I have been insert shopping a while now. I lined up a handyman friend to rebuild and extend the (flush) hearth, which I had come to believe was tiled right on top of the wood. Well, it's not, it is inch thick tile on top of brick and mortar. The masonry under there is kind of cantilevered out from the concrete block fireplace, and has wood underneath it but the masonry itself is substantial. So now we aren't sure whether to leave it as built by the mason who built this house and lived in it in 1953, with a stove board in front for the additional inches of ember protection, or whether to have our friend bust out the tile, cut out flooring and have to even up the under surface with new durock and new tile all the way across.
I guess I am leaning toward leaving it alone and going with an ugly pc of stove board... I never like to mess with the fabric of the building more than necessary and we could use the money I guess. INteresting though you learn something new every day.
I guess I am leaning toward leaving it alone and going with an ugly pc of stove board... I never like to mess with the fabric of the building more than necessary and we could use the money I guess. INteresting though you learn something new every day.
