I am in the process of replacing a stove. The existing stove was built into a foundation that stood on the house's cast concrete slab. There is a supply air pipe prepared and embedded in the slab, but it comes up in the wrong place, so I need to run a pipe above the slab to the center of where the stove will stand (about 3-4 dm sideways). Since I don't want to make any modifications to the slab (due to embedded water-based underfloor heating), I was thinking of building some sort of pedestal to place the stove (or alternatively the tiled stove) on. It should be about 2-3 dm high to accommodate the pipe routing.
Now to the question, what is the most suitable material for the pedestal? Must it be made of brick? Or do regular Lecablocks work well? The stove I'm considering weighs about 550 kg, if it becomes a tiled stove the weight will be about 1300 kg. Both options are round, the stove is about 57 cm in diameter, the tiled stove 72 cm.
And what mortar should you use? Clay mortar? Or regular mortar?
I also plan to lay soapstone as the hearth plan and as the top of the pedestal. Is it okay to lay the soapstone first and then build the pedestal on top of it, or should the pedestal be built directly on the concrete slab and lay the soapstone around the pedestal? And the same thing with the top of the pedestal, do you lay the soapstone over the entire pedestal and place the stove or tiled stove on the soapstone?
Grateful for tips on how to do it best!
