DIY fireplace back-board using tiles...

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Mike Armstrong 21 years ago

Hi,

I am currently replacing our '70s style sandstone fireplace.

I have removed the whole thing now leaving the gas pipe (bayonette fitting) and open flue/chimney.

We are replacing it with a wooden mantle. Rather than have a marble backing board and hearth we have some rather nice stone tiles which we want to use.

For the hearth, there is a cast concrete slab which we can apply the tiles to. No problem here.

To fit our new wooden surround and to maintain compatibility with the existing bayonette gas fitting (we are using the same gas fire as was present) we need to have the face of the tiles on the back-board 57mm away from the wall.

I realise that the tiles have to be mounted on something suitably fireproof (the old fireplace backboard was tiled onto cast concrete).

I was thinking about tiling onto 12.5mm plasterboard and then attatching the tiled plasterboard to the wall using plasterboard adhesive in a continuous daub around the opening thus ensuring that the whole thing is airtight.

Does this sound acceptible?

Cheers

Mike

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Rob Morley 21 years ago

Use concrete board - this is a sheet material made of cement with fibre reinforcement. Someone will be along soon to tell you the trade names which I can't remember ATM.

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N. Thornton 21 years ago

From: Mike Armstrong (get snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com)

I havent tried it, so may be wrong, but I would assume the PB would bend during lifting and either the tiles would come unstuck or the PB break. Why not fit PB then tile it?

NT

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BigWallop 21 years ago

You'll also need to remember that paper covered Plasterboard isn't flame proof. So you'll need to make sure your fire is suitable.

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Mike Armstrong 21 years ago

Hi,

The fire is a 'living flame' type Cannon Coleridge like this one

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Clearly the backing board shouldn't ever come into contact with flame, just heat. Does that mean that PB is OK?

An earlier poster mentioned concrete board but my local builders merchant (Tippers) has never heard of it!

Mike

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Kevin 21 years ago

Hi Mike

I did something similar two years ago - ripped out the marble surround/hearth and made myself a nice tiled version. The advice I had at the time was that plasterboard wasn't acceptable (not flame proof), so I used multiboard

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from the local BMs. A sheet of 4x8 was under £20. I cut this to shape using the old marble as a template and then just tiled onto the board whilst it was flat. It was pretty heavy at the end but two of us easily managed to move it into place without any damage to the board.

Don't forget to seal the edge of the opening and back of the board with fire cement.

Good luck

Kev

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BigWallop 21 years ago

This is what I would recommend also.

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Rob Morley 21 years ago

Earlier poster was having major problem remembering names of things :-) Name now remembered - Aquapanel.

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Mike Armstrong 21 years ago

Flippin heck!

Tippers - Multiboard 4x8 12.5mm = £41 ish Jewson - Multiboard 4x8 12.5mm = £90 ish

That is pricey stuff. For that price I could just about afford marble!

Fireline PB is £4 for a 3x6 sheet

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this definitely not acceptible for use with a gas fire?

Cheers!

Mike

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Mike Armstrong 21 years ago

Excellent, thanks Rob.

Tippers have aquapanel at £11 ish for a 1200x900x12.5 sheet which is perfect for me.

Does aquapanel cut like plasterboard ie score and snap?

Also, I was planning to mount it to the wall primarily using gyproc driwall adhesive (as I already have a bag) and (as suggested above) sealing the gap at the flue with fire cement. Does this sound acceptible?

Cheers!

Mike

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Kevin 21 years ago

Hi Mike

I just fixed my board to the wall with screws and wall plugs (same fixing arrangement for the marble), just adding packing to bring the distance off the wall up to match the inside rebate dimension of the wooden surround. I'm sure adhesive will work well, providing you don't intend to take it down again in one piece!

Kev

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DIY fireplace back-board using tiles...

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