Your fireplace hearth, repaired and measured in Mariners Village

The metal strip under the front of some fireplaces

Some factory-built fireplaces ship with an ember protector, a strip of galvanized sheet metal placed between the hearth extension and the bottom front edge of the unit. One maker's manual says it goes in before the fireplace is secured, to stop glowing embers from falling through that joint.

When a hearth is replaced, that strip can be bent, cut short or left out entirely. We check for it during removal and replace it with the maker's part or the specified sheet metal before the new finish closes the joint.

Finish materials that suit a hearth

Hearth finishes come in many forms. One fireplace maker lists tile, slate, brick, concrete, metal, glass, marble and stone as noncombustible materials that may cover a hearth extension, and each of them repairs in its own way.

At the free inspection our pros identify the material you have, explain how it repairs and show where a patch will be visible. You choose between a spot repair and a wider replacement with the tradeoffs laid out in the estimate.

Loose or broken bricks on a brick hearth

A brick hearth loosens brick by brick. One unit rocks underfoot, the joint around it cracks, and its neighbors soon follow. Left alone, the loose units shift enough to open gaps down into the base.

We lift the loose bricks, clean the bed, reset them in fresh mortar and refill the joints to match the existing ones. Broken units are replaced with the closest available brick. If the base under them has failed, that becomes its own line on the estimate.

• Loose units lifted and cleaned
• Bed cleaned back to sound material
• Bricks reset in fresh mortar
• Joints refilled to match

Heat marks on the floor beyond the hearth

Discolored wood, shrunken vinyl or a scorched rug just past the hearth edge tell a story. Heat or embers are reaching further than the extension covers.

We compare the marks with the measured extension and the opening size. The answer may be a larger extension, a change in how the screen or doors are used, or both. You get a written explanation of the cause before any repair is proposed.

• Discolored or cupped wood
• Shrunken or softened vinyl
• Scorched rug fibers
• Marks right at the hearth edge