1920s era monolithic hearth

[rriigc]

I have a small 1920s-era foursquare house with a large central chimney.

The hearth is divided into 14 equally sized sections that I always assumed were individual 8"x8" terra-cotta colored quarry tiles. Several of these "tiles" are loose, rotate slightly and make a clank sound when stepped on, and they release a small shower of grit onto the basement floor below when they move.

After many years of "intending" to fix this, I finally got around to trying to remove the loose tiles, intending to shim them level with a pit of grout or thin set mortar. To my surprise, I now see the that the hearth and fire place floor appear to be a single (probably) poured piece, and the joints between "tiles" at the hearth are incised, false joints, not true joints between separate tiles. There are no similar joints inside the fire place. The hearth is supported by cantilevered threaded steel pipes which hold up layer of brick and mortar sub floor. Which I think is pretty nifty.

I have two questions for the group:

• Is this a common construction technique for the era?
• How can I remove individual "tiles" without damaging them? The "tiles" are loose enough so they move up and down, but they're still locked to their neighbors at their perimeters to the degree that they can't be fully lifted up and out. I'm not excited about getting out the angle grinder and filling my house with brick dust.

See attached photos.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Can you use a dental pic to scrape between the tiles? If you clean the dirt out they may lift out easily.


No idea on how common the construction method is.

 

[stoveliker]

Looking at the bricks of the fireplace, they don't look like 1920s to me.

I second using a thin metal tool to scrape the seams to see if you can lift out the top in order to use some mortar underneath to reset them.

 

[EbS-P]

Resetting the tiles is necessary but I don’t think it will completely stop material falling. Obviously there are cracks that go all the way through. To stop the material you need a barrier. I would probably screw up a pieces of plywood to the joists keeping it 2” away from the masonry chimney structure. It may sag some and if that’s an issues I get a piece of angle aluminum to stiffen it up.

 

[begreen]

Resetting the tiles is necessary but I don’t think it will completely stop material falling. Obviously there are cracks that go all the way through. To stop the material you need a barrier. I would probably screw up a pieces of plywood to the joists keeping it 2” away from the masonry chimney structure. It may sag some and if that’s an issues I get a piece of angle aluminum to stiffen it up.

I don't think wood is permitted under the hearth. Cement board would help.

 

[rriigc]

Looking at the bricks of the fireplace, they don't look like 1920s to me.

I second using a thin metal tool to scrape the seams to see if you can lift out the top in order to use some mortar underneath to reset them.

I know what you mean. The brick color and surface look like they could be more modern., but the house was built in 1927. There's really no evidence of the fire place having been replaced. This being what was then rural Maine, what I consider the Craftsman stylistic elements are pretty restrained. Shallow-sloped pyramid roof with a substantial overhang, shallow masonry arch over the fire place lintel with a bit of a decorative brick keystone (behind the screen), slightly angled "battered" foundation wall profile, square spindles on the stair case rail and a rectilinear decorative pattern on the newel post. Original windows were three or four panes over a single lite lower sash. The house is interesting to me because it's also "modern" in some ways -- concrete foundation, wall board instead of plaster, although the wall board has a fairly substantial plaster skim coat. I've seen some 1920s houses that seem much more Victorian in their materials and decoration.

 

[bholler]

I know what you mean. The brick color and surface look like they could be more modern., but the house was built in 1927. There's really no evidence of the fire place having been replaced. This being what was then rural Maine, what I consider the Craftsman stylistic elements are pretty restrained. Shallow-sloped pyramid roof with a substantial overhang, shallow masonry arch over the fire place lintel with a bit of a decorative brick keystone (behind the screen), slightly angled "battered" foundation wall profile, square spindles on the stair case rail and a rectilinear decorative pattern on the newel post. Original windows were three or four panes over a single lite lower sash. The house is interesting to me because it's also "modern" in some ways -- concrete foundation, wall board instead of plaster, although the wall board has a fairly substantial plaster skim coat. I've seen some 1920s houses that seem much more Victorian in their materials and decoration.

Yeah the craftsman movement was in response to the factory produced victorian details on many of the early 20th century homes. The funny part is it only took 5 years or so before most of the craftsman details were factory produced as well.

But we see lots of 1920s brick that look similar to yours. But some in our area from that time period were still old style air dried ones. Allot depended upon budget. Fired brick cost much more

As others have said just start scraping between them they will probably come out

 

[TXDS76901]

Yeah the craftsman movement was in response to the factory produced victorian details on many of the early 20th century homes. The funny part is it only took 5 years or so before most of the craftsman details were factory produced as well.

But we see lots of 1920s brick that look similar to yours. But some in our area from that time period were still old style air dried ones. Allot depended upon budget. Fired brick cost much more

As others have said just start scraping between them they will probably come out

We ran into this same issue on a 1928 house. What looked like tile turned out to be solid concrete (a different pour with color). The tile grout lines were evidently cut into the concrete. We used a chipping hammer/chisel, ear and eye protection, and a lot of time to remove the top 3/4" to get flush to the surrounding subfloor.