Open Fire but Marble Hearth

hotshots85

Hi All,

Looking at converting my previously gas fireplace to an open solid fuel fire.

I have had the chimney checked and all is fine, my problem is that the hearth and back panel are marble, all single piece, which i am told will probably crack if a solid fuel fire is lit.

Is there any way to properly cut expansion joints into the exisitng marble pieces or do I need to go the route of getting a whole new hearht and back panel installed??

hotshots85

Bump?

ART6

I have no idea what precautions to take, but all I would say is that I have an open fire in our sitting room with a single piece marble slab and a marble surround. It was installed many years ago when the house was built (1974) and has never shown any signs of cracking. I would think you'd need a very hot fire indeed to cause that.

slimjimmc

Same here, marble hearth and surround. Had some savage fires in it over the years (hot enough to burn out the grate bars over a single winter) and never had a bother with the marble. I doubt an open fire would heat the marble quickly enough to cause thermal shock.

If you're fitting a new fire-back make sure it's properly installed, back-filled and all joints properly sealed with fire cement. Any open gaps here could in theory allow hot gases to enter behind the fire surround which may be linked to what you've heard.