telus wrote:
Hello,

What type of product should I use to level/smooth out the face of
my brick fireplace prior to installing ceramic tiles on it? The
brick is pretty bumpy. I've read other posts that talk about using
mortar. Is this the same mortar that you find next to cement bags,
the kind used for laying bricks? I've never used this before, so I
don't know how well it works on vertical surfaces.

Just using plain old thinset mortar and combing it out with the proper notch
trowel for your tile should be fine.
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Secondly, the hearth of the existing fireplace sticks out about 18"
from the wall and is about 3" high. It had lousy broken tiles that
I removed this morning. Now there is an uneven surface (looks like
mortar) left. What should I use to level this?

Hammer and chisel. Or, if not too thick, same as for the brick (above).

--
dadiOH
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