Hi, I'm looking to construct a tiled hearth. It sits on an existing concrete base flush with the floorboards, but I'd like to build the hearth up a bit higher . It will be used with a gas fire eventually.
I was thinking of using 18mm MDF, probably stuck down with no-nails, and tiling on that. Should I be worried that the MDF / adhesive will not be fireproof, or will this be OK as it's tiled? Alternatively what else could I use to bring the height up a bit?
Thanks...
Sounds OK in my opinion - after all, how hot is the hearth going to get? (remember heat rises, and all that...) Consider how hot the tiles would have to get in order for the underlying MDF to come anywhere near heat damage point.
The fireplace/hearth sets sold in B&Q/Wickes etc are made of some form of wood, with an acrylic surface, which would quickly get damaged if heat were a problem there.
David
Make some shuttering to go round the edge and use pre-mixed concrete. The sheds sell it in bags.
You should first check the installation instructions for the gas fire. Hearths have to be 25mm or 50mm (I can't remember which now) above the floor. ISTR they have to be fireproof construction within so many mm of the top too. There's also a minimum width and depth. You don't want to build one and then find it's out of spec for the gas fire.
I built the base of mine out of a sand/cement bed. Might be worth adding chicken wire or a steel mesh for extra strength (I didn't and it hasn't been an issue, but I would if I did it again).
In my case, the existing concrete base was built up from the earth bypassing the damp proof course. I took it away, replaced the floor joists and boards right across (which had gone rotten due to the damp hearth base) and then built the new hearth on the floorboards. I also left a ventilation hole so the fire draws its air from under the suspended floor rather than bringing a cold draft across the room.
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