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Can You Use Cement Board Behind a Wood Stove? (Explained)

A cement board is an excellent protection for tiles and other areas where you may regularly use water, but you don’t want to grow mold or damage that area soon.

The cement board consists of cement & reinforced fibers that can withstand dampness and other things to protect your walls & surfaces.

This board can also protect your drywalls or tile walls from heat. You can use this board on your wood surface to durable the surface. Besides, the wood stove is an excellent manual home heater.

Using cement board behind a wood stove

You can use a cement board behind a wood stove as a heat shield to protect the walls and your surfaces. Since cement sheets come with cement & reinforced fibers, they can withstand the heat to protect the surface perfectly. So, using a cement board behind your wood stove is perfectly okay.

It will be a big concern to use any shield as protection for your walls since wood stove heat can directly damage your behind walls.

You will lose the wall finishing if you don’t use a perfect heat resistance shield. So, it’s necessary to use any protection for your interior walls that can withstand heat and save that area.

If you go through different types of shields, you will find some specifically made wood stove shields in the market.

They will come up with some good material at a high price. However, the cement board will give you the cheapest option to buy to protect your behind walls efficiently without costing too much.

Although the cement board comes with cement & reinforced fibers to protect tile floors, it can be used as the best heat resistant.

When you place it behind your wood stove, it will not allow the heat or fire to cause any damage to your walls. Instead, it will withstand the heat and will ensure the best protection.

Moreover, the cement board will last for years if you take proper care of it. The cement will not fall apart unless it is poorly damaged or continuously decays the cement board to break it soon if you can protect your walls and floors for up to 50 years if you can place it properly.

Once you have decided to use a cement board behind the wood stove, you should check the board quality and ensure the best cement is used. Some cement boards will not give you any extra benefits, and some might come with the most fire-resistant features you need.

You can only expect to use a perfect heat shield against your wood stove to protect your inside walls from heat damage.

This board will not allow the fire or heat to cause any damage to the surrounding areas. You can use this cement board around your wood stove to protect that area perfectly.

Still, if you use a powerful wood stove that generates too much heat, you cannot use a cement board near that stove. There must be some gaps between your stove & cement board; otherwise, excess heat may break down your board with high heat.

Is cement board fire resistant?

Cement boards are mostly fire-resistant if you can attach or install them with a high heat-resistant adhesive.

Mainly, the cement board can withstand high heat to protect the surrounding areas where you put that wood stove or home heater. It will not allow the fire to get through and damage the inside walls or surfaces.

Since you will install the cement board externally, you must screw them well; before that, you should use a fire heat adhesive that can withstand high heat and allow the cement board to stick to the walls firmly.

It will not be accessible if you install the cement board on a metal surface and use a regular adhesive.

Your cement board will withstand fire surely, but the effectiveness and stick to walls will entirely depend on your installation process.

If you use the high heat adhesive that can stick to cement boards even in a fire, you can expect your cement board to be fire resistant and won’t damage your floors.

2 reasons why you can put cement board behind a wood stove

You can put a cement board behind a wood stove for two reasons. They are:

Cement Board Material:

Because of its materials, you can put cement board behind a wood stove. Mainly, cement & reinforced fibers are used to make this type of cement board that can easily protect your floors & tiles.

These materials don’t fall apart soon and can stick to a specific surface for a few decades.

If you install cement boards or sheets behind your wood furnace or stove, you can use them for 50 years, but the precaution is a perfect installation & a perfect heat adhesive. You must use a high-heat adhesive to help your cement board stick to your walls.

Fire Resistant:

Another reason is fire resistance, which indicates why you should use a cement board behind your wood stove to warm your house.

Using the cement board behind the stove will resist fire and will not allow it to damage your walls or behind walls. Even the high heat will fail to damage your cement board.

Using any shield that cannot withstand high heat against your wood stove is crucial. If you find such materials, you must place them behind your wood stove to protect your walls.

Considering these factors, you can surely use cement board as the best protection for your drywall.

How far should a wood stove be from a cement board wall?

A wood stove should be 36 feet away from a cement board wall or anything nearby to avoid heat damage.

Since a wood stove will produce enough heat to warm the entire house, you must place it in your house corner or middle of the house to enjoy the heat properly. In that case, you cannot install it adjacent to your walls.

Instead, you must place it 36 inches far from any nearby wall or even your cement board. If you use the cement sheet around your wood stove, you may use it without having any space between the stove & cement board.

To protect your walls, you must put them 36 inches away from your inside walls. Otherwise, the stove heat will directly go through the walls and damage its quality or will discolor it soon.

You should not make such a mistake by installing a wood stove near or adjacent to your walls, and there must be a 36 inches difference between the walls and the wood stove.

How to install a cement board behind a wood stove?

Following the steps, you can install a cement board behind a wood stove.

Clean & Ready Your Wall:

You should clean the surface where you will install the cement board. You can’t make any mistake of having too much dirt or leftovers on your behind walls, and install the cement board perfectly.

Remove the dust from that surface, and don’t allow any water to be there. You can use microfiber to clean it.

Get Quality Cement Board: You should buy the best quality cement board that can withstand fire & high heat to protect your behind walls. You can use a ¼” cement board behind your wood stove that can withstand any high heat to protect your drywall.

Install Cement Board with Adhesive:

It’s time to install your cement board behind the walls. Before that, you must put high-heat adhesive on that wall and your cement board.

Apply it all around the board so that every corner of the board can easily stick to your walls firmly. Even high heat will fail to damage their bonding.

Once you apply the high-heat adhesive, you can safely place the cement board on your walls.

Ensure the corners are covered through your cement board, and nothing is exposed there on your walls. After that, you should drill & put some screws over the cent board.

Final Thoughts

Since cement board consists of cement & reinforced fibers, you can use cement board behind your wood stove. The high heat will fail to damage the cement board materials. If you use high-heat adhesive and some screws over the cement board to firmly attach that to your behind walls.