Painting plaster around a stove

[leo16]

I've recently installed a wood burning stove and it's now ready for decorating. I am unsure whether I need to use any specialist paints and hoping someone may be able to help.

The stove is set into the wall and surrounded by the fireproof plasterboard with a slate hearth underneath. So it is as if the stove is in the wall e.g it isn't inserted into a traditional fireplace. I am not sure whether normal paint is ok given there is no clearance between the stove and the plasterboard. I can't find anything about stoves which are right next to the plasterboard.

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

Is it an inset wood burner? If so we just used normal paint

Emulsion has been fine around ours.

I would say it is but when I google inset they seem as if there is a large gap between the stove and walls. Ours is inset right into the plasterboard with no gaps, is that what you are meaning too? If so that's good about normal paint, was worried I would have rather limited paint choices.

It is similar to this one stovesaver.co.uk/product/stovax-riva-studio-1-cassette-wood-burning/

emulsion is usual, but it will need quite frequent cleaning or repainting as IME you will get dust staining. You might try masonry paint which is very durable and withstands scrubbing.

Quarry tiles behind the stove show dirt less and are easy to clean (use black grout)

Plaster and plasterboard will eventually break down if very hot (the water content boils off) but I don't know what temperature it happens at.

Thanks so much for the replies. Think I will try emulsion then move into masonry paint if it's too frequently needing touched up. Hoping the plaster doesn't break down too soon that would be annoying.

Masonry paint should not be used indoors. Emulsion is fine. Keep some for touch ups.

I've had the plaster around the stove done 3 times in 8 years. All claiming to be heat resist plaster.

Sounds like this might cost us more than initially planned in the long term.

When you say the stove is set into the wall and there is no clearance between that and the board do you mean the actual stove or just its flue

Only asking as most stoves need minimum clearances around them (usually around 6 inches or more)

Whoever fitted it should have known this, what do the instructions say as minimum clearance ?

Or I may just be misunderstanding how you are describing it

"Masonry paint should not be used indoors"

Why not? It is durable, scrubbable and inexpensive. I use it in the garage. Some people use it in kitchens and bathrooms.

Get some nice dura clean matt emulsion, it's very wipeable. We have a pale grey in our living room and can scrub it quite hard without taking any off, unlike the Wickes Trade matt which comes off if you look at it too hard. Our stove isn't inset, but we painted the inside of the hearth in grey emulsion. Has been fine, although the plaster exploded once when our dappy nanny overfired the stove. Just cleared the rubble, patched and repainted though and has been fine for two years since.

I'm researching stoves and have been advised the same as Grumpy.

Has it been signed off by HETAS? Just checking that you're not invalidating your insurance. Apologies if we misunderstand

If its a cassette stove it is designed to be inset. So clearance isn't an issue.

Yes it is inset with no clearances and is designed to be, presume it's a cassette type as mentioned. Installers are hetas too even though not required in Scotland.

That's why I was wondering about paint as everything seemed to mention a min clearance which we don't have. Glad emulsion should be ok.

When we had our stove installed we were told to use water-based emulsion, not vinyl. If you use vinyl emulsion it is more likely to bubble or crack with heat.

Maybe a chalk based paint then? Something super flat. The dura clean stuff has loads of acrylic in it, so maybe not suitable.