Before I can/could get on with the floor in the living room I had to lay the hearths in both fireplaces so that I’d be able to butt the oak floor up properly to the edge so this has slowed me down a bit as I didn’t know if I needed special tiles, special adhesive, special grout etc. and B&Q were far from being the most helpful and knowledgeable. So, off I popped to Topps Tiles around the corner and they were brilliant. Basically, bought myself some uncalibrated slate (basically means all the tiles were of a different thickness) and as long as I use a powder adhesive and grout I should be fine…wicked!
So, cut and laid the slate and realised it would look a bit basic and not overly ‘styled’ if I just had slate so chose a similar colour mosaic and used this as a border around the outside of the whole hearth. This has now been washed twice, and a colour enhancer has been rolled on. I was advised to do this before grouting as the bare slate will take on all manner of stains or dirt if it was not sealed so they are now ready for grouting.
Just as a side note, cutting slate is a bloody dirty business! When using the diamond cutter, the dust mixes with the water used to cool the rotary blade and it turns the whole lot into a dark grey sludge that dries hard, stains everything, and doesn’t do a great job of cooling the blade in the end. Just thought I’d add that in for anyone looking to cut slate in the immediate future.
Before anyone gets too excited (yeah, right) the oak floor shown in the photos is not yet laid, I have just put it down next to the hearth to give an idea of what it will look like when finished. What you think? Nifty eh?
