Hearth removal advice please?

[j4g3d]

Our chimney and fireplace have been out of action/removed for many years. Leaving the chimney breast in the living room and a ugly hearth.

We live in a terraced house which I think was built around 1950- 1960.

The hearth is tiled over, but I removed one tile and the concrete is like a aero chocolate, so I can see the wooden flooring under it.

I am reading up that the hearth is generally 1 or 2ft deep. But in my case it does appear to be 2 or 3 inches deep. Is this normal or not?

I want it removed and want to tackle it myself soon, but unsure how big of a job this may turn out to be. I have a SDS drill..etc. Also want to make sure no asbestos will be in the concrete, does anyone know if its possible it may have asbestos in it?

 

[blup]

Can you remove a floorboard near the hearth to ascertain its depth?

Blup

 

[bobasd]

why not post some photos of the hearth an c/breast?
hearths are usuly simple to remove an make good to the floorin.
but can be a bit more work if you have a trimmed hearth with an earth infill.

 

[j4g3d]

Thanks for replies. I had a go at it with a long screw driver and I managed to lever the entire thing off in one go.

Now my next issue.. I now need to fill the hole it came from. It seems its about 20mm deep. I removed a layer of concrete as well as it was all broken up anyway. A bit of remains as seen in the pic im about to upload.

What is the best method to fill this up? We're removing our laminate flooring soon and replacing with carpet. So, it needs to be level. Someone mentioned to me concrete, but others say just get floorboards and make it fit. Of course nobody will ever stand on that part of the room as its right under the tv on the chimney breast.

 

[j4g3d]

Opinions most welcome

https://i.imgur.com/gcCvJA3.jpg

https://imgur.com/a/l1QVuLN

 

[John D v2.0]

If it's damp like ours were you'll want to dig the whole lot out and put joists and floor boards. Otherwise you will have rotuting joists in the area.
If it's dry you can probably lay something on top but not sure what.

 

[j4g3d]

I watched this video and it shows the chap using floorboards:

PROBLEM:
I have removed more of my laminate to expose the floorboards. But I face a bigger problem then first thought.

The concrete foundation found under the hearth sits quite high. So putting a ruler on it, you can see in the pics below that if i sat new 19mm floorboards down, that it'll sit 16mm above the existing floorboards.

The existing floorboards also don't appear to be reaching to the joist in the pic.

I am really confused as to what to do now.

Pics:

https://imgur.com/a/WClNVdt

https://imgur.com/a/lffvZxH

https://imgur.com/a/4EZ24XG

https://imgur.com/a/2pWYems

 

[alan333]

I am thinking some floorboards as they're 18mm thick and the gap i need is 20mm. The extra 2mm I can use with adhesive.

Pack the supports under your new floorboards with something 2mm thick thus your floorboards will be flush.

 

[j4g3d]

Pack the supports under your new floorboards with something 2mm thick thus your floorboards will be flush.

check my new post above mate. Things have changed a bit...

 

[alan333]

Sorry mate, I didn't notice the earlier post.

Fill it back up to level with sand/cement, use something appropriate to stop it falling through gaps.

 

[j4g3d]

Sorry mate, I didn't notice the earlier post.

Fill it back up to level with sand/cement, use something appropriate to stop it falling through gaps.

Cement I guess is a solution. But is it the correct solution?

I noticed some 14mm tongue and groove cladding on travis perkins example: https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/Red...d-Matchboard-Standard-14-5mm-x-119mm/p/183003

Would that do the job as well or would cementing be the best option?

 

[alan333]

14mm won't be very strong. It might dip when you stand on it. I can't see any reason you couldn't use cement - it's just putting back what's already there, albeit a bit thinner.

 

[Dereekoo]

.

 

[bobasd]

OP, do you want some professional advice for how to do a proper job?

 

[j4g3d]

OP, do you want some professional advice for how to do a proper job?

My brother is a tiler and I didn't realise he did jobs like this before. He's advised to use self levelling compound, which is what I will buy tomorrow and will do the job tomorrow if weather is good.