Removing hearth

Denene

I'm in the middle of removing my fireplace as it is not in use and takes up too much space. The hearth, I've discovered, is made of some kind of concrete (?) covered in tiles, and I've been unable to shift it with a hammer, bolster and pry bar. Is it worth me buying a sledgehammer or hiring some kind of drill, or should I find a professional to do it?



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DaftyDuck

You are in for quite a job there, but now you've started....

The hearth will be on solid concrete, going down to sub floor base layer. The rest of your floor will, I suspect, be on wooden support joists, with floorboards above.

You won't be able to simply lay flooring on a lowered concrete base, as it will never level correctly, and will move less than the rest of the floor. You'll have to remove the hearth, and then extend the joists with suitable wood, then lay flooring onto that (matching the depth of any floorboards that underlie your fake ones).

Next problem you have is, is that heart also helping support the chimney breast? It shouldn't, but take any bit of substantial mass away, the rest will be less stable.

Of less significance, but still of note, you'll need to replace the skirting on each side, and match it in with the rest, and sort out that (aerial) cable.

Are you sure you want to do this? If the tiles are undamaged, can you replace the edging strip and stop?






Professional, in answer to your question, since you ask!



(Now I've rambled, Doozer can give the right answer )

Denene

Oh dear.... The mantelpiece was held on with 2 screws and some glue so I was hoping this wouldn't be too securely attached. It's annoying because I could really use that 10 inches of floor space!

I was okay with replacing skirting and possibly the flooring but it sounds like it will be a lot more work than I expected. (The aerial is another piece of mystery cable from some previous owner!)

I am planning to get some building work done to the kitchen so maybe I can get this done at the same time. Plan b would be, as you say, to put it back together. New edging and tiles painted.

Thanks for detailed reply!