Hearth repair specialists for Parramore fireplaces

Measuring the opening decides the rest of the plan

Every size question on a hearth goes back to the fireplace opening, meaning its width, its height and whether its bottom sits at floor height or above it. Those three numbers decide which thickness and which extension size the code expects.

Our specialists take them at the start of the visit and write them on the estimate, so the plan for the hearth is tied to your fireplace instead of a generic drawing.

• Width of the opening across the front
• Height from the firebox floor to the top of the opening
• Height of the firebox floor above the extension
• Depth and width of the existing extension

A hearth extension you can tell apart from the floor

For factory-built fireplaces the same code section adds a practical rule. The hearth extension shall be readily distinguishable from the surrounding floor area. A tile that blends perfectly into the room's flooring can leave the protected area hard to see.

When a repair calls for new material, we help you choose a finish or a border that marks where the extension ends. It keeps furniture, rugs and storage off the zone that is there to catch heat and embers.

Replacing one cracked tile on a sound hearth

A single cracked tile over a solid base is the simplest hearth repair. The tile is cut out without disturbing its neighbors, the old setting bed is scraped back, and a replacement is set flush and grouted to match.

Everything depends on that base being sound. Before promising a one-tile repair, we check the tiles around it and the base under it. If the crack came from movement below, a new tile would only crack again, and we tell you that before you pay for it.

Hearths that are used as a seat or a step

A raised hearth often doubles as a seat, or as a step up to the mantel shelf. That use puts concentrated weight on the edge, which is exactly where thin tops and unsupported corners crack.

The residential code expects hearths to be reinforced to carry their own weight and all imposed loads. When we rebuild a hearth the family sits on, we plan the support for that use and tell you what the finished edge is built to take.