Building a fireplace hearth

[branimal]

I’d like to build a hearth to create a more finished look for my fireplace. See pic. Is the process as simple as nailing a 2”x4” frame to the finished floor, laying a sheet of 3/4 ply on top and picking a stone piece cut to lip over the edges? How is the stone adhered to the plywood (or cement board) —> mortar? I also need to adhere stone pieces to the vertical sides of the hearth.


Thanks.

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[memphisnate]

What you described would work...you set the stone with thinset mortar then grout it.

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[No Noise Dude]

That’s exactly how my fireplace hearth is built!

 

[Angelfire]

I'm in the same boat as in I need to build a hearth so will be watching this space for any tips/tricks. Depending on the stone/weight, I believe diamond mesh lath should be used along with mortar. Haven't seen thinset used but it may very well be acceptable (or not). Let us know how you get on. I still have to demo out my old hearth and it's in a vacation home so will probably take me 6 months to complete!
Cheers.

 

[firebirdparts]

I would start with a cement board if you are talking about a fairly thin structure. If you want to raise it up consider full bricks. At least fill up the structure with something solid. Masonry is inflexible. The last one I built was tile and flush with the hardwood. Just a cement backer board on the subfloor and then the tile. I use epoxy grout. I figure that a product costing 10 times too much would have to be good or else they wouldn’t make it. I have never had to repair any of that.

 

[firebirdparts]

Also, on the vertical stuff, I just got through tiling on a metal fireplace liner, and that worked out fine with hardibacker and backer-on screws. I countersunk my holes in the backer so that I did not need to be too violent with the screws.

 

[kj_mustang]

If using stone veneer on the fireplace, use 1/2" cement backer board screwed well to the vertical metal and thick mixed thinset. Start sticking the stone at the bottom and use spacers to hold the pieces apart for the grout lines until the mud sets. You covering the narrow metal part on the right too?

 

[mandlebaum]

That is exactly how i did it. 2x4 structure, cement board and slate tile with standard tile mix.
Trying to upload the pics, i hope this works.

The final picture shows some optical illusion, everything was straight - there was no carnival mirror effect in real life.

 

[My Old Tools]

We got a piece of scrap granite and had it cut for our hearth. It turned out great.

 

[kbs2244]

For a small spot like that a granite counter top shop scrap may be perfect.

 

[Boomer343]

I've all but quit using thinset for jobs like this.

Some quick grab PL and a couple dabs of clear silicone caulking. Put up many square feet of the dry pack slate and no issues from any of it.

Cut 9 inches out of a brick hearth that looked out of place after the bookcases were removed. Had to section it and move it back in one piece. The only place I ended up using cement mortar was to grout the joints on the new bricks.

I wouldn't get carried away with a deep hearth for that fireplace. Going to be tricky coming up with something that works with all the existing decor.