally because the brickwork was never intended to be seen and poor quality bricks were used, also due to staining from soot it’s usually more cosmetically pleasing to board over the old stained and chipped bricks. Although some chambers are in surprisingly good condition. Keeping the original brickwork is just a case of opening up the chamber to reveal the condition of the walls and deciding which option would work best.
For people who are really stuck on having brickwork, There is now the option to have brick board panels that are slithers of real brick stuck on to a fireboard and fixed over the old brickwork. This gives the look of a brick chamber without loosing the depth and width that a standard brick would use. (see images below)
Fireboarded chamber
Special heat resistant fireboard is used when lining the chambers walls, It gives a clean and contemporary look and is the most popular choice for chambers. Fireboard is designed with one smooth face that does not require plastering afterwards unlike regular plasterboard, many customers leave the boards unpainted as it has a neutral off white colour. Although if you would like to paint the boards, using regular water based emulsion is fine.
Original brickwork chamber
Cleaning and repointing the original brickwork of the chambers walls can be a worthy task, Unfortunately opening up a chamber which reveals nice enough brickwork to restore is rare due to the fact that the brickwork behind the original fireplace was never intended to be seen, So it was never laid particularly neat and often old damaged bricks were used. Also decades of coal fires tend to leave the bricks very stained. Restoring the original brickwork is usually a case of seeing what condition they are in and making a decision from that. A brickboard chamber set is a good alternative if you dont want to take that risk.
Brickboard panel chamber
Brick boards are a cladding panel made from real brick & fire resistant board specially designed for fireplace openings, indistinguishable from traditional brickwork, unlike some of the faux brick alternatives they are made from real bricks. They are then hand pointed with real mortar for a truly authentic finish. A complete set is one back panel and two side panels that can be made to size to suit every chamber. The bricks can also be laid in different patterns such as herringbone and basketweave.
mantelpieces & Surrounds
The mantelpiece is the decorative statement and focal point to a room that holds everything together. Made from either wood, stone or marble. Surrounds retain a traditional aspect of a home. Whether the properties original surround is to be removed and put back, or a new surround is to be added. Its a grand focal point to any room, and the off white tones of limestone are perfectly suited in modern contemporary settings.
Stone mantles
Agean Limestone has a unique texture and the classy character of these fireplaces make a bold and lasting statement in any home. Limestone`s creamy whites are consistent in colour and fit perfectly with both period homes and modern, contemporary interiors. A perfect combination when contrasted with a slate hearth and slate framing slips.
Marble mantels
It’s not surprising marble has been used for surrounds for many centuries. Usually made from Italian carrara this stunning timeless material has darker vein patterns entangled over a lighter grey background. Its high polished finish gives it a smooth feel.
Twin Wall flue systems
Twin wall flues allow wood burning stoves to be installed where a chimney breast is not present, for example in extensions or properties built after the 1960″s which have flues suitable only for gas. Generally available in silver (reflective chrome-like) and black (satin/matt finish). Twin wall flue is a metal tube (flue) insulated with approx an inch of insulation (two layers of stainless steel with insulation between). This allows the flue to pass internally through walls or ceilings or externally on an outside wall. Twin wall flues are usually paired with ‘freestanding’ style stoves. Most models of this type allow the hearth to sit directly on top of floors, Traditional slate can be used or contemporary glass hearths with a minimum thickness of 12mm which are available in many different shapes and colours.
Twin wall flues can be installed in two ways, either through the roof of the building or through the wall at a 45 degree angle and then up the side of the building terminating above the gutter. Single storey extensions tend to be installed through the roof and two storey buildings tend to have the flue going through the wall at a 45 degrees above the stove and then running up the outside of the building, terminating above the roof line.