Hearth for a multi fuel stove - would white be a bad idea?

[Monica101]

I am getting a multi fuel stove installed in December and have yet to choose the hearth.

I ideally like the look of a white hearth. But having never owned anything but a gas fire before would this be a bad idea? Are they very dusty?

I have ruled out limestone as it marks very easily, I have the choice of riven slate which is grey or granite which is a bit shiny but cream coloured.

Any advice gratefully received. Pictures attached are the 'look' I like...

I have a stone hearth and it is permanently grubby, there is a lot of dust and ash when you clean the fire out.

Thanks dita. so in your experience these pale hearths would be really impractical. Even if in a wipe clean granite...

I do intend to use it everyday and don't fancy cleaning it every 6 hours!

No

No way

the dust would make it mottled grey all the time & even if you brush up each time you open the door it'll still be a nightmare

I have slate - it's always dirty, I mean once a year DH washes and polishes it with a baby wipe, so he can say it's clean for about 3 minutes

& make sure you have a rug because when you open the door bits fly out & if you have carpet burn the carpet so have a rug

No.
I've had both, in my old house we had a cream coloured hearth and during the winter it never ever looked clean
Now we have one slate and one dark quarry tile hearth - they are probably never clean, but you can't tell.

I have slate for our wood burner. It works very well and we can keep it clean.

Thanks so much for the replies and thank the lord I asked!

I have been dithering between four shades of cream granite for a week. I will bin that idea and go for the slate.

The slate is very nice it, not quite the wow factor of the white but obviously there is no wow factor if it's covered in ash all the time.

Thanks again

I've got black granite which looks nice.

I didn't think of that Viva , I will dither some more!

I will get a rug to KatyMac, thanks for the advice, I din't think of sparks flying and burning my floor.

I've got Yorkshire stone slabs which look great (but I do have a Yorkshire stone original fireplace and a Yorkshire stone cottage ). The stone slabs are really practical too, hide the dust and need no maintenance.

I have a 1930's semi selks . It may not look as good in my place, though a stone might look good.

Another question, if I have a look similar to attached picture. Is the white plastered surround also a problem, will it get very dirty. There is an option to get an inset of grey tiles but at a cost of £300 so I chose not to do this.

I'm beginning to think a minimalist look is not a good mix with a multi fuel stove...

this is my fire tonight, I dont know if you can see how grey the stone looks, that is all ash, hides very well, mine is also yorkshire stone, I love it.

Mine is plain painted walls around it. Never gets grubby but it is not used for anything and ash never gets near it. Different to the hearth area!

just seen recent question, no soot gets on walls so I think white would be fine there.

Glad white walls will be fine, it is expensive enough as it is.

Lovely stove dita, I love the red. The hearth looks very ungrubby, I'd be happy with that. I think riven slate which is dark grey should hopefully look similar.

Here's mine.

That is a nice clean look viva. Your granite doesn't look very shiny which is the look I want too. The granite in the shop is very high shine, some sparkly. Just totally not the look I like. But that looks very matt which is nice.

It a a honed granite hearth, so matte finish. See here

Thank you for the link. Quite a few hearth styles I haven't seen.

I would say the white plaster surround is much less of an issue. Presumably it will be painted, so maybe use a paint that is wipeable such as Dulux Diamond Matt for sponging down, and it's easy to give it another coat if it needs freshening up.

This is mine, if we're doing a show and tell

This is mine recently installed - I would agree white would be a mistake - Mine is stone - can't remember the exact name but could find out ...and it gets absolutely filthy - but doesn't really show and I'm not using it every day!
I'm not living there yet but last Winter every few days I went and lit it to to keep the house from getting too cold and damp (am supposed to be doing DIY but find myself sitting in front of it watching the flames instead)

Ooh pretty selks. I might have to get some fairy light too. That is a very similar beam to the one I have ordered for mine. One you can actually put stuff on, a lot of them are so narrow.

I was going to say as well - watch out for how wide your stove is -
I changed my mind and got a bigger one - landscape (the kind I got comes as portrait or landscape depending on the size).
If you intend to chop your own wood cutting 12 inch logs take considerably less time than cutting than 9inch ones - I'd read that before but didn't appreciate it until I had started chopping up wood to season from clearing the garden for my smaller one...it makes a huge difference.
Even if you intend to buy - make sure that 'average' length logs fit in your stove! (Read a few horror stories of people having to order the right sized logs specially - or trying to chop a few inches off bought ones!)