Hi,
I put a woodburner in during the autumn last year. This was part of a
total refurbishment of the room, so the old fireplace was taken out, a
flue liner put in, and the area behind and around the woodburner was
all skim plastered. Under the skim, there is an inch or so of bonding
coat and then brick wall.

Unfortunately, behind the woodburner, the skim coat and, to some
degree, the bonding coat, has cracked - no doubt because the
woodburner is too close to the back wall and the plaster is not a
suitable material to have in such close proximity to the heat of the
stove.

Now summer's here I want to redo the area behind the woodburner. What
would be the best material to use and the best way of going about it?
Possibly fire resistant plasterboard ("Fireshield"). Possibly some
other fireproof board material. Or possibly something applied directly
to the wall - cement render maybe?

It is imperative that the newly finished wall is at the same level as
the existing wall, due to a nice new granite hearth which has been cut
to fit! FYI the woodburner is about two inches proud of the back wall
at present.

Unfortunately I don't have a close-up photo of the cracking, but I
don't suppose this is really necessary. I do however have couple of
photos of the overall effect:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...4&l=c31928a1a3
(towards the end of the album - should be self-explanatory)

Any advice most welcome.

Thanks

Luke