Planning to tile hearth and brick surround in house built in 1951......old tile was removed by previous owner...the hearth has original concrete foundation and is in relatively good shape, however it has several cracks (most are less than 1/16") and couple of chunks broken out that are less than 1" I'm fearing if I tile as is, the cracks might transfer through new tile. Should I repair these cracks before tiling and If so what do I use? Also there is a large chunk broken from one brick at top of surround that will be tiled over, so probably need to repair as well. TIA
Fireplace tile project questions
Jan 28, 2011
4 Replies
How about using backerboard before tiling?
Fill in the missing chunks with mortar or build up layers of thinset. As far as the cracks, there are rubberized anti-fracture membranes that are troweled on, and then the tile is set in thinset. The rubberized membrane provides some flex to an otherwise rigid/brittle system. If the cracks look old and there isn't any movement and the crack seems stable, you could also just use fiberglass tape embedded in thinset, let it dry and then set the tile in thinset.
RThe cracks do appear to be very old, there are no fresh cracks. There is no movement. I have fiberglass tape for drywall seams, would that be right kind?
Yep.
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