A fireplace is a place in the home where everyone comes together on cold nights to get warm. The surrounding where the hardwood floor joins the hearth has to be treated carefully.
We will be educating you on how to install hardwood floor around fireplace. Start by making a scribbled board, hide the gap extension and finally frame the area.
This is not just to keep everyone safe but also for the outward look of the room.
Installing the fireplace with a hardwood floor is not difficult to carry out. However, you need to be aware of the necessary information regarding how to go about installing it and your safety before you move ahead.
Read on as we provide you with full details on how to install hardwood floor around the fireplace.
Related: Do Hardwood Floors Make Your House Colder?
How to Install Hardwood Floor around Fireplace
Table of Contents
Below outlined are the steps of how to install hardwood floor around fireplace:
Make a Scribbled Board to Fit the Fireplace
Placing the board near the fireplace is a good idea. Measure the outline of the fireplace with a compass and scribe the board.
Using a jigsaw or bandsaw, cut following the scribe mark. Bridge the vacuum in between the board and the fireplace with adjustable sandblasted grout in a color that matches the brick fireplace’s grout or the flooring if the fireplace is wood.
Hide the Gap in Expansion
Set the flooring boards against the fireplace and secure them with staples or nails. Add a ¼-round shoe molding on top of the board against the fireplace to disguise the gap.
It should be glued and stapled in place. Another option is to use trim like an end cap, square note, carpet reducer, or universal edge against the fireplace and let the flooring also be against the trim.
Fireplace Surrounding Frame
If there is a slab next to the fireplace, framing the area in front of it is a good idea. Put twice the width of the flooring board to the front of the hearth. Cut a piece of board to this length.
Cut two more lengths to fit somewhere along the sides and the front board’s width. To align the two ends of the front board and the front ends of the sideboards, miter the front ends and the two ends of the front board.
Remove the tongue from the frame’s left side. The frame boards should be glued and face-nailed. Use this three-sided, mitered frame to lay the flooring.
Read: How to Install Hardwood Floors Around Kitchen Cabinets
What’s the Best Way to Keep the Floor in Front of a Fireplace Safe?
Here are ways you can keep your floor safe in front of a fireplace:
- Use a screen or a cover at all times
- Never use the fireplace without a screen or cover, as this is one of the most constant ways to safeguard your floors.
- Extend the hearth.
- Invest in a hearth pad or a fireplace rug
- Stay away from excessively hot fires.
What Is a Hearth Extension for a Fireplace?
The hearth of a fireplace is the region beneath the firebox. Noncombustible materials, such as brick or stone, are used to construct it.
The non-flammable material in front of and to the sides of a fireplace opening is the hearth extension.
What Is the Most Ideal Material to Use for a Fireplace Hearth?
For solid fuel-burning fireplaces, granite is the best hearth material. Though, you’ll be required to use one that has been ‘slabbed’ to survive the heat.
This implies it has been shattered into smaller pieces and set in concrete to expand when warmed up.
What Should Be Placed in Front of a Fireplace?
Door screens, also known as two-panel screens, are becoming increasingly popular due to their ability to work similarly to French doors.
Both doors open in opposite directions, giving you the option of changing the quantity of open space in front of your fireplace. Spark guards consist of a single continuous screen that sits flat against the fireplace.
Read: What Is Vintage Hardwood Flooring?
Conclusion
When quizzed with the question of if it is possible to have hardwood flooring in front of a fireplace? Sparks and embers can burn any wood floor adjacent to a fireplace.
It’s the flat surface that runs from the front of the fireplace to the ground. It’s always made of a non-flammable material like concrete, tile, or stone.
We’ve come to the end of How to install hardwood floor around fireplace, and we believe we’ve done a great job outlining how.
We also believe this article is helpful and informative; kindly share it across your social media pages if you feel the same way.