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Help! Marble fireplace surround cracked

8 years ago

After many hours on houzz I decided we needed a marble fireplace surround. Fast forward 6 months after move-in and the it's cracked in 2 corners.

Does anyone have any idea what could have caused this? We've run the gas fireplace for under 10 hours. It's 2 cm Carrera Marble. I just want to be as informed as possible to find the best solution when we speak to our builder.

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Featured Answer

PRO

Econ Granite

6 years ago

Hello we're marble installers in Dallas, I might have some helpful input. The hairline cracks in your marble are likely due to expansion and contraction in the stone from rapid heating and cooling. As long as the screen is well adhered to the wall the cracks shouldn't pose much structural risk since the marble is sitting vertically. As far as a solution goes, they can attempt to fill the crack with a penetrating epoxy to prevent further widening. For a cosmetic fix, you can try to apply a sealer or color enhancer to darken the crack and hide it from sight. If you have questions feel free to ask me!

Comments (18)

uyenduc
Original Author
8 years ago
Does anyone have a slab surround with a gas fireplace? Interested to hear your experience and to know how long you've had it. Thank you!
PRO
Ellsworth Design Build
8 years ago
Sorry I've done several marble fireplaces but I've always built it from four pieces versus the monolith. I suspect the heat from the fire put stress on the stone.
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One of the things that gets me all twisted around in these types of choices is the historical context. The most appropriate choice from a decorative standpoint may not be the most appropriate choice from a historical standpoint. The most appropriate one may not be the one that looks better. But if you are changing it out of necessity, maybe letting the historical trump the decorative is kind of revisionist anyway because it's not really historical, it's a replacement. See how I can twist it around? But part of the issue is that in the US there is such little historical fabric. I was talking to a patient from England who said that the house she grew up in was 500 years old But as far as the interiors went, they did not necessarily pick a bathroom tile or fixture based on needing to look "appropriate" in a 500 year old house, because what IS such a thing? Here, we try to preserve each element because of its rarity, but when it comes to having to Replace, what then? Maybe if you are replacing it with something that was not there to begin with (I doubt there was a marble facing on the firebox on the second floor of a house like this) --maybe you can replace it with whatever you like. (?)
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PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
8 years ago
If this is a new home it could be some sort of settling problem.
Kivi
8 years ago
My guess would be heat related stresses. The stone probably heats up in some areas and not in others, which may create just enough stresses to crack the stone.
shutterbeephotography
7 years ago
This just happened to me! I was just wondering what was the outcome of your situation? Did you replace it? Repair it? The difference with my situation is that we are using wood burning and the marble is 3cm.
glenm100
6 years ago
Mine just cracked in 2 places after burning off new fireplace oil. Its junk now. Don't do it!
Stephanie Barrera
5 years ago
Hi @uyenduc, what ended up happening to your marble? Did you find out if it was install job of the fireplace insert or the marble installation? Thanks.
Dawn Hood
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
This exact thing happened to us recently. One large slab of 2cm Carrara Marble cracked in 2 places and up through the mantel. Linear gas direct vent fireplace. We just started using it and had not even turned it on more 6 hours total so far. Within the first 2 uses it cracked. It is so upsetting. I would like to know what solutions/fixes you all found. thanks
pdefrancesco
3 years ago
We just installed a quartzite fireplace surround. 1.25 inches thick. Two pieces stacked. First 30 minutes vent free gas go and two cracks extending from the corners of fireplace. Any ideas or help please ??!!
Dawn Hood
3 years ago
Pdefrancesco - I’m so sorry you are also dealing with this!!!!
We could not find someone to repair it, plus we expected that it would happen again once fireplace was turned on.

What brand/style is your fireplace? Ours is a Superior DRL3054. It gets extremely hot. After lots of investigation we determined it needs 2 layers of special hardiebacker board (vs. 1 layer) and a heat shield. Manufacturer recommended to turn the gas line down to 70%-80% so that it didn’t get as hot. Also that the front area around our fp with cracks should be replaced with 4 pieces (instead of 1) to allow for seams that will give a little when heat causes expansion. Not the design we wanted or planned on, but will live with it.
Tricia Barlow
2 years ago
Dawn Hood - curious if you replaced your stone with the solution you noted here. I just had marble installed on new 48” direct vent gas fireplace and after first hour of use the marble cracked. The fabricator was originally going to put 4 seams but did not put any and now I’m wondering how much harder board we have and what the heat shield is and if we have that - will have to ask my GC.
Yvonne Martin
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Our house was built in 1964 with a double-sided marble fireplace. Each face is built with three pieces of marble; one across the top, and one along each side. The hearth is raised and also three pieces. This is the original fireplace and no cracks are evident anywhere. When it is used the fireplace stone gets really hot and is still warm the next morning.
Lois Winstock
2 years ago
Our new custom build has two 4-piece slab fronted linear Flare gas fireplaces with direct venting and “cool glass”. One of them - Sierra Noir marble - cracked from ceiling to floor along one of the returns BEFORE it was even used! It turned out the chase was poorly constructed and didn’t support the stone properly. Our contractor refused to take responsibility, but his stone fabricator paid for replacement stone and had his installers rebuild the chase properly, all at his expense. He intended to pursue the contractor, himself. Since he is considered the best and most sought-after fabricator in the region, I imagine the contractor has paid more than just monetary compensation for his incompetence and unprofessional attitude; I assume he has lost a valuable sub-contractor and his reputation in the industry has been damaged, all of which is richly deserved.
Dawn Hood
2 years ago
Tricia - we pulled off all of the damaged marble and added a second later of Hardibacker. There was not enough room for the heat shield so it did not get installed as I had hoped. FP Installer and my GC worked together to replace the marble. No expense to me. I am very thankful.
Dawn Hood
2 years ago
We reinstalled the single slab with 4 pieces. (a new single slab cut into 4 pieces so that the seams could "breathe" and not crack)
cwcf185
2 years ago
@Dawn Hood How has your marble surround held up since it was replaced with multiple pieces rather than one?

I decided earlier this week to go with a marble surround for my fireplace, changing direction from my original plan. I'll be using River Blue (swoon).
HU-350599413
2 years ago

Anybody offer some help with this one please? This fireplace wood burning stove was installed in 1997 by the builders. I bought the apartment two years ago and found a load of firewood in the garage so presumably it had been in use, though I haven't lit it yet myself Last year the apartment was rented out. The crack and the blue stain are new. Now I don't know if it's safe anymore to use and if there's any remedy (for either a crack that size or stain). The top stone has shifted forward a bit, away from the chimney wall

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