Tiling around a gas fireplace - which adhesive and grout?

[Spen1210]

Hi All

I'm planning on tiling around my fireplace plus the hearth and the inside edges by approx 100mm. I'm going to use natural slate tiles. My research tells me these are fireproof so I shouldn't have any concerns there.

I live in an early 1900s victorian house and it's a deep type 1 chimney/fireplace. It was obviously a brick fireplace and the outer walls have been plastered at some point. I've removed the paint from this area with a steam stripper and a scraper. The inside edges of the bricks weren't plastered however. The hearth looks to be a couple of stone paving slabs but I'm not sure which kind of stone. I'd like to cover all these ares with the slate tiles so my question is.... what kind of adhesive and grout should I use?

I've read that I should use a latex modified thinset mortar over the bricks to create a suitable surface for tiling and that it's suitable for fireplaces and it can also be used to lay the tiles but can this type of mortar be used over plaster and the paving slabs as well? and will it stain the tiles at all? should i prep the plaster in anyway first?

I've done tiling before so I'm not new to tiling but that was in bathrooms and as this is around a fireplace I want to make sure i'm using the correct fire resistance materials.

If someone could suggest a suitable adhesive and grout it would be really appreciated I will put some pictures up in a couple of days so you can get a better idea of my situation.

Thanks in advance

 

[Spen1210]

I've been advised by my local Topps Tiles to use a white rapidset flexible cement based powder adhesive. Apparently this can be used directly on the bricks, plaster and stone slabs. Using a white adhesive will prevent any staining and the flexibility allows for any heating/expansion of the tiles. I asked what the advantage of using a powder over a pre-mixed adhesive was and they explained that the powders are cement based which will be much stronger and fire resistant plus you can't get a pre-mixed with the flexible additive. All seems to make sense to me.

Thanks to anyone who may have viewed my post and thought about coming back to me but it looks like i've solved it now. I was cruising the net for hours last night trying to find an answer...

However, if anyone thinks the above may be wrong, please let me know...

Thanks

 

[gasgas249uk]

Wont a slip mix of cement and water hold tiles to the wall in extreme heat places.

My theory is that firstly it sticks like sh** to a blanket.Secondly brick fireplaces are mortored with a cement sand mix and they handle the heat perfectly with no side effects. Cement isnt known to shrink or expand.

Im a bit cynical about buying specific products for a task and clogging up the garage/shed when other products that we might have alreadyl do the job perfectly well.

 

[Richard C]

Not sure about the Topps advice; you must use powder addy & they are right to be concerned about staining but if your tiles are Grey slate they I don’t see how white addy rather than grey will be less susceptible to staining; you may also need to seal the tiles beforehand. I would also use Rapidset rather than Rapidset Flxible; Rapidset will withstand temperatures 150C, which should be enough for a gas fire; using the flexy variety will drop that to 100C which is getting a bit marginal. My biggest concern is that you mention “plaster” on the outer walls (presumably the chimney breast). Gypsum plaster products (base & finish) will not stand more than 50C & if you tile over the top of it, it may fail

Wont a slip mix of cement and water hold tiles to the wall in extreme heat places.

Where high heat applications are concerned, the secret ingredient in render is lime, it will withstand the heat far better but won’t be particularly for tiling.