How To Measure & Order A Made To Measure Fireplace Hearth?
The most common mistake when ordering a made to measure fireplace hearth is to measure the top size of your current hearth and disregard the bottom cut out in your wooden flooring or carpet that needs to be covered.
Boxed and lipped fireplace hearths
(1)The majority of fireplace hearths are boxed and lipped. This essentially means the vertical section of the fireplace hearth (called the riser)
is recessed back approximately 1/2 inch and hence the top horizontal section overhangs and creates the overall boxed and lipped effect.
(2)The most common mistake (quite substantial error) is to measure the top section of a boxed and lipped hearth and disregarding the section underneath that needs to be covered. If you make this mistake you will order a hearth that does not fit as your new hearth will be made to the top size measurements you specify. For this reason it is always advisable to measure and specify the bottom section of your fireplace hearth that you need to cover when ordering a made to measure fireplace hearth.
How to Install a new made to measure hearth
Once you have received your hearth, it is advisable to bed it on a mixture of sand and cement. All marble fireplace hearths are hollow inside and by beding them on sand and cement you are reducing the risk of the hearth cracking if anyone was to accidentally stand on the hearth. It is also a requirement to bed the hearth on sand and cement if you are installing a gas fire.