# Repair Cracked Concrete Fireplace Hearth



## tev9999 (Jan 30, 2012)

I am trying to repair a cracked fireplace hearth and make it look nice. The slab is raised off of the floor on about 12" of brick. The mortar below the front corner deteriorated until the slab was able to rock and then crack. I repaired the mortar so it is now solid, but I am left with a crack - plus 40+ years of unsightly wear.

I was planning on skim coating it with a thin (1/8") layer of Quikrete surface bonding cement, but the small test patch I did makes me think I will never be able to smooth out the reinforcing fibers in the mix - especially trying to do a horizontal to vertical corner. 

Is there a better product to use to skim coat this? Sand topping mix? Custom mix of Portland cement and sand? The house is being put up for sale so I don't want to spend a fortune. I considered paint, but don't think that would look too good. I also considered tile, but I think that would look odd also without covering the brick fascia and I don't want to go to that time/expense, or make it more difficult for the next owner to customize it how they like. The overall slab is 2'x7'.

Thanks for any advice.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

I'd use Red Guard then tile and forget it.
There is no need to also do the surround.


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