www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hi there!

I've just renovated a fireplace in the upstairs of my house, and I now need to tile the hearth before I can use it. (It's all been checked out by a proper professional chimney sweep for safety).

The fireplace is a very small, cast iron 1920s job, and I'll be burning solid fuel, e.g. coal. The grate is quite raised off the floor (by 3-4 inches). I'm going to remove the original 1920s hearth tiles, which are unfortunately damaged. I'd love to use natural stone mosaic tiles for the new hearth because it is a relatively awkward space to tile, and I'm an amateur girly girl. But will these be OK with the heat?

Also, I want to carpet the room eventually, and the hearth isn't raised - it's set into the floorboards. I plan on making a fender to protect the carpet. But should I edge the hearth with something so that the join between tile and carpet will look neat? What should I use?

Thanks for your help, I appreciate you reading this!

You can tile with natural stone, i personally believe the best stone would be granite and a dark one at that, as any light stone will be very porous and will stain badly, even when sealed, also the lighter the stone the more porousity and weaker it is, the density of limestone, travertine and marble is much less then granite and could be prone to cracking under extreme temperatures, and to be honest if they didn't crack, they would look terrible within months of the fireplace being used. Hope that helps