Options for where tiles meet wooden floor

[ArseyTussle]

I'm thinking of tiling the hearth, but on the floor, not a raised slab. The floor meeting it would be engineered wood. Is there an option that doesn't involve differing levels and some sort of strip to cover the join/expansion gap?

This is what I mean, I don't like the different levels and would prefer something more streamlined where the two surfaces meet.

You'll need the tiles and the flooring to be exactly the same height. You could raise one of the areas with ply or hardboard prior to the flooring or tiles being laid, but don't forget there is probably underlay to go under the engineered boards and there will be adhesive under the tiles.

If there's a fireplace there already, there may be a concrete subfloor. Depending on what fire you have, there may be regs governing what goes under and around the fire. I don't know that - I'm just flagging it up. A tiny bit of beading to match the flooring is probably a lot less hassle and expense tbh.

Or you could go the other way and put a fender around the tiled hearth.

I don't suppose it matters much really, but when we had our wood burner put in there had to be a height difference between the carpet and the hearth to satisfy building regs (I believe) - maybe to do with clean delineation. If you Google hearth height difference you'll see what I mean.

Interesting. Ours does have a concrete floor slab where you'd normally put a hearth, but I've no idea how we would measure the thickness of the floor.

If the hearth is on a non-combustible floor (for example a concrete floor slab) then the total thickness of the hearth together with the non-combustible floor must be 250mm.

The only way to be sure would be to take up a floorboard so you can see the concrete slab thickness. Or if you have a cellar you may be able to see from underneath it.

The room is upstairs, but I'll see if I can prise up some of the flooring. I don't mind those thin slate pieces that you can put under a burner, but I really don't want a full hearth. And I've found some lovely tiles that I want instead.

250mm is a lot! Is anyone's floor 25cm thick?