Hearth repair in Storey Park

Larger fireplace openings need a larger hearth

When the fireplace opening is 6 square feet or larger, section R1001.10 asks for more coverage, at least 20 inches in front of the opening and at least 12 inches beyond each side. A wide or tall opening crosses that line sooner than many homeowners expect.

We work out the area from the opening's width and height at the free inspection. If your fireplace falls into the larger class and the extension was built for the smaller one, the estimate shows how far it has to grow and which materials can extend it cleanly.

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 crack through a single stone hearth slab

A one-piece stone hearth can crack from a point load, a dropped log or movement under the slab. Once it cracks, the two pieces may stay flush or begin to rock against each other.

A tight crack in a well-supported slab can often be filled and left in place. A crack with movement means the slab has to be lifted and re-bedded, or replaced if the break left pieces too small to trust. We explain the choice with the slab in front of us.

• A tight, stable crack filled in place
• A moving crack lifted and re-bedded
• A badly broken slab replaced

Missing or crumbling grout on a tiled hearth

Grout locks tiles together and keeps ash and debris out of the bed. Once it cracks and falls out, tiles move independently, edges chip and the hollow spots spread.

If the tiles are still firmly set, the fix is to rake out the damaged grout and regrout with a product suited to the location, matched to the existing color as closely as practical. If tiles are loose too, we reset those first. You see the difference between the two scopes in writing.

• Damaged grout raked out
• Loose tiles reset first
• Grout color matched as closely as practical
• Sealer applied where the material calls for it