Victorian bedroom hearth renovation

[gwernybwch]

Hi all,

I'm currently renovating the bedrooms in my Victorian house.

I have removed the hearth tiles (and cast iron fireplace) and want to make good the hearth and relay the tiles and refit the cast iron fireplace. The fireplaces will be decorative only. The outer bits of the hearths themselves (the bits that jut out from the fireplace) had a wooden bottom, followed by a layer of 'coal dust' type render and finally the tiles themselves.

I will lay the tiles on a layer of render, but the question that I have is -

What should I use as the bottom layer / foundation?

I have asked a few different builders and have had quite a range of responses - aqua panel underlay, cement board and fire retardant plasterboard.

Thanks in advance for any replies.[/b]

 

[Dextraneous]

Er, screed

 

[foxhole]

The suggestions you have are all similar, aqua board is based on a cement board.All heat resistant and fire proof.

 

[gwernybwch]

Er, screed

Sorry I didn't explain myself, as it is an upstairs bedroom I wanted to know what I needed to put down so that I could screed onto it.

Now bought cement board and fitted
Thanks for the replies.[/img]