The idea of installing hardwood flooring in a room with a fireplace is one that many homeowners find appealing until it s time to install the flooring around the fireplace mantel and hearth area.
Installing hardwood around fireplace hearth.
Gas fireplaces are considered gas appliances not true fireplaces.
I am installing an engineered hardwood floor santos mahogany from br 111.
Unfortunately inexperienced installers will handle it this way either because they do not know of other solutions or don t care to handle it any other way.
In this case a floor has to be custom fit.
There are a number of ways to do this.
I am floating the floor over an underlayment and a wood subfloor.
But don t let that deter you.
How to install hardwood flooring around a fireplace.
Please see attached pictures hopefully they come through.
Hardwood at fireplace hearths.
Suddenly the idea can seem complicated.
The problem i am anticipating is how to hide the 1 2 inch expansion gap by the brick fireplace hearth and the built ins.
Installing hardwood around a fireplace is not that complicated.
Undercut the hearth.
Laying hardwood flooring is relatively simple.
The wood requires expansion gaps on all sides to.
Right next to a fireplace there could be some in floor heating wires that stick up from the subfloor and a curved hearth of the fireplace to contend with image 1.
As such they are not regulated by the same safety codes as wood burning fireplaces and each model has its own requirements.
Installing hardwood moldings around fireplace hearths has never been an attractive solution for covering up those gaps.
Transitioning from hardwood to a hearth is tricky whether the hearth is level with the floor or raised.
Some gas fireplaces are built with zero clearance fireboxes meaning you can put combustible materials right up to the sides front and bottom.
It might even be best to start laying the flooring around the fireplace then working towards the rest of the room.
Installing a floor can be difficult if there s a fireplace in the living room.