Or not? How messy is it for a pro with the right equipment?

I asked at the flooring store today about it, because I was thinking of going with them and their installation, and the woman who worked there (seemed knowledgeable) said she 'never heard of doing that'. She said they normally cut it to fit around the stones and then CAULK the gap! I have to say, "Caulk" is kind of a dirty word in our house, because we've had several installers attempt to fix things with caulk. I do not walk caulk around my fireplace!

Thanks

I am not familiar with anyone undercutting a stone fireplace. I have had stone guys leave me enough a a gap in instances when I have had the chance to speak with them on new construction projects. When the stone is existing, we just get close to it and either come up with a molding or caulk it.

Fireplaces can be undercut in many circumstances. Try this search for previous discussions on this.

http://www.hardwoodflooringtalk.com/forum/search.php?keywords=undercut+fireplace&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

Keith

Thanks!

I guess I must have read too many online boards because I was reading a lot about undercutting. I mean, it seems like it would be hard to do, but the stones really stick out kind of far and cutting around them would be a total pain, too. Maybe I could do a little tiling around, just a small amout to frame it, try to match the grout, and then put the wood to that (a straight edge) and use a transition piece - not sure if that would look good.

I do alot of undercutting. You may try and do the best of both worlds, undercut as far as you can and then caulk the rest or cut a header in, or undercut and place some more stone on top of the areas you cannot access. There's some more pics on my site as well as my flickr account.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13772863@N08/

See Kens other site:
http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... hearth.htm