How do I tile over my fireplace?
by
Mara
We have a brick faced fireplace with a tile hearth and an older, gold, firescreen. How do I prep these surfaces for tiling over and then repainting the screen?
Thanks!
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If the brick is perfectly smooth a good tile person can mud set over it. If not need to apply concrete board to brick then tile. You can clean the screen with TSP then spray paint.
You can tile right on the brick with a decent construction caulking. However if you ever want to take it down or sell your house the next person will be very unhappy that you did. Adding a backer board and masonry nails or screws and then the tile to it will not damage the brick if you or anyone else changes their mind about the tile.
Ideally you’d want to frame over it and use a backer board like William suggested. If ever anyone wants the brick back, which someone might, it’ll be far less difficult. Plus you’ll be working on a nice smooth surface.