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A fireplace hearth is a fireproof flooring material that extends out from the base of the fireplace and into the room. Hearths can be made of brick, ceramic, marble, limestone, and more. A hearth serves the purpose of decreasing the fire risk in the area directly around the fireplace. If flying embers hit carpet or wood, they’ll spark and create a fire. But if they hit something like tile or granite, they’ll simply go out.

While painting can certainly change the look of a chimney, you should think twice about giving your brick chimney the old landlord special.

Painting brick is porous, meaning it’s full of tiny holes that can soak up moisture. Those holes also allow it to dry, though. So, when you paint it, you trap any moisture inside, providing an opportunity for mold, mildew, and water damage.

Paint also shows wear faster than naked brick. This means that once you paint a brick surface, you’ll have to keep painting it to maintain a clean look. A paint job is also harder to undo on brick because of its porous nature. Once you paint it, it’s hard to go back without some serious power washing—another added cost.

Natural stone is formed in deep layers of the Earth through natural processes over thousands of years. The solid composition formations become massive rock beds, or quarries, from which miners extract them.

Stone houses used to be much more practical, but with the advent of stronger and cheaper materials like concrete, they aren’t seen as much anymore. There are some parts of the world where it makes sense to build with stone, and they are usually next to a stone quarry. Stone is, however, very weather-resistant, which is why many homes near the sea and on mountains are still built with local stone.