Fireplaces, Heating Stoves, Flues and Chimneys - Covering over marble/brick fireplace with wood

I have a hideous fireplace in my home. It was installed in the 80s and it shows. The house is turn of the century Victorian/Colonial, so it does not match at all. It is red brick with 12x12 marble tiles on top, and goes from floor to ceiling. I want to cover it it with wood to give me a base to build a decorative surround and mantle. How would I go about doing this? Can I use masonry nails and liquid nail to fix the base wood onto the marble? What are my options for getting a good base down to work with. What would be my best options for a base plywood. I was thinking 4x8 sheets of 1/2" birch, since that is about the smoothest plywood I have seen.

If this should be in the marble/tile forum, I apologize.

Thanks.

BK

Hello BK and welcome to the forums.

Can you tell us more about how this fireplace surround is constructed? Is this actual brick or just a facade, (fake brick). Can you tell how the marble is set, mastic or thinset? Or post a link to some pictures of the surround.

I am pretty sure the fireplace and chimney are constructed of real brick. The house was built in 1904 and the foundation is all red brick, so I would imagine that the chimney and fireplace are as well.

I am not sure how the marble is set, I would say thinset, but its on there like steel. What would have been common in the late 80s?

I will post up a pic shortly.

Thanks in advance for more information.

And thanks for the welcome to the forums.

BK

OK, here are three pics.

http://www.wrxfanatics.com/uploads/post-1-1105750074.jpg

http://www.WRXFanatics.com/uploads/post-1-1105750103.jpg

and the firebox, which needs repointing, but thats another story.

http://www.WRXFanatics.com/uploads/post-1-1105750138.jpg

Let me know if I can elaborate any more on the situation.

To be honest with you, taking a better look at it now, it might not have brick behind the marble, I think it might have been framed out, so the real question becomes, how to I get the plywood fixed to the marble?

Thanks

BK

Hard to say if that's been framed out over the old fireplace, or if they did a mud job over the existing brick. Your statement about the tile being on like steel would lead me to believe that thinset was used at the least & this might have even been a mud job.

I think your best bet would be to use a combination of liquid nails and some masonry anchors to attach the plywood. Good luck.

That was what I was thinking all along, thanks for the replies.

Anybody else think that is a good idea, or have a better idea?

-BK