Installing new hearth

[bombata]

Hello,

I have a question. In our living room we have a fireplace which a working chimney. As during housing renovations I deemed it too expensive to remove the chimney we decided to renovate the existing fireplace.

We got the chimney cleaned and got an estimate to line it and install a woodburning stove in it.

The old owners never used the fireplace. The tiles on the hearth are smashed up and to save costs I would like to replace them myself. Do you think it is easier to buy some slate tiles (from a normaly DIY shop) and tile them myself or should I get a piece of slate cut to size. I am worried to if I order it it may not fit. And how do you do the edges.

Also at the back wall of the fireplace on the other side we have a plug socket so I wanted to line the back wall with a fireproof plasterboard. Do you have any advice on the product.

I am sorry for all the questions but I am complete novice.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

You have an existing hearth, is it raised above the floor or is the tiled surface level with the floor? I have retiled an old hearth once and the results were presentable though not quite as good as I had wanted, the reason was that the exposed edges of the top tiles were not finished off properly (wrong tiles?). So that's the first thing check your slate tiles and see what sort of edge they have. If you went in for a cut slate slab, they are heavy and will need at least two people to move it, the edges will need to be polished and if its a raised hearth, you still have to do the underneath edges.
It looks better if you have your tiles dead symmetrical about the centre line of the fire. So if you need a 48" width and the tiles are 9", use two full tiles down each side, leaving 49 -36 = 13" to make up with two 6 1/2" bits cut from tiles NOT one 9" and one 4" bit. With the two cut edges together on the centre. I would buy a £40 tile cutting machine (motorised disc with water), very messy but excellent. The cut edges will be a sharp as a razor so rub them gently with a bit of aluminium oxide (sand) paper on a block just to take the sharpness off. Mark the tiles out with a chinograph pencil, it can be rubbed off. The water in the disc cutter will remove masking tape and its marked out line as will wash of water based marker pens. Nothing will remove spirit based markers.
I do not understand why you want "fireproof" plasterboard, no such thing, do you intend to have a fire in the fire place?. With an enclosed wood burner you can leave the bricks as they are or render them. Did you have some finish in mind for the inside?
Is the powerpoint within the opening? If so it must be removed (and its wiring) and put on the side of the chimney breast, outside the opening.
Frank

 

[ray99]

Scroll down the page to the topic Limestone Hearth. I have put up a few pics of the one I have just done myself in my daughters house which might help you. Do your research first as I knew nothing about this a few weeks ago. eg fires with an output of more than 5 Kw require an additional air supply. The one I fitted was 4.8Kw so ok there.