Brick
The backbone of most stoves in the home. Where the heat is fiercest — in and around the firebox — stove-makers use brick made to withstand fire. Brickwork is slow to warm up, but then it gives off gentle heat to the room for a long time.
Materials
Materials
A stove looks like a single solid mass, but it is made of many materials, and each one has its own job. Some withstand intense heat and store warmth, some bind the masonry together, some close off the firebox and control the smoke, and others separate the fire from the wooden parts of the house and dress up the room. We describe them here in general terms, so you can follow what your stove-maker is talking about.
A good stove starts not with a handsome facing but with what's hidden inside: a well-built firebox and a sound chimney. Only a craftsman truly sees that part of the work.
How this section works: we explain what a stove is usually made of and why each material is needed — without mortar recipes, proportions, dimensions or calculations. Which materials suit your particular stove and how to handle them is for the specialist who inspects or builds it to decide.
What a stove is made of
The main materials you'll find in a stove in the home, from the masonry to the finish.
Clay
The traditional binder for stove masonry. Clay mortar copes well with heating and cooling, and knowing how to prepare it has long been part of the stove-maker's skill. We deliberately give no recipes or proportions: that is a job for a specialist.
Stove tiles
Ceramic tiles used to face stoves. They cover the masonry, wipe clean easily and make the stove a handsome part of the interior. Stove tiles can be smooth or in relief, plain or painted.
Metal parts
The firebox door and cleanout doors, the damper and the grate the wood rests on. These are the parts through which you control the fire and the smoke, so the safety of the whole house depends directly on keeping them in good order.
Insulation
Where a stove or chimney sits next to wooden walls, floors, ceilings or the roof, the craftsman separates it from anything combustible with noncombustible materials. Exactly how to do this is decided by a specialist following fire-safety rules.
Finishes
Plaster and whitewash give a country stove its familiar look. They even out the surface, hide the joints and brighten the stove, and on fresh whitewash any new cracks or soot marks show up right away.
Articles for English-language readers
This section will gather the journal's standalone articles on the stove-maker's craft. The editors write them specifically for the English edition rather than translating them from other languages.
- World of Warcraft Endgame: Raids, Mythic+ and Player Progression — A Seasonal Perspective #1
An editorial analysis of how WoW Mythic raiding, Mythic+ rating and gearing pressure change over a season, and what that means for players' time.
- GTA 6 Preorder Guide and Editions: What Players Should Know
What is confirmed about GTA 6 preorders: both editions, their list prices, the launch bonus, boxed copies, platforms and sensible checks before paying.
- Call of Duty: Multiplayer Progression And Loadout Planning — Planning Walkthrough
A planning walkthrough for Call of Duty multiplayer: how player levels, weapon levels, battle passes and loadouts connect, plus checks before any service.
- Understanding Call of Duty weapon camouflage challenges: Learning Resources
A practical look at Call of Duty camo challenges: how they link to weapon levels, which learning resources help and the real risks of outside services.
- Aion 2 weekly activities: Mechanics, Preparation and Common Questions
How to approach Aion 2 weekly activities so soon after the global release: what is confirmed, how to plan a week, what outside help means and the account risks.
Topics the editors are working on
- What a smoking stove is trying to tell you
- Tiled stoves in historic European interiors
- Why every chimney needs a professional sweep
- Masonry heaters in a wood-frame house: fire and timber side by side
Editorial rules
- Articles in this catalogue are written separately for each language version and are not translations.
- Some articles link to third-party websites, including gaming services; we do not control their content, prices or terms.
- We do not publish advertising for stove-makers, workshops or shops, rankings, prices or reviews.
Related sections
- Stove history
The Russian stove, the Dutch stove, the Swedish stove, the tiled stove, the stove bench and the kitchen range in the history of the home.
- Care
Looking after a stove through the seasons, plus the safety essentials that apply all year round.
- How-to
How to light a stove calmly, when to close the damper and how to care for the outside of a stove.
Sources
- Encyclopedic and ethnographic dictionaries
- Russia's Emergencies Ministry: fire-safety rules for using stoves
Information about stoves is given in general terms, based on encyclopedic and ethnographic dictionaries, materials from museums of wooden architecture and the fire-safety rules of Russia's Emergencies Ministry; fire-safety rules differ by country, so check the ones that apply where you live. Only a specialist who has inspected your stove and chimney in person can tell you what condition they are in and whether they are safe to use.