Our Services
A hearth repair, from base to finish
Written quotes from local hearth pros, and 10% off a repair booked within 72 hours of the free inspection.
Keeping the hearth visibly separate from the floor
For factory-built fireplaces, the code adds a detail that is easy to miss during a remodel. The hearth extension has to be readily distinguishable from the surrounding floor. Running the same tile across the room and the hearth can erase that boundary.
If a new floor or a new hearth finish is planned, we suggest ways to keep the extension clear to the eye, a contrasting material, a border or a change in height, while still suiting the room. The goal is a hearth that anyone can see and keep clear of rugs and furniture. A border tile or a slight change in level often solves it without changing the look of the room much at all.
Heat and the hearth slab
The hearth sits right in front of the fire, and it heats and cools every time the fireplace is used. Brick industry guidance notes that the reinforcement in a hearth slab also helps it resist the stresses that high temperatures put on it. The front of the firebox is often the hottest part of the hearth, and cracks there can have a different cause from cracks further out.
A hearth that cracks close to the opening, especially one built without that reinforcement or on a thin base, may be reacting to heat as well as load. We look at where the cracks sit relative to the firebox, and we plan the repair so the new work can take the same heat without the same failure.
Curing before the next fire
Mortar, setting beds, fillers and grout all need time to cure before they meet heat. The time depends on the product and the conditions in the room, and each maker states it. Lighting a fire on fresh work drives moisture out too fast and can crack a repair that would otherwise have lasted.
You learn when the hearth can be walked on, when it can take furniture or tools and when the fireplace can be lit again. Those can be different days, so plan any gathering around the last of them. If a fire is planned for a particular evening, tell us when you book so the materials can be chosen with that date in mind.
Checks made on a hearth inspection
A hearth inspection covers more than the crack you called about. On every visit our technicians look at the items below and note what they find.
You get the findings and a written price for each repair, with necessary work kept apart from optional changes. The measurements go into your written record for future reference.
- Type of fireplace, masonry or factory-built
- Surface finish and any loose, hollow or cracked pieces
- Thickness of the extension and the height of the firebox floor
- How far the extension reaches in front and to each side
- Support under the hearth where it can be seen
- Gaps at the fireplace face and the floor edge
- Distance from flooring and trim to the opening
- The join between the hearth and the firebox floor
