Fireplace Hearths (An In-Depth Guide With Pictures) (2024)

Hearthsare an integral part of many types of fireplaces, and help to keep both you andyour house safe from having a fire in your home.

I havetwo fireplaces in my home: one in my living room and one in my kitchen. Thesame chimney serves both fireplaces, but each fireplace has different sizedhearths that are made from different materials.

Wonderingwhy my hearths were so different in size and material, I’ve done a ton ofresearch into fireplace hearths over the years.

I’ve thereforeput this article together explaining everything you need to know aboutfireplace hearths, including their purpose, what size they need to be, and whatthe best materials are for use in a hearth.

What IsA Fireplace Hearth?

A fireplace hearth is the arealocated at the base of the fireplace on which a fire is built, or a fireplaceinsert or stove is placed. The hearth ismade from a non-combustible material and typically extends out into the roomand to the sides from the fireplace opening.

Dictionary.com defines a hearth as:

‘The floor of a fireplace, usually of stone, brick, etc., often extending a short distance into a room.’

Afireplace hearth was traditionally used for both heating and cooking for manycenturies. Nowadays, fireplaces are typically only used for heating ordecoration purposes.

Fireplacehearths are made out of a non-combustible material such as granite, stone,marble, ceramic, cement or slate. These non-combustible materials help to keepthe heat of the fire away from your house, while also providing anaesthetically pleasing platform for your fireplace that can be designed to suitthe décor of your home.

What PartOf The Fireplace Is The Hearth?

The hearth is found at the verybottom of a fireplace. It’s the slab of non-combustible material that sits flatat the base of the fireplace on which a fire or fireplace unit sits.

It canbe found surrounded by the walls of the fireplace inside the firebox, andextends out into the room past the fireplace opening.

Below isa diagram I put together showing which part of the fireplace is the hearth:

A hearthis sometimes referred to as the ‘inner hearth’ and ‘outer hearth’, locatedinside and outside of the firebox respectively. In some cases the hearth is thefloor located outside of the firebox, while the inner floor of the fireplacecan sometimes be known as the ‘firebox floor’. The extension of the hearth intothe room from the fireplace opening is also referred to as the ‘hearthextension’.

For thepurposes of this article the hearth will refer to the entire floor area of afireplace.

WhatIs The Purpose Of A Fireplace Hearth?

A hearthserves as both cosmetic and functional features of a fireplace.

The purpose of a fireplace hearth isto provide a barrier between the floor of a building and the heat of a fireinside the fireplace or stove. A fireplace hearth also provides a decorativestand on which a fireplace stove, insert or standalone unit can be placedalongside fireplace accessories and fuel such as wood logs.

Functional

Thehearth is an integral part of a fireplace and helps to protect your home fromthe heat of a fire, thanks to a layer of non-combustible material separatingthe floor of your home from the hot coals, embers and flames of a fire.

A hearth’sextension into a room acts a safety feature when having a fire in your home. Afireplace hearth extends out into the room in order to help prevent any soot,ash or burning embers from spilling or spitting out onto the floor of the room.

Ahearth’s extension also provides a suitable and flat area for which a fireguard can be placed, in order to protect both users of the fireplace andfurniture of the room from any hot embers that are released by the fire, and tohelp prevent young children and pets from getting near the fire.

A hearthcan also be used to store fireplace accessories and tools, and as an area tostore logs or coal for use in a fire.

A hearthhelps to create a ‘safe space’ around a fire, in a way that delineates wherethe fireplace starts where the floor of the room ends, meaning that it helps toprevent you from standing or sitting too near to the fire.

Decorative

A hearthcan also function as a decorative feature of a room that can fit with the décorof a home, thanks to a range of non-combustible materials of different designsand colors that can used as a hearth.

Many seea fireplace as a focal point of a room, and so the hearth (being the part ofthe fireplace that sticks out the most into a room) can be used to help drawattention to the fireplace through clever design.

A welldesigned and great looking hearth helps to enhance the look and feel of yourfireplace and room, while also being to help ensure that your home and familyis kept safe from using a fireplace.

Is AFireplace Hearth Required?

A hearthis typically found with traditional open fireplaces but isn’t found with someother types of fireplaces, so do you need a hearth for your fireplace?

A fireplace hearth is a necessity forall solid fuel burning fireplaces, including wood burning fireplaces andstoves.

A hearth is not required forelectric fireplaces but can be used to enhance the aesthetics of owning anelectric fireplace that looks like other types of fireplaces, such as woodburning stoves.

Gas fireplaces don’t typicallyrequire a hearth, but gas fireplaces with glass fronts require a hearth.

What IsA Fireplace Hearth Made Of?

Each fireplacehearth is typically made up of one type of material, and the most commonlyfound materials used as hearths include:

• Brick
• Granite
• Marble
• Stone
• Concrete
• Ceramictiles
• Slate
• Quarrytiles

We havetwo hearths in our home; one for the fireplace located in the kitchen and onefor the fireplace located in the living room.

Even thoughthe fireplace back onto each other and utilize the same chimney, they are madeof different materials. Our kitchen fireplace hearth is made from granite whilethe living room fireplace hearth is made out of cement.

I gointo more detail below about each type of material that can be commonly used ina fireplace hearth.

Brick

Brickcan be considered the most traditional material used for a hearth. Bricks arecheap, easy to install and highly heat resistant meaning that they can be usedas a hearth for all forms of fireplaces.

Dependingon your taste, bricks aren’t as pleasant to look at compared to other types ofhearth material, but are also commonly found used within fireplace surrounds.

Granite

Graniteis a great material to be used in a hearth; it’s very durable and hardwearing, andcan come in a range of patterns, texture and colours. It also isn’t tooexpensive.

Thefireplace in my kitchen has a hearth made out of granite:

Adownside to granite is that it expands and shrinks as it heats and cools, andso must be laid as separate slabs when being used a material for a solid fuelburning fireplace hearth. Granite subject to intense heat from solid fuels suchas wood could cause it to chip and crack over time if it’s used in a hearth asone slab of material.

Ourgranite hearth in the living room fireplace is made up of one slab and sowouldn’t be appropriate for use with burning wood in open fireplaces or woodburning stoves. It was however used for a gas fireplace that we originally hadin our kitchen fireplace and so would have been appropriate for use with thattype of fireplace.

Furthermore,granite is supposed to be fairly scratch resistant but we’ve noticed somefairly big scratches on our granite hearth (which may have been caused by meremoving the gas fireplace insert that we used to have in the fireplace – I’mnot too sure). There’s no sign of any chips or dents however which showsgranite’s durability as use in a hearth.

Marble

Marblelook sleek and modern, and is easy to clean. It’s also highly heat resistantand so can be used with all types of fireplaces.

It canbe the perfect material for use as a fireplace hearth, but comes at an expensecompared to other types of hearth materials.

Stone

Limestoneis a common type of heathstone. It’s fairly inexpensive but as it’s a soft formof stone it should only be used with open gas or electric fireplaces (whichwon’t produce the same heat intensity as solid fuel burning fireplaces).Limestone is also on the easier side to stain.

Soapstonecan also be another material used for a hearth thanks to it’s great heatproperties.

My dadhas a form of stone for his fireplace hearth that fits the décor of his home:

Concrete

Ourliving room fireplace hearth is made from concrete. Concrete is cheap, easy topatch up and can be painted to suit the décor of your home.

Below isa picture of our concrete hearth that we painted black:

Ceramic or Porcelain Tiles

Ceramicand porcelain tiles are very heat resistant and easy to wipe down.

Mypartner’s parents have a fireplace hearth that is made from ceramic tiles:

Slate

Slate isanother great natural stone to be used as a material for a fireplace hearth. Itprovides a more rustic look over other types of hearth material, but is alsomore prone to staining and requires more regular and rigorous cleaning to keepit looking good.

As withgranite, slate can’t be used as one slab of material with solid fuel burningfireplaces, and so will need to be set in sections with expansion joints tocope with the high heat intensities from burning wood or coal.

Quarry Tiles

A friendof mine has a fireplace heath made of quarry tiles. They are typically red incolor and are made in a similar way to brick. Quarry tiles help create a moretraditional look for a fireplace.

Quarrytiles don’t stain very easily, are durable and are very heat resistant.

A fireplace cannot be made from wood because wood is a highly combustible material and would not protect your home from a fire in an open fireplace or stove.

WhatIs The Best Material For A Fireplace Hearth?

Afireplace hearth helps to provide a barrier between a fireplace and the floor ofyour home, while also improving the look and feel of your fireplace.

The bestmaterial for a fireplace hearth is therefore one that:

• Isfire-resistant
• Canwithstand the heat of a solid fuel burning fire
• Isnon-combustible
• Doesn’tcrack
• Ishard wearing
• Looksgreat
• Isdurable

The best material for a fireplacehearth when burning solid wood fuels such as wood is granite. Granite is highlyresistant to heat, is non-combustible, hardwearing, and can look great in anyfireplace.

Graniteis one of the most common materials for a fireplace hearth, and is also areasonably priced material and so it makes a good case to be the best materialfor use within a fireplace hearth.

You mayneed to be careful however around granite hearths when moving or sliding sharpobjects, as we’ve had issues with scratches on our granite fireplace hearth. Welove the look of our granite hearth though, and are very please that it camewith the fireplace when we bought the house.

The bestmaterial for a fireplace hearth is ultimately the one that is safe, and fits inand looks the best with your particular type of fireplace. Thankfully there’s arange of great hearth materials to choose from to suit your budget, colour anddesign requirements.

WhatSize Is A Fireplace Hearth?

Eachcounty has their own guidelines for recommended hearth sizes that should befollowed to help keep your home safe when having a fire in your home.

Information on the preferred dimensions for a fireplace hearth can be found on the International Association of Certified Home Inspector’s (InterNACHI) website for the International Standards of Practice for Inspecting Commercial Properties.

In the UK, you can find details on required hearth sizes within Part J of The Building Regulations.

So howfar should a fireplace hearth come out?

InterNACHI recommends that for fireplacesthat have an opening of 6 square feet (0.56 square meters) or smaller, a hearthshould extend at least 16 inches (406mm) out into the room from the opening,and by at least 8 inches (203mm) away from the sides. For fireplaces that havean opening of greater than 6 square feet, the heath should extended at least 20inches (508mm) out from the fireplace, and at least 12 inches (305mm) to thesides.

In the UK, Building Regulationsstate that hearths must extends at least 150mm to the side of a firebed and atleast 300mm outwards into the room for an open appliance. For closed appliancesthe 300mm can be reduced to 225mm. For open fireplaces, the hearth must projectat least 500mm out into the room.

Be sure to check with a professional what size of hearth is required for your particular location and fireplace situation.

How deepshould a hearth be?

InterNACHI recommends that for anysize fireplace opening, the thickness of a hearth should be at least 4 inches(102mm).

In the UK, Building Regulationsstate that hearths must be at least 12mm thick when temperatures on the surfaceof the hearth will not exceed 100 Degrees Celsius. For temperatures over 100, thehearth must be at least 125mm thick if there is at least a 50mm gap underneaththe hearth, or at least 250mm thick if it is located on a combustible floor.

Be sure to check with a professional what depth of hearth is required for your particular location and fireplace situation.

CanYou Paint A Fireplace Hearth?

A fireplace hearth can be painted,but it can depend what material the hearth is made from. Materials such asconcrete and brick are more appropriate to be painted compared to materialssuch as granite or marble.

Paintinga hearth is a great way to keep your fireplace looking new and fresh.

Wepainted the concrete hearth and surround on our fireplace located in the livingsoon after we moved into the house. We also touch up the fireplace with paintwhen necessary to keep it looking nice.

Here’swhat the fireplace looked like when we bought the house.

Here’s what our living room fireplace looks like now that we’ve touched it up with more black paint:

This isthe spray we used paint the fireplace black:

It’s important that any paint that you use on your fireplace is fire-resistant.

Beforepainting your hearth you should ensure that:

• Anyrough parts of the hearth have been sanded down to be relatively smooth. Paintsticks better to smooth surfaces than it does rough.
• Thehearth has been wiped down and cleaned (we’ve used sugar soap and that seemedto work well).
• Youhave chosen the paint color of your choice.
• Anycarpet or flooring around the hearth is protected by an old bed sheet orsimilar unwanted sheet.

WhatIs A Raised Fireplace Hearth?

A raised fireplace hearth is ahearth that is built up from the floor.

A raisedfireplace hearth, and therefore a raised firebox, provides a few benefits overone that is located on the floor:

• Bettersafety for young children and pets with the fire being less easily reachablefrom the floor.
• Thefire can be viewed at sitting down height.
• Thefireplace can become more a focal point for the room.

Thereare also a few downsides to having a raised hearth:

• Increasedconstruction material costs.
• Thefireplace appears to take up more floor space.

WhatIs A Hearthstone Fireplace?

Ahearthstone fireplace is a fireplace that has a hearth made of stone.

Dictionary.com defines hearthstone as:

‘A stone forming a hearth’

Hearthstone is also a brand of stove.