Tom,

I’m looking to complete a fireplace surround project. The original brickwork face has been finished with ceramic tile.

I’m thinking of:

- a granite mantle, 7? wide by 5? 6? long, bullnosed to hide the 1/2? exposed original brickwork behind the tile
- 2 matching granite vertical trim pieces, each 5? wide by 4? long, bullnose facing frontwards
- the granite pieces woul be attached with construction adhesive to the original masonry and the ceramic tile

(1) Is this plan feasible?
(2) Any issue with construction adhesive bonding granite to ceramic tile? Would etching or some other type of roughing the tile surface be required?
(3) The mantel piece will overhang the masonry by about 2-1/2?. Will the construction adhesive be sufficient to hold the mantle securely, or would some other or additional fastening be required?

Thanks in advance.

Kirk Spence
West Linn, OR

Hello Kirk,

Personally, I would remove the tile. Not to do so would be what I call, “Perfume over a smelly body”. Also, the ceramic tile will not be a good substrate to bond to even if you etch it. After your remove the tile at all locations, use a thinset tile mortar with an acrylic additive to bond the granite to the brick. This is the only method I can recommend.

Best wishes,
Tom Cordova

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 1st, 2006 at 2:27 pm and is filed under Answers to Granite Questions..., Installation Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.