Can I Install Granite Tile Over Masonry Brick?

Acceptable Substrates

• All tile installations -- whether they're man-made tiles such as ceramic or natural stone tiles like granite -- have requirements for proper installation. The substrate is the foundation layer for the tile installation, and is considered the most important for the overall stability of the project. While plywood and plastic laminate are frowned upon, brick is an acceptable substrate as long as the proper installation methods went into installing the brick.

Preparation

• Preparation of the brick surface prior to the installation of the granite tile is key to the overall flatness and beauty of the granite tiles. All loose bricks must be removed or cemented in place and any high points in the brick should be chiseled off. Cover the entire surface with thinset mortar in what's known as a skim coat. This layer fills in the dipped grout joints of the brick installation and provides a flat surface to which the tile can adhere.

Thickness of the Skim Coat

• The skim coat is only a scratch coat, meaning that it only needs to be about 1/16 inch thick. Basically you want as thin of a coat as you can get, with the primary goal of the skim coat being to fill in the joints and porous sections of the brick. If you apply the thinset too thickly it will crack and shrink, so just apply a thin layer with a trowel to coat the brick evenly.

Proper Thinset

• The proper thinset used throughout the installation is important to the integrity of the granite tile adhering to the brick. While you can use a basic cementitious thinset mortar for the scratch coat, you need to purchase and use granite and marble thinset mortar rather than normal mortar. Granite and marble mortar is specially designed to work with natural stones over man-made tiles.