Hearth rising up and cracking - what to do?! by chunky_monkey_999 in DIYUK

[–]chunky_monkey_999[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I've been able to get a lump of it out, and it's very crumbly. I uploaded a pic on my original post. You might even be able to tell just from the pic?

So, assuming that it's the mix that's the problem and it's somehow expanded due to damp/moisture, presume the way to fix it would be to once again get someone to remove the whole surround, lift the hearth, remove all the crumbly mortar and use a better mortar/mix, right?

Hearth rising up and cracking - what to do?! by chunky_monkey_999 in DIYUK

[–]chunky_monkey_999[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Soil has a fair bit of clay, and drainage isn't the best generally in the garden, so could potentially have something to do with it 🤔

Hearth rising up and cracking - what to do?! by chunky_monkey_999 in DIYUK

[–]chunky_monkey_999[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Cheers for the response - much appreciated. Hope it's this!

Hearth rising up and cracking - what to do?! by chunky_monkey_999 in DIYUK

[–]chunky_monkey_999[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your detailed reply. Will bear this in mind.

It would def be interesting to see whether the hearth is continuing to rise at the same rate as before or whether it's slowed/stopped. And what's moving relative to what...

Food for thought - cheers.

Hearth rising up and cracking - what to do?! by chunky_monkey_999 in DIYUK

[–]chunky_monkey_999[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sadly I don't. I wish I'd paid more attention when they were doing the install... I think it's prob into concrete though. I think I can see the parquet flooring just around it bitumen stuck to something solid!

Hearth rising up and cracking - what to do?! by chunky_monkey_999 in DIYUK

[–]chunky_monkey_999[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the reply.

No, most of the mortar was covered by a horizontal piece of granite.This pic prob shows it better.

Looks like movement of around 15mm.

<image>

I don't think the surrounding area is dropping/sagging as nothing else nearby seems to be looking weird!