crumbled hearths in front of fireplaces

[Suzanne]

Most of the hearths in front of the remaining fireplaces in my 1890s Victorian house are damaged. They seem to be made of some kind of agggregate concrete so I think they are not original, sadly, and are cracked in places and crumbling at the edges. One was so bad I took it all out. I'd be grateful if anyone could tell me what they may have been originally (the surrounds are slate), if it is possible to replace with something close to the original surface, and/or what can be done to improve the deterioration of the cracked and crumbly concrete.
Thank you
Suzanne

 

[Ian Bond]

Hi Suzanne

Were the fireplaces blocked too, and the front hearths carpeted over or something - the rough concrete must have been hidden under something?

If you wanted to have a raised hearth you could lay the new stone / slate or whatever hearth on top of the concrete. Unless the grate's still in-situ and sitting on a back hearth that is flush with the floor surface - you'd want the front and back hearths at the same level.

There are stone & concrete repair materials available, and maybe you could just patch up the concreate hearth and fit some nice hearth tiles over the top? That could look great, with perhaps a nice brass fender to keep the hot ashes off the axminster!

The front room of my house is much altered, and this was probably done in the late 19th century. A stone floor was removed and replaced with boards, and the concrete type front hearth was put in, with fancy tiles. I found the remains of a slate surround and a couple of broken tiles. Sady a 1940s improvement had removed the Victorian fireplace.

And then further improvement were made in the 1980s - not good, so I've gone back to the 1830s and put a stone front hearth in. To do this I removed the remnants of the concrete and got a suitable piece of sandstone cut to size, and layed it flush with the boarded floor a bed of sharp sand and lime.

Perhaps a neighbour has an original fireplace and hearth you could copy, or get some ideas for tile designs from?

Ian