hot to finish an old sooty fireplace

[bookman]

Hi there, have looked through the posts but have found no good answers for my current problem!

Following a complete renovation of my cottage, I am fitting a wood burning stove into the old, very sooty, fire place opening. My understanding is that sooty acidic deposits on brick eventually travel through most materials - unibond, render, or even tile grout. My current thinking is to unibond, then lime render (to create a nice level finish) then tile, using a dark grout- so that if anything does travel through it wont look too bad! Other option is to wirebrush as much surface deposits off as possible, re-point and leave bare-bricks on show. Anybody got experience with using heat-proof board - guess I could bond that on and then tile over?

Any thoughts out there?

Thanks,

Tom

[Weatherlawyer]

Just limewash or paint it once every two or three years.

[cynic]

In the past I have wire brushed, spattered render on to form a key then simply given it a smooth render coat with waterproofer resin in the coat. Nothing came through over the next five years till we moved

[visionset]

I have treated the same with pva, bonding and finish plaster emulsion. Nothing showed up in 10 years. Just done the same again for LBS.

-- Mike W