Cracked hearths repaired and rebuilt in Piedmont

Cracks after furniture or a heavy load

A dropped television, a slid piano or a moved cabinet can crack hearth tile in a single moment. Impact cracks usually radiate from one point, which makes them easy to tell apart from cracks caused by the base.

Impact damage over a solid base is usually a tile replacement. We still check the base under the point of impact, because a hard enough blow can crack the bed too, and it is better to find that before the new tile goes down.

What a written hearth estimate should list

A useful hearth estimate reads like a plan. It names the fireplace type, the opening size and the extension size, then separates finish work from any base or support work.

Ours also lists removal and disposal, protection of the room, setting materials, edges and transitions, and when the fireplace can be used again. With upfront pricing on each line, you can compare options and approve exactly the work you want.

• Fireplace type and opening size
• Extension size against the rule that applies
• Finish work and base work as separate lines
• Date the fireplace can be used again

Removing old hearth tile without harming the fireplace

Breaking out a hearth finish next to a fireplace face and a finished floor takes care. Heavy blows travel into the firebox and surround, and a slipped chisel can mark flooring you want to keep.

We cut relief lines at the edges first, remove the finish in small pieces and work away from the parts that stay. If something unexpected turns up under the finish, we stop and show you before the scope changes.

Why the setting bed matters on a hearth

Under every tile is a bed that holds it, whether a mortar bed, a thin-set layer or an older adhesive. When that bed was thin, patchy or the wrong product, tiles let go even over a good base.

When we reset tiles, we remove the old bed down to a clean, sound surface and set each tile in full contact. Hollow spots under corners are what crack tiles later, and a full bed is what prevents them.

• Old bed removed to sound material
• Full contact under every tile
• Setting product suited to the location
• Curing directions followed