Surface Preparation

[Theta]

I have removed the old ceramic tiles from the front of my fireplace.

My question is do I need to somehow remove all of the old mortar? I'm afraid that if I try and chisel away the mortar, I am just going to start removing the concrete base under the mortar.

Can I simply lay new mortar on top of the old and go from there?


Second question is part of the fireplace tiles go vertically. Should I start from the bottom and work my way up, or top down?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Thermo]

the surface for the tiles to go on needs to be decent, ie not liable to come away and smooth, so that any imperfections in the backing are not carried forward. If the existing mortar is sound, then you could just skim it with another coat of mortar just to level it up first to give you a decent surface to tile on.

You need to look at the tiles you have and work out how best they will fit on the fireplace with regrds to any cutting you need to do and the overall effect you want at the end. once you have worked it out, use a small piece of batten at the bottom of the run, placing the top of it level with where the top of the first tile will be from the floor. You then have a level surface to work up from.

Thermo