Installing a Wooden Mantel Above a Wood-Burning Stove

With the woodburning stoves resurgence showing no sign of slowing down, the humble stove now has interior design trends attached to it.

One of the biggest stove decor must-haves at the moment is the wooden mantel, which is often in the form of a piece of reclaimed or salvaged timber.

The difficulty with this is that the relevant building regulations state that a standard uninsulated flue pipe must be positioned at least three times its diameter away from combustible materials.

So, wood being a combustible material, a wooden mantel would need to be at least 450mm (18 inches) from a 6-inch flue, which isn’t always practical.

Heat shield

One way to overcome this is to use a heat shield, usually in the form of fireboard. This should still be positioned at least one-and-a-half times the flue’s diameter away from it. There should also be an air gap of at least 12mm between the shield and the mantel.

Some stove fitters are prepared to fit the heat shielding around the flue rather than close to the mantel to avoid spoiling the aesthetics of the wood. But it is worth noting that this a matter of contention and other fitters maintain that this approach is not compliant with building regulations.

You can read the building regulations for yourself here.