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To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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Posted by gardengirl53 (My Page) on Tue, Nov 17, 09 at 19:49
| I was hoping to get some feedback from all of you out there in the webosphere on raised hearths on fireplaces. Why you like them and why you wouldn't like them. I'm putting 3 direct vent fireplaces in a new construction house. The kitchen and bedroom will have raised hearths. I was going to put in a small raised hearth in the family room, barely any to speak of maybe up 5-6" but because I'm having a TV over the fireplace and trying to keep that on the low side I thought that having the two raised hearths was plenty and to just skip the raised hearth (what little there is) in the family room. But I do love the raised hearth. I'm conflicted so I thought I'd seek out some opinions. Thanks for sharing. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| IMHO it's not a good idea to put a TV over a fireplace if it has a raised hearth. At some point you have to think about the comfort of the occupants. |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| One thing that affects it is the room /ceiling height. One tends to find a raised hearth in the more casual rooms . This allows for the possible use as a seat in the room as well. They are usually 13-16" above the floor. Some eliminate it if the room is small of there is a walk path that one might tend to kick it alot. The height with a TV over does affect it as some dont like the TV too high but if the room is big enough and the tv is large enough its less and issue. In the end its somewhat of a personal issue |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| I've had both. I much prefer the raised variety. Personally, I would never put a TV over a fireplace. |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| We've had both too and I prefer the raised hearth IF it does not interfere with a walkway. I agree with another poster that the raised hearth has a more casual look than the other kind. |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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We have a raised hearth in our family room which is more casual and a flat marble hearth in the formal living room.
I like the look of a raised hearth in a casual room. |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| I agree with you all that it is a more casual feel and even though my hearth will only be raised slightly I think I'll stick with it. It does look more formal on the floor and I do want it to look casual. I realize that many of you would not put a TV above the fireplace but it is a personal preference that I have thought long and hard about and at many points have thought about the comfort of my family and guests. Hence a much lower hearth. Thanks to all for your feedback :) |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| IMHO if you are going to raise the hearth it should be high enough to sit on comfortably. That would probably put the TV high enough to force your family to put their heads back against the couch cushions and even though that might be comfortable to some, to me it would be like watching TV with a bunch of zombies, no offense to your family intended. |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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I guess you won't be watching TV and eating popcorn with us!
No offense taken. |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| If you do raise the center of the TV substantially above seated eye level, then you should tip the screen so that the optimum viewing angle to the plane of the screen is maintained. |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| "If you do raise the center of the TV substantially above seated eye level, then you should tip the screen so that the optimum viewing angle to the plane of the screen is maintained." Some LCD TV screens have rather narrow angle ranges of view, especially in the vertical plane. Listen to macv, or at least experiment to find out how narrow a vertical viewing angle you are dealing with. |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| Thanks to you both, I am planning on having an arm to be able to adjust the TV so that we can not only pull it out slightly if need be and angle. |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| We mounted our t.v. over our fireplace in our last home. The room was casual with a stone fireplace, and we decided not to raise the hearth specifically so that we could put the t.v. lower down. It looked nice. I guess it also depends on what surround materials you are going to have and what your mantel will look like. The way we came to the conclusion to not raise the hearth was to first determine what height we wanted the t.v. at. We then worked down from there, put in an 8" wide mantel, put in some room for the stone reveal around the fireplace box, and by the time we got down to the floor, realized we didn't have a ton of room for a hearth if we wanted one. Plus, in our situation, a raised hearth would have been something that we would have likely bumped into. Good luck. I'm sure it'll look great. |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| Raised hearths are pretty tough on the little kiddies' heads if you have young ones. If you do, be sure to buy a protective pad. |
RE: To raise or not to raise, that is the question
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| Raised hearths are nice, but not when a TV is involved. It puts the TV uncomfortably high for viewing. THis is something you need to experiment with NOW by putting your current TV at the height you are considering before committing to this. It may look nice, but it's horrible in the functionality department, especially if this is the main TV you will be viewing. I'm not kidding about the head and neck issues that can result long term from this option. Even short term TV viewing induced horrible neck cramps when I was visiting my sister. She and my brother in law have recliners that tilt them way back, so they don't have a problem with it, but anyone in a "regular" chair or sofa complained about neck pain about half way through the Super Bowl. |
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