Hello,
I am in the process of refurbishing my Victorian fireplace ready for the install of a woodburner. The original fireplace had been backfilled and an open fire installed by the previous owner. I have pulled all this out to reveal the original fireplace. I have now got the point where I am ready to lay the new brick hearth that the burner will sit on. I dug up the remaining mortar that was underneath the backfill and now have what looks like a concrete surface covered in a black tar like substance. Right at the back of the fireplace the concrete doesn't quite reach and some bricks are exposed in about a 4" gap. When I took the mortar from this gap, I found a beetle, a millipede, a slug and a worm. All were alive and promptly tried to escape. After scraping about a bit I found that there was soil in this gap which is how they must have got in! Is this normal?
The issue I have now is how do I treat this before I lay my mortar to then lay my bricks on? Should I just leave it and allow it all to breathe, or should I apply some damp-proofing paint/rubber to this gap and then lay the mortar/brick hearth?
I have some pictures to help explain.
Thank you in advance
Tim
I am in the process of refurbishing my Victorian fireplace ready for the install of a woodburner. The original fireplace had been backfilled and an open fire installed by the previous owner. I have pulled all this out to reveal the original fireplace. I have now got the point where I am ready to lay the new brick hearth that the burner will sit on. I dug up the remaining mortar that was underneath the backfill and now have what looks like a concrete surface covered in a black tar like substance. Right at the back of the fireplace the concrete doesn't quite reach and some bricks are exposed in about a 4" gap. When I took the mortar from this gap, I found a beetle, a millipede, a slug and a worm. All were alive and promptly tried to escape. After scraping about a bit I found that there was soil in this gap which is how they must have got in! Is this normal?
The issue I have now is how do I treat this before I lay my mortar to then lay my bricks on? Should I just leave it and allow it all to breathe, or should I apply some damp-proofing paint/rubber to this gap and then lay the mortar/brick hearth?
I have some pictures to help explain.
Thank you in advance
Tim