Hullo New Tiler! Just read your question about laying slate. From the measurements you gave, the slate is about half inch thick? Is it porous, ( i.e., absorbent), or is it dense? Yes, you can lay up to 40millimeters, or one & a half inches of 3parts sand, to 1 part cement,to a consistency that will stand up on it's own, but is still wet enough to wet the back of the slate, but no deeper than one & a half inches of mix. Otherwise it will break up, or crack, because it needs larger size aggregate over that thickness. When 'topping' an existing cement slab, it needs to be clean of dirt, oil, paint, etc. BTW, don't ever lay in a sand/cement bed less than 1 inch, it can let go of the slab it's sticking to, also. I would advise using a polymer additive also, and follow the instructions on the label! This additive will strengthen the mix a lot, and stick better to the concrete underneath. It's well worth the money, and saves a lot of jobs that would otherwise fail. The sand we use here, ( Australia), is Tiling sand, or washed beach sand. However, sounds like you might go close to the limit in depth of the bed, so I would use what we call river sand. It's a coarser grade of sand, with particles up to about an eigth of an inch. After you've mixed your 'mud', make a mix of neat cement powder and water, to the consistency of runny yogurt, and brush or broom it onto the immediate area you will lay your mud onto. Then lay the mud onto it, eg, with a spade, and roughly level it out to just above the required depth, so that when you lay the slate onto it, you have to tap it into the mix about half an inch, ( or less), to get the slate to the height you want. Any excess that oozes up above and over the edge of the slate, is just scooped off with your trowel, and you can clean out the joint with the trowel, or a rubber gloved finger, and sponge off the top of the tile IMMEDIATELY. These joints, or grout lines, will have grout squeegeed into them the day after the last slate is set into the bed, and immediately sponged off with a wrung out, flat sponge. Only grout about a square yard at a time if you are a beginner. As for levels, use your existing border as the guide, by stretching a string-line across the top of one side border, across in front of you where you're working, to the border on the other side of you. Just wrap the string around a brick a couple of times at both ends, and you can easily move the bricks around to tighten or slacken off the line, if you need to move it out of your way to place more mud, or while your working. When your tapping your slate into the bed, use a rubber mallet. You'll know if you're tapping too hard, as the slate will simply crack or break. Grout mix is 3 sand, to 1 cement, using the fine tiling sand, ( beach sand, washed.) Hope this hasn't confused you. I usually grade the slate into thicknesses first, and then lay in thin-bed adhesive. I've laid over 50 thousand square meters ( = square yards ) this way, but sometimes laying in thick-bed, the way I've described above. There's lots of different ways to lay stone, some-times mixing different methods to suit the job, but the way I've described will do the job. If you've got any more questions on this, I'll try and help you if I can. I've also done large ( 10 sq.yds. of wall ) fireplaces and feature walls in slate and sandstone in thin-bed adhesive and sand-cement. PS, make sure you wear rubber gloves when you grout, or you will be in pain for days from the raw fingertips, from the abrasion of the sand. Good luck with your project, Bruce.

I did the same thing in my house - I spent a little time getting about 50% of the paint off and the other 50% roughed up, as ventupete says. I'm sure I didn't need to remove any paint but went halfway due to conflicting advice on various Internet forums. Also, I built a new surround and mantle, sized so as not to have to cut any tiles. A friend did his using construction adhesive and it turned out surprisingly well. How he got the tile surface flat I don't know - must have begun with a very flat brick surface.

very reasonable price. you cant equate footage rates from a standard floor to custom applications on verticle surfaces ... they are two different beasts and the latter takes alot more time. however, if you think its too much, get other quotes ... if you like his work and trust him, use him and pay him what he wants. Remember if u price it out to lowball it, you may not get the same craftsmanship you desire.

Use Thinset not mastic--What trowel should he use? Only backbutter if needed? Can use screws to help hold sheets in place until set. They are fairly heavy with that slate.Do we need to rough up the paint surface in anyway? Use a 1/4x1/4 square notched trowel, and you're right-- you want thinset instead of mastic for the stone. Now, as for helping the tile stay up-- you want a certain KIND of thinset. What you want is one of the new lightweight thinsets. They're made to have alot of grab to them when mixed properly, and the tile WILL NOT SLIDE-- just like mastic. The three most common are Dustom Building Products' Megalite, Laticrete's 255, and Mapei's Ultralite. All three are good thinsets and will work. They get mixed alot stiffer than normal thinsets and will literally grab onto the tile when you set it. We were planning on buying a inexpensive 7" wet saw to make cuts. Will that make cuts okay for this job? Renting is not really an option for us on this DIY whenever have time job. I got good news and bad news for you-- the good news is the smaller saw will do fine. The bad news is you're going to want to take those pieces off the mesh and cut them one at a time. The reason is that the mounting glue that holds the tile on the sheet is water emulsive, and once the sheet gets wet, you're going to have a mess on your hands trying to put it up on the wall. After tile up and set/dry, apply sealer/enhancer to slate. I am unclear about this. This would really help with grout release. Grout release is a concern. Tiles are small and rough. Grout lines are very small also(1/8). DH is most concerned about the grouting. If I do before grout, then I will have to do again after grout to seal grout. You can seal it before, after, or both. Being that you're DIYing this, I would strongly suggest sealing prior to grouting for the reasons you brought up. However, you can also reseal it all afterward to bring out the color in the grout, as well. One thing about sealing afterward-- make sure the grout has time to dry for atleast 48 hours, and preferrably 72, if you can wait. Grout with sanded grout? Absolutely. DH wonders if a brick is not positioned correctly on the mesh if he should pull it off and position right when thinsetting to make grout lines more even.? Believe me when I tell you-- especially with slate, if he starts with one, by the time he's done, he will have set that entire backsplash one piece at a time. yes, if one is really cockeyed, then go ahead and straighten it out. But if you look at the sheets, you'll see the pieces are all different sizes, as are the grout joints, many aren't square, they'[re varying thicknesses, etc.-- basically a nightmare for someone with OCD!! As a contractor I did alot of work for years ago used to say, that's the beauty of rustic tile!! :-) I am planning on using Miracle Seal & enhance, although tile manufa recommend TileLab but I cant find it. Any thoughts? They'll have Tile Lab at Home Depot. Not one of my favorite brands, but there are some who'll swear by it. Personally I prefer the Miracle product line. IMO, a much better product line. Is Custom Polyblend grout(from HD) okay or should I try to get some other brand? That should be fine.