There are a number of ways to do this.
Installing hardwood around fireplace hearth.
The problem i am anticipating is how to hide the 1 2 inch expansion gap by the brick fireplace hearth and the built ins.
I am installing an engineered hardwood floor santos mahogany from br 111.
Please see attached pictures hopefully they come through.
Installing a floor can be difficult if there s a fireplace in the living room.
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.
Some gas fireplaces are built with zero clearance fireboxes meaning you can put combustible materials right up to the sides front and bottom.
In this case a floor has to be custom fit.
But don t let that deter you.
I am floating the floor over an underlayment and a wood subfloor.
One of the best options for installing hardwood floors around a brick fireplace is to undercut the hearth if you have a raised hearth.
Trimming a wood floor around a hearth.
Laying hardwood flooring is relatively simple.
Transitioning from hardwood to a hearth is tricky whether the hearth is level with the floor or raised.
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.
Undercut the hearth.
Installing hardwood around a fireplace is not that complicated.
Suddenly the idea can seem complicated.
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.
The wood requires expansion gaps on all sides to.
Gas fireplaces are considered gas appliances not true fireplaces.
It might even be best to start laying the flooring around the fireplace then working towards the rest of the room.
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.