Fireplace needs at least some new brick tile.

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gandalf

Member
Feb 10, 2008
18
Lancaster, PA
The floor of my fireplace and the hearth (I'm not sure if this is correct, but I've always thought of the part that extends into the room as the hearth) is made of brick tile. In the actual fireplace, some of the tile and mortar has started to break/loosen, so I need to replace at least some of it. Any tips/how-tos on doing this myself?

Thank you!
 
Most fireplace floors that I have seen are done with firebrick. Did they tile it instead? A picture is worth a thousand words here.
 
Ok, here are some images. The brick "tiles" are about 4" x 4" x .5" (3/8" where there are grooves). I'm thinking of ripping out all of the tiles and redoing the entire hearth to keep it looking consistent. Also, since I'm considering something like a Vermont Castings Encore wood stove and venting it through the fireplace, I may want to extent the hearth.

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What is the floor of the actual fireplace, cement? The current tiles look like standard, unglazed, brick quarry tiles. They should be replaceable. If you plan on replacing everything for a fresher look and it will be for a hearth stove, just clean the raw surface thoroughly, then dampen slightly with a spray bottle and use a latex modified thinset to set the tiles. If the intent is to still use it as a fireplace, however, I'm not sure what the best approach for the fireplace floor is.

For basic tilesetting advice there are lots of good how-to pages: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,20161684,00.html
There is also a very good tiling forum at www.johnbridge.com.
 
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