Small project: Slate over brick

[ss3964spd]

Hey gang, been awhile - hope all is well with you and yours.

Have to hang about 60 SF of 12X12 slate on a brick faced wall in my family room. The slate is machined on the back. The brick - though just a facade, is full sized, spaced from 1/4 to 3/8 apart, and has fairly deep joints - up to 3/8" I'd guess.

My plan is to vacuum the brick really well, wet it well, ensure joints in bricks are filled, and tile away. I know, just call me crazy.

So, two questions. 1) What's the proper thinset? The few Custom BP types that Depot had all seem to have identical generic instructions. I picked up a bag of "Standard Thinset Mortor". B) What's the correct blade to use on my wet saw? Will the "Hot Dog" - common at Depot, do the trick?

Many thanks,

[Brian in San Diego]

Dan,

Welcome back! It's always great to see people return to start another project.

If I were doing your project I think I would use FlexBond or at the very least VersaBond from the CBP line. I think you'll be O.K. as long as the brick is clean and hasn't been painted or had anything applied to the surface that could potentially interfere with the bond.

Slate is a fairly soft material and the Hot Dog blade should be fine for that purpose.

Keep us posted on your progress. Maybe you can take some before and after pichers.

Brian

[ss3964spd]

Thanks Brian.

Ya know, I had the Flexbond on my cart first but then started to over-think. I'll return what I have and pick up the FB. Lucky for me HD is just a few minutes away.

Nope, the brick is bare; no paint, no sealer, no nuttin' cept for years of dust. Just too darn much brick; the entire rear wall of the family room is brick from side to side, top to bottom. Need to break up the expanse. Fireplace and hearth are dead center. Will slate the face of the raised hearth, and the wall for the width of the hearth, then built in's - base cab's and shelving on top of the bases, will flank. Remaining brick will be visible through the shelving. Hearth and base cab's will receive black soap stone slabs.

And oh, forgot to ask; Need to shape the slate to follow the contour of the fire place arch. I can cut it to it's approximate contour but will need to smooth out the cuts to the final shape size. How best to accomplish? Belt sander?

I have some before pichers that I'll get posted.

Regards,

[ss3964spd]

Indeed, the Hot Dog blade cuts through the slate like a knife through butter.

Top pic is the "before" shot. Very 80's.

Took a while to hang the slate on the face of the hearth because, don't ya know, the brick hearth isn't plumb nor square nor level. I set the slate on the left and right sides first to give me a level line across the front. Left side of hearth was down at least 1/4" from the right. Now that the left/right/front is faced with the slate and level I'll fill in and level the top of the hearth with thin set.

The arch is proud of the rest of the wall by about 3/8" so I'll leave it as exposed brick. I will need to cut the slate around the arch though. I should be able to get close with the wet saw but how best to do the final shaping - belt sander?

Dan