Loose tiles and cracked hearths fixed in Timber Springs

Cracks in a poured concrete hearth

A poured concrete hearth, bare or stained, can develop shrinkage cracks early on and structural cracks later. The first kind usually stays fine and narrow. The second kind widens, steps or comes with a height change across the crack.

We read the crack before treating it. A narrow, stable crack can be cleaned and filled to match the surface. A crack with movement or a height change sends the job back to the support question, and the estimate shows both options when both are possible.

Tile found laid over plywood

Some hearth extensions turn out, once the old tile comes up, to be thin tile set on plywood or particleboard. The finish looked like a hearth, while the material under it can burn.

The code expects hearths and extensions of concrete or masonry on noncombustible support. When we find wood under a hearth finish, we stop, show you and price a proper extension. Tiling over that wood again is off the table.

• Work stopped when wood is found
• The finding shown to you
• A proper extension priced on noncombustible support

The front edge of a raised hearth top

The front edge of a raised hearth top, often a bullnose or a separate edge piece, carries weight when people sit and takes kicks from shoes. Its bond tends to break before the rest of the top.

A loose edge piece is removed, cleaned and reset on a fresh bed. If it keeps coming loose, we check the support under the overhang, since an edge that hangs past its base has little to hold it.

Replacing a manufactured hearth pad

Some fireplaces sit on a manufactured hearth pad instead of a built extension. A pad can crack, warp or lose pieces of its surface.

Before recommending a replacement pad, we read the fireplace's own manual for the size and protection it needs and look for a listing label on the pad. The replacement is chosen to meet the fireplace's requirement, since a pad that looks similar can offer different protection.

• Fireplace manual read first
• Listing label looked for on the pad
• Replacement chosen to match the requirement