Hi all,
I had a chemical DPC done 7 years ago which included around the fireplace to a terraced Victorian property built circa 1903. I have now opened the fireplace in the backroom and I am in the process of building the hearth, to sit a log burning stove upon. Currently the room has concrete flooring which I have laid ceramic tiles over, but the base of the fireplace was bricks which were level with the rest of the concrete floor. For the new hearth I plan to lay a further 2 courses of bricks(73mm bricks and 10 mm joint) upon the bricks in the base of the fireplace and then to extend them about 400mm out into the room, which will sit on the concrete floor(I have removed some of the ceramic tiles to do this). I am concerned whether the depth of the hearth is enough as I am unsure what`s under the bricks already in the fireplace(I believe should be 250mm if non combustible floor according to build regs?) or what the depth of the concrete floor is. I am also concerned whether the new bricks laid will pull up damp through the concrete floor or via the base of the fireplace and into the adjoining brickwork of the fireplace and then inevitably into the plasterwork. Am I worrying over nothing as the concrete floor and base to the fireplace should already have some sort of DPC? Should I put some DPM just onto the first course of bricks and then up the fireplace wall at the front. The current chemical DPC is just one course up from the concrete flooring. I hope this hasn`t left you confused, many thanks in advance.//media.diynot.com/191000_190367_48055_80892927_thumb.jpg
I had a chemical DPC done 7 years ago which included around the fireplace to a terraced Victorian property built circa 1903. I have now opened the fireplace in the backroom and I am in the process of building the hearth, to sit a log burning stove upon. Currently the room has concrete flooring which I have laid ceramic tiles over, but the base of the fireplace was bricks which were level with the rest of the concrete floor. For the new hearth I plan to lay a further 2 courses of bricks(73mm bricks and 10 mm joint) upon the bricks in the base of the fireplace and then to extend them about 400mm out into the room, which will sit on the concrete floor(I have removed some of the ceramic tiles to do this). I am concerned whether the depth of the hearth is enough as I am unsure what`s under the bricks already in the fireplace(I believe should be 250mm if non combustible floor according to build regs?) or what the depth of the concrete floor is. I am also concerned whether the new bricks laid will pull up damp through the concrete floor or via the base of the fireplace and into the adjoining brickwork of the fireplace and then inevitably into the plasterwork. Am I worrying over nothing as the concrete floor and base to the fireplace should already have some sort of DPC? Should I put some DPM just onto the first course of bricks and then up the fireplace wall at the front. The current chemical DPC is just one course up from the concrete flooring. I hope this hasn`t left you confused, many thanks in advance.//media.diynot.com/191000_190367_48055_80892927_thumb.jpg
