Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[tuco]

Mask off hearth and floor. Spray foam gap to seal air leak, trim cured foam flush, then oak 1/4 round or shoe mould or fillet strips stained to match.

Or rip/scribe some oak flooring to fit and glue it in there.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Yep, nothing says "hack" like a half inch bead of caulk.

As mentioned, trim it with something and if you can match don't. Either was backer rod of fiberglass insulation underneath (they sell small packets for windows).

You can get "mortar caulk" is a couple of colors but my experience is that it is challenging to tool and is tough to make look good inside.

I fight this issue all the time trying to figure out how to trade coordinate hardwood flooring and rock of the fireplace wall.

[dan_pdx]

Info: is the hearth raised or at the same level as the floor?

[jm2e]

My 1930 house has about a 1/2 gap between the brick hearth and the narrow, thin strip oak flooring. Suggestions for what to fill the gap with. Mortar? Tile grout? Something else. My wife wants to use brown tinted silicone caulk. Bad idea I think, at least for looks. There is a little cold air coming up through the gap from the crawl space.

Lots of small bricks?

[Vt-Freeheel]

OG needs to post some pictures which would lead to better solutions.

[Core Shot]

Yep. Wood trim.

Problem is 1930 oak floors are probably quarter sawn. Stock quarter round could have funky grain. But if you find straight grain that would work.

Aren’t you a woodworker? Get straight grain stock and run it through a router to make quarter round or the profile you want. Stain to match and varnish.

Oh. And caulk that gap first to keep the wife draft free.

[old goat]

Sorry for not being more clear. The hearth is flush with the wood. So what I need is something to fill the gap, not cover it. I'm thinking either mortar or grout to match the mortar between the bricks but I thought I'd see if there were other options. My wife and have worked with both. This is a job for her. She's neater. The gap is too irregular for a wood infill strip.

[Foggy_Goggles]

https://www.sashco.com/products/mor-flexx/

This is the best one I've used. Surgically tape everything. Either Frog Tape Orange or Vinyl Stucco Tape on the brick. What some YouTubes on Siliconized Caulk Tooling. The Windex trick works. Practice. You can't fix it easily if it looks like dog shit. [/Contractor that doesn't let anyone touch the caulk gun besides the painter and they always have to come back and fix shit]

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

We've used neoprene foam strip in similar situations - gaps with irregular width, can't caulk or use a scribe strip.

something like this - https://rubbersheetwarehouse.com/col...nt=21540264579

[tuco]

And definitely use a backerod if you're going to caulk a gap that large. The backer isn't for taking up space, it's a 3-way bond breaker.
Caulk stretches 2 dimensionally. If it bonds to the back surface, when everything starts moving, your
caulk will crack eventually.

[Core Shot]

https://www.sashco.com/products/mor-flexx/

This is the best one I've used. Surgically tape everything. Either Frog Tape Orange or Vinyl Stucco Tape on the brick. What some YouTubes on Siliconized Caulk Tooling. The Windex trick works. Practice. You can't fix it easily if it looks like dog shit. [/Contractor that doesn't let anyone touch the caulk gun besides the painter and they always have to come back and fix shit]

Silicone mortar caulk. Wow. Never heard of it. Very cool.

Will it match the existing mortar? There’s the rub
Even matching mortar to mortar isn’t easy if you go that route.

Tile grout has so many colors the match would be easier. It’s going to crack at some point however.

You could go back to the wood idea and cut around the hearth the same width as the floor boards and picture frame it. Scribing the hearth ends of each new board before you rip them to final width. Unless it’s not that irregular.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Nothing well ever match. You have to just deal with that.

[toast2266]

I'd be half inclined to cut the wood flooring back a bit to make the gap a bit bigger. Then install a piece of contrasting wood as an accent of sorts around the border of the hearth. Leave an ~1/8" gap to the masonry and fill with whatever color silicone will look decent. Or grout it if you're not worried about wood expansion.

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[mattig]

I'd be half inclined to cut the wood flooring back a bit to make the gap a bit bigger. Then install a piece of contrasting wood as an accent of sorts around the border of the hearth. Leave an ~1/8" gap to the masonry and fill with whatever color silicone will look decent. Or grout it if you're not worried about wood expansion.

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Agreed. I think this would look the most intentional, but maybe tricky saw work (for me anyway).

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[old goat]

https://www.sashco.com/products/mor-flexx/

This is the best one I've used. Surgically tape everything. Either Frog Tape Orange or Vinyl Stucco Tape on the brick. What some YouTubes on Siliconized Caulk Tooling. The Windex trick works. Practice. You can't fix it easily if it looks like dog shit. [/Contractor that doesn't let anyone touch the caulk gun besides the painter and they always have to come back and fix shit]

FTW. There's an Ace locally that sells it. My wife is very good at caulking etc. Precision work is her specialty--after 25 years she's shutting down her stained glass shop (Tiffany style lampshades of her own design.) She's replacing the clear silicone caulk she used before which looked fine but is failing after decades. Thank you.

As expected there are no gaps where the end grain of the flooring butts up to the sides of the hearth. Only at the front where it joint is subject to width expansion of the flooring.

[nickwm21]

Sanded caulk or find a good background caulk color and add some sand


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[Core Shot]

Old goats wife is skilled on caulk

That’s a keeper

[toast2266]

Agreed. I think this would look the most intentional, but maybe tricky saw work (for me anyway).

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With a track saw I think it wouldn't be too bad. Would just need some careful work with the multitool to finish the ends of the cut.

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[mattig]

With a track saw I think it wouldn't be too bad. Would just need some careful work with the multitool to finish the ends of the cut.

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Track saw would be money if there's access. I was thinking toe kick saw.

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[XXX-er]

Silicone mortar caulk. Wow. Never heard of it. Very cool.

Will it match the existing mortar? There’s the rub
Even matching mortar to mortar isn’t easy if you go that route.

Tile grout has so many colors the match would be easier. It’s going to crack at some point however.

You could go back to the wood idea and cut around the hearth the same width as the floor boards and picture frame it. Scribing the hearth ends of each new board before you rip them to final width. Unless it’s not that irregular.

https://www.mapei.com/ca/en-ca/produ...il/keracaulk-s

I used this ^^ stuff between the tub and the 1st row of tiles of my tub/ shower, it seemed easy enough to get a good color match

tube sez it matches all unsanded grout colors

[Mazderati]

Someone had their eyes closed trying to hit that joist.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Track saw...maybe with challenges

Toe kick saw...makes me thing you never used one

Caulking a 1/2 gap? Good luck. Send me a picture in 3months.

But yeah, post a picture for me unsolicitated comment

[mattig]

Someone had their eyes closed trying to hit that joist.

And weren't they supposed to have the paper side up?

Toe kick saw...makes me thing you never used one

Once. It wasn't pleasant. What's the play? Oscillating/multi tool?

[tuco]

Caulking a 1/2 gap? Good luck. Send me a picture in 3months.

What happens in 3 months?

[Foggy_Goggles]

Assuming you can tool caulk grout to look good, a 1/2" bead will crack and shrink. It's not the product for the job.

What's the play? It depends. That's the game. Homebuilding and remodeling isn't this one size fits all type of this. Customers get this wrong all the time. How you gonna do it? No idea, but I'll figure it out. That's why you are paying me to be here and get it done.

But yeah, a laser straight finish cut in a restricted space in hardwood is gonna be challenging.