My brother (gotta love him), has a house where one interior wall is brick with a fireplace, a brick hearth that runs the length of that wall and 2 brick cubby holes for wood storage. He wants to tile the area around the fireplace and the hearth, then drywall the remainder of the wall.
1. Do we tile directly onto the bricks or do we need to use a cement board? Any special prep for the bricks?
2. Do we need special mortar or grout for the tile in a hot location of a working wood fireplace?
3. Should we drywall directly onto brick? Do we need to worry about heat from the chimney, conducting through the brick to the drywall? I'm concerned that this may alter characteristics of the paper, either leading to smoldering on the brick side or paint changes on the finished side.
4. Any ideas on the cubby holes? They are each ~3' x 2' x 2'. I'm considering hanging shutters over them or drywalling them as well and then putting up shutters.
Any opinions appreciated
1. Do we tile directly onto the bricks or do we need to use a cement board? Any special prep for the bricks?
2. Do we need special mortar or grout for the tile in a hot location of a working wood fireplace?
3. Should we drywall directly onto brick? Do we need to worry about heat from the chimney, conducting through the brick to the drywall? I'm concerned that this may alter characteristics of the paper, either leading to smoldering on the brick side or paint changes on the finished side.
4. Any ideas on the cubby holes? They are each ~3' x 2' x 2'. I'm considering hanging shutters over them or drywalling them as well and then putting up shutters.
Any opinions appreciated