Wood stove hearth recommendations, over dricore

[Ginger Squirrel]

I'll be adding a wood stove to my basement, right now the floor is dricore tiles all over (basically OSB), the concrete below had carpet on it originally so it's very jagged and dirty and you can't really do anything with it which is why I put down dricore as it gives me a better base floor to work with, and it also makes it a bit warmer by creating an air gap between concrete and floor.

I am thinking the best approach is to cut out the dricore and go back to the original concrete for the hearth and just pour a small slab over it so I can have something to work with (for putting down tiles later etc) but I am wondering if there is any way I can get away with actually leaving the dricore there and pouring directly over?  Or will that heat eventually transfer through the concrete and make the dricore and plastic under it too hot?  The stove is on a pedastal which makes me think it would be fine, but the manual does call for R1 insulation for floor protection.

[Don P]

Pouring over the dri core is just going to rot it. Best is to remove and go with masonry on the original concrete however a stove board on the dri core will work.

[thecfarm]

Yes a stove board will do it. 

[Big_eddy]

Stove board laid on the dri-core
Concrete backer board with decorative tile on the dri-core
4 or so 24" square paving stones on the dri-core.
Or cut a hole in the dri-core and pour a raised hearth, or put the paving stones in the hole.

[beenthere]

Best is to remove the floor and set up on concrete. Or remove and put in a tile floor over the concrete. 

[Ginger Squirrel]

I'm afraid anything like hardybacker etc might crack, the floor is not 100% even.  If I was to pour over the dricore I'd put plastic first so it does not soak the water.   But yeah I'm starting to lean towards just sawing out a section, making a form and pouring directly on the original concrete. Then I don't need to worry about required R values.   Was thinking I want to preserve the subfloor in case I ever want to go back but chances are I will never want to.

[Ginger Squirrel]

Installer came to look at area and said I'm fine to leave the dricore, and to just put cement board over then thinset and tiles and that will get me to required R value.   he said my floor is strong enough as is and it won't crack, but I'll shoot a bunch more nails through just to be safe.

He did however mention I need ceiling protection.  I'm not a fan of putting cementboard or any "permanent" material on the ceiling as I will lose access to wiring, plumbing etc.  I have an outside water hose there that may need to be accessed at some point if it needs to be changed or something, and if I want to add any ethernet jacks or something in the room above I'd need access too.  On the other hand, I do imagine it will get very hot at the ceiling.  Could I get away with simply hanging a metal heat shield or will the heat just eventually transfer through?  What about drop ceiling?  Ideally I do want to capture the heat there and send it elsewhere in the house so I will experiment with either adding a return from the furnace or a separate duct going to the crawlspace with a heat activated fan.

[Don P]

You can, @sprucebunny did something similar years ago IIRC.
The source for all that is NFPA 211, it is online.