I have a disused concrete fireplace that I want to brighten up a bit. The house is a victorian terrace. The room is on the first floor. The chimney was blocked off some time ago. The fireplace is concrete and is flush with the floorboards so the previous owner just carpeted over it. We are going to expose the floorboards so the concrete fireplace would look unsightly. I want to tile the fireplace but I want to keep it flush with the floorboards. Can I chip out the concrete and lay tiles on top but flush with the floorboards? Any tips?
Tiling disused fireplace
Aug 30, 2006
2 Replies
In message , snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com writes
We've just done that although in our case the concrete hearth was cracked in a few places so breaking it out was a lot easier.
The concrete was only 3-4 inches thick suspended in a frame set into the floor joists (ours is a suspended floor over our cellar). All I did was wreck out the concrete then clear out all the years of accumulated ash and other rubbish from the void and set-in some new joists plus a slightly lowered floor section using a bit of chipboard flooring to allow for the thickness of the tiles and adhesive I had left over from doing the loft. I packed the void with some rockwool to damp down on noise and provide a bit of thermal insulation (something you might want to consider elsewhere if you are lifting the carpets over the room!) then tiled over the chipboard so ending up with the tiles flush with the floorboards - looks a lot nicer than the original concrete and feels very solid.
Run a masonry drill through the hearth to gauge how thick it is.
Andy
Join the Discussion
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Didn't find your answer?
Ask the community — no account required