I think it looks like a body with no feet. Just top heavy and not anchored to the floor. It would drive me mad.

Aside from the fact that I think it looks odd and unfinished, you should probably check with your gas fireplace manufacturer to see what the unit's requirements are for that particular model.

I would also think that the heat from a gas fireplace would eventually damage the finish on hardwood flooring, which would be prevented by a stone or tile hearth.

My parents don't have a hearth in front of their gas fireplace. I've seen many gas fireplaces with no hearth. Most of the wood burning fireplaces I've seen have a hearth tho, ours included. Here is a picture of my parent's fireplace. They have a granite floor in front of the fireplace. The rest of the flooring is wood. My sweet granddaughter is curled up like a kitty in front of the fire :)

Decorating wise? Your opinion is all that matters. Safety wise..that glass gets HOT. If you will EVER have toddlers I would want that line of defense to keep them from touching.

I prefer the look of a hearth. And it does get very hot very near the fp. Be sure to check the building codes in your area to see if they require noncombustible surrounds and if so how far out must they extend.

I have too have a gas fireplace and the wood floor runs right up to it as pictured above. The floor in front of it does not even get remotely hot. The vent below the firebox has a fan that blows hot air, but it's just like any hot air duct (not hot enough to start a fire).

However yes, the glass does it very hot.

I don't mind not having a hearth. I debated it both ways and decided against it because the room isn't that big in the first place. If I had more room I'd probably have opted for it. But it looks fine to me either way.

I prefer the look of a hearth or separate flooring like the lovely fireplace in Monica's picture. Our rental house fireplace goes right to the carpet and looks ridiculous.

We were recently house hunting and none of the brand new houses with gas fireplaces and wood floors had a hearth. If I stop and think about it, a hearth looks better to me, but it doesn't stand out if there isn't one.

What is a hearth if it isn't a change of flooring In front of the fireplace to something nonflammable. That won't keep a child away either.

I prefer the look of a some kind of hearth - different flooring at a minimum. I like a raised hearth so I can sit in front of the fire and get warm. However I notice a lot of people with gas fireplaces never seem to use them - someone told me it gets too hot.

I use mine all the time in the winter. The fan speed on mine is adjustable, or even off. If you keep the fan off or on low it just puts out a little bit of heat - but yes on high that thing puts out a lot of heat. I lost heat in the dead of winter in New York a a few years ago, and that gas fireplace kept my first floor in the mid-60s for the whole day that the furnace was out.

Mine doesn't have a hearth. The hardwood goes right up to it and never gets hot. We use it often.

From a decor standpoint I think the ones shown in the OP that are trimmed up to the ceiling do tend to look a bit too heavy without a hearth. If you have plenty of floor space I'd consider installing one just for the look. Raised hearths can be a nice feature, but can pose problems with furniture and rug placement in smaller rooms.

No hearth here. My setup is similar to amck2's house, but without the darling pup and overall loveliness. :)

When it was a wood-burning fireplace there was a tile hearth. First came the gas logs, then I added hardwood. The tile was too ugly to keep.

I don't have little kids and my cats keep a safe distance from the heat (but not too far).

I prefer without as I think it's a fresh and more up to date look. We went without purposely for the above reasons. It looks great!

Looks unfinished, reminds me of my electric fireplace.

This is something I never paid much attention to. The big to the ceiling ones, if I think about it, looks better with a hearth to me.

Amck2 I want to redecorate my house with your style!

This is the question we are posing now as well. We have a zero clearance fireplace going in and although the idea of no hearth is new to me - we are going to run the hardwood all the way up to the fireplace. Thanks for the opinions.

We have a nice Mendota gas fireplace, installed last year. Builder said "doesn't need a hearth". Installed the wood floor all the way up to the fieplace...and turned on the fireplace, and the floor was hot. Contacted Mendota. They said fireplace has to be 6" off the floor in order to not need hearth. Since ours is flush...now we have a hearth stone. So if you are doing flush, you will likely need one.

It all depends on the specs from the manufacturer. As noted above like 4 years ago now, I have a gas fireplace flush with my wood floor and have zero issues. Read the manual that came with your fireplace. Follow what they say, not some random person on the internet.

It looks much cleaner and neater. I dont like fireplaces Hearths. To me its wasted good spce.

No Hearth looks best as in the picture!