Hi all,
I have an old masonry fireplace that I want to tile the face of. It will need to be smoothed some before tile as it has some vents from a home made fan heating thing and we have also knocked off the hearth. The new fireplace will be an insert that will take care of the heating without letting in the cold air the rest of the time. What I need to know is how this smoothing can be done. Is there a product that I can use that will make a good smooth sound surface for tile that can be done by a DIY?
Thanks for any suggestions.
Replies
One option is to use thinset and mechanical fasteners (such as tapcons) to adhere a layer of tile backer (such as hardibacker or Durcock) to the fireplace. This method will require you to consider some way of finishing off the end of the tile since it wil be standing off the old masonry by about 1/2". That's assuming 1/4" backer.
Double-check any backer material you choose for heat tolerance.
Not a tile guy, so just a thought. Why couldn't you just parge the fireplace?
Trowel it smooth and proceed with the tile job.