Tiles lifting from fireplace?

n1guy

We are fans of lighting the fire. We've not had much luck however with fireplaces. The last 2 houses all the tiles cracked on the hearth and we had to replace with slate. We're in this house a month now, its got a marble hearth so we thought would have no issues.

This https://imgur.com/a/VSt8s is the new fireplace. As you can see all tiled onto what seems to be plywood or something hollow. The issue is the tiles are all lifting out and are ready to pop off. They are not stuck on the back, the only thing holding them together is the grout between them. You would almost think thats a sheet of something just sat in their as all the tiles are stuck together but all sitting out from the plywood back.

Any ideas how I would go about fixing this? Them tiles dont go right up to the top, they stop just under that wooden shelf you can see so I can get in behind them.

Furts

My guess is the heat is expanding the tiles and causing them to pop off. A good firm adhesive fully bedded could be a cure - Gripfill for example. But there should be an expansion gap around the fire - the tiles should not go tight to it, so either remove the grout, or re-set the tiles further back, This joint could be finished off with intumescent sealant - comes in "mastic" tubes.

If the framework/boarding is loose, or dodgy, then you will need to address this first - without seeing this none of us Forum folks can answer that.

Davesnave

If that is a real smokeless fuel type of fire, then there is no way it should be surrounded by plywood!

Was it installed by someone with appropriate accreditation?

n1guy

Yes that seems to be the issue. Tiles expanding causing them to bow out.

That surround you see is mostly made from plywood. The back the tiles are on is hollow and also feels like wood. As for who installed it don’t know, was here when we moved in.

martinsurrey

n1guy wrote: »

Yes that seems to be the issue. Tiles expanding causing them to bow out.

That surround you see is mostly made from plywood. The back the tiles are on is hollow and also feels like wood. As for who installed it don’t know, was here when we moved in.

I would rip the surround out and do it again properly, after getting the rest of the install checked by a pro.

Installed by a cowboy, plywood up against a woodburner, its not a fire risk, its a fire certainty, just a matter of when!

Aylesbury_Duck

Agree with the above. This is one of those situations when :eek: is the perfect emoji.