Fireplace Hearths

in Massachusetts 

Hearth Slabs and Remnants in Stock at Our Southborough Warehouse

Timing

Call Us Before the Flooring Goes In

Fireplaces look like small jobs. They aren't always. Flush floors, clearances around the opening, access to gas panels, deciding exactly where the material starts and ends. Every fireplace is different, and the earlier we see yours, the smoother it goes.

But there's no price list in this business. Two suppliers can charge different prices for the same slab, and the work you want done changes the rest of it.

A hearth is priced by the square foot like any other slab work. About 95% of materials fall between $55 and $150 per square foot installed. And here's the part that matters for hearths: most of them come from remnants, which cost well below a full slab.

But it's not just about material. Here's what else affects your price:

1. Sourcing: In-stock material has a set price per square foot, and you pay for the footage you use. Special orders are different: the industry only sells whole slabs, so a small hearth from a special-order slab means buying the whole slab. That's why remnants are a hearth's best friend, and why we work with all suppliers: two of them can charge different prices for the same slab.
2. Project size: Bigger projects cost more than smaller ones, but often get better per-square-foot pricing. Hearths sit at the small end, which is exactly where remnants shine.
3. Complexity: A simple hearth on a sound base is quick work. But fireplaces can get tricky: getting the hearth to sit flush with the floor, clearances around the opening, keeping access to gas panels, deciding exactly where the material starts and ends. Every fireplace is different, and the tricky ones take real time.
4. Waste: Intricate shapes mean less efficient cuts, and matching the pattern between a hearth and its surround takes more material. We lay out every cut digitally, so you see how your slab gets used before we fabricate. The pattern decides: it's beautiful, and it comes at a cost.

Supply and demand set the rest. Desirability drives price: what's trendy costs more, what's out of fashion costs less.

Rare blues like Blue Bahia granite or the Blue Macaubas and Cristallo quartzites are expensive because they're naturally rare, not because of a trend. Italian marbles like Calacatta and Statuario, and onyx, run high for the opposite reason: high demand plus limited supply.

One more way to save: if you're handy and just need a simple piece, like a pad under a wood stove, we fabricate it, you pick it up at the shop, and you install it yourself.