Laying a 4 piece granite hearth

Carlow52

The new hearth for under a free standing wood burning stove has come in four large pieces.
Each is 650mm by 800mm and is 30mm thick.

As you can appreciate they are very heavy and I wonder how best to fit them and keep them level as it has to look right.

The supplier said just bed them in sand/cement:)

All suggestions welcome.

Thanks.

ballystephen

Yeah bed it on sand/cement.If you laid it on blobs instead of a full bed it will be easier to manouvre when laying.You could also place some 1/2 inch minimum wooden packers on the floor before you lay the stone(keep the mortar clear of the packers) and tap the stone down to the packers.At least the stone wouldnt drop too far forcing you to lift and relay the stone.
Good Luck
Ps Dont wack the stone too hard.Try wiggling it into position

builditwell

Hi Carlow52

When laying it in sand and cement do not do as ballystephen has suggested. You must lay it in a full bed of material as in the whole of the undersurface must be covered for 2 reasons , 1 is to ensure the whole tile sticks an 2 so that the tile has no hollow spaces underneath it in the bedding material, this would make it suseptible to cracking or even breakages as the tile is not totally supported, i know its a 30mm tile but must still be laid as normal. If you use morticiser or plasticiser in the sand and cement it will make it easier to work with but not too runny as you will need a good bed of material to allow a bit of settlement and for adjustment. If you could get your hands on a couple of sucker handles they would help greatly with the laying process for lifting etc etc.

Regards
Builditwell

RKQ

Good advice Builditwell, I agree fully.
No hollow spaces underneath granite in the bedding material, as this would could cause cracking or even breakages as the tile is not totally supported.