"Harold Davis" wrote in message
...
"Phil L" wrote in
:


Nothing will stick to render apart from plaster.
Adhesives will at first adhere to the surface, but the surface of
render is sandy and this will easily detatch from the main body of
render, especially with metal's expansion and contraction, but even
timber won't stick to it.

Is it decorative trim or is it out of sight? - if the latter, you can
drill and plug it on, if the former, you may need to plaster the
render and then the trim /may/ stick to the plaster

Thanks for this.

The trim is decorative. The front face of the chimney breast has been
covered with heatproof render (Vitcas) and then 'tiled' on top with 20mm
thick brick slips secured with adhesive (Nicobond Quickfix). I have left
some leeway at the edges of the fireplace opening, about 25mm each side,
and was planning to pack that area with render to leave a flat surface a
few mm away from where the trim will go.

I'm no expert, but I have to question what you say about nothing sticking
to render other than plaster. The manufacturers of Nicobond Quickfix say
it will stick to render:

http://nichollsandclarke.com/uploads...029ce459d9.pdf


That tile adhesive may stick to render, but as I've never used it, I don't
know.

and I've found many positive reviews saying it has been fine for doing
what I've done or similar.

They also say it will stick to steel when mixed with an enhancer (?).
Maybe I should use render to make a surface under where the trim will go
and then butter both trim and that surface with (enhanced) Quickfix? The
thought hadn't occurred to me before. The problem is that whereas it can
take the heat that will be experienced by the chimney breast, I am not
sure whether it could withstand the higher temperatures experienced by
the trim.

You can try it, at the very worst, it will come away when you light the
fire, which means you'll have to find something else.

Fire putty (exhaust sealant) may do the trick - it sticks to steel OK - I
bought a tube (that fits in a sealant gun) years ago for about £2 and I've
used it around a cement board backer behind my log burner, that is, where
the steel flue goes through the cement board - it's still Ok after 4 years,
and i used some of the same tube a few weeks ago to seal a small crack in my
car exhaust