Our fireplace (old style iron combination - all in one piece - 40" wide and 38" tall)) has a slate hearth 2.5 cm thick which I assume has been mortared into place but which is chipped and cracked. We don't use the fire but it looks nice apart from the hearth. I want to replace the hearth but don't want to remove the fireplace from the wall as I know it's been backfilled. I can feel behind the fire in the fireplace opening the void has been filled and mortared and so if I take the fireplace off the wall there'll be a lot of mess and I'll have to replace the rubble behind it.
I was thinking that as it's well screwed into the wall I could chip away the slate. When it comes to removing the slate under the pillars of the fireplace (the bits that the fireplace is standing on the hearth with at the front) I can get a strong mate to help support the fire in addition to the wall fixings while I chip away underneath. When all the slate has been cleared I can then slide in a new hearth of the same depth as the old one.
Can anyone let me know if this is possible? Also how easy is it to separate the slate hearth from the constructional hearth underneath? Is slate easy to drill/break with a cold chisel etc to allow me to remove it in pieces?Thanks a lot for any advice.
I was thinking that as it's well screwed into the wall I could chip away the slate. When it comes to removing the slate under the pillars of the fireplace (the bits that the fireplace is standing on the hearth with at the front) I can get a strong mate to help support the fire in addition to the wall fixings while I chip away underneath. When all the slate has been cleared I can then slide in a new hearth of the same depth as the old one.
Can anyone let me know if this is possible? Also how easy is it to separate the slate hearth from the constructional hearth underneath? Is slate easy to drill/break with a cold chisel etc to allow me to remove it in pieces?Thanks a lot for any advice.