I am putting in a wood stove and want to make a mural behind it - should I tile the board and then put it up, or tile it on the wall. I am using wall spacers and cement board. I want to make a mural of a tree - the wall is 8‘ by 3‘ - should I cover the whole wall or just the part behind the wood stove? do I need special grout?thanks for your answers
There is really much more to tile installation than a quick answer. I would suggest mounting the cement board first, then the tile, but for a first timer there might be special challenges to installing tile on a vertical surface if the tile does not have built-in tile spacers or you don’t use tile spacers. It also depends on what kind of tile you use. Hand molded tiles will be more irregular. Even Home Depot sells a great book on tile installation that is not very expensive and there are also videos out there. An oldie but goodie is Setting Tile by Michael Byrne. Also, people have a tendance to use the word grout as a generic term for the adhesive. The stuff you use to mount the tiles is very different from what is put betweent the tiles. You should use a cement based mortar to set the tiles (don’t use the cheap white mastic adhesive, it is not as strong!) You then use a grout for inbetween the tiles. Again, use a cement based grout as well. You do want to use a cement board such as Durock, not greenboard. You might also want to check out fire code issues before you install the wood stove. Check with the place you got the stove from. Then there are many types of grout sealers. You may end up with ash blackened grout if it is not sealed. I recommend a penetrating sealer, not silicone sealer. Then, how will you finish the edges? Will the raw edges of the tile show or do you have matching trim tiles to finish the edges? A lot of these home improvements shows show these really quickie tile installations, which look nice at first (actually I think most of them look cheap and cheesy) but I can guarantee the grout will be cracking within 6 months or the tiles popping up because not enough time was allowed for the mortar to dry before grouting. See, not to burst your bubble, I just think you should research this before you start this project so you end up with a very nice professional looking job you can be proud of!
Opinion: I would never tile anything and then try to move/install it. You will surely crack the tile or grout, even if it is on cement board. Besides, it will only make it heavier and more difficult to install. And generally, a mural will look better if it covers the entire surface... you can put neutral/fading-away-color tiles around the edges. Unless you have a plan to transition from the tile to a different non-flammable (non-painted) flat surface.
Your best bet is going to be to go to your local craft store. They have mosiac tiles and grout you can buy. It would probably be a lot easier on you to put the mural onto the board first, then mount the board on the wall where you want it. How big the mural end up being is purely a matter of your choice, but before you actually mount them and tile them you will want to lay out the design so that you can have a solid idea of where everything needs to be, and whether you have enough tiles to do the job. If you don't want to buy the tiles they have at the craft store, I have heard of people using old dishes, broken up and used. Some people go to garage sales looking for dishes just for this reason.
You have to install the board directly to wall studs using threaded fasteners, (screws)... Distance from wall to double wall flue pipe can be as little as 1 according to CABO 1 2 Family dwelling codes. i.e. 1 from studs... As far as grout goes, nothing special is made that I know of for such situations. Where we have tile above fireplace, the tile contractor uses the same adhesive and grout as goes in the bathroom floor... I would reccomend if possible that the distance between single wall flue pipe and the wall be at least 6 and the best might be one foot... Don't forget there is slight radient heat in single wall if the stove gets hot enough to glow, otherwise it is conduction heat which can only be transfered by contact with objects...
