Refractory cement or furnace cement to repair hearth base?

[deamon]

I have a mid 1980's small prefab fireplace in a condo. Even though the fireplace hasn't been used much, the base of the hearth has cracks which can be peeled off. I plan on removing all the loose cracked pieces and giving the entire base a good coat of cement to repair it. It seems the choices are furnace cement or refractory cement. Are they both acceptable for this purpose? If so, which would you chose and why?

 

[bholler]

I have a mid 1980's small prefab fireplace in a condo. Even though the fireplace hasn't been used much, the base of the hearth has cracks which can be peeled off. I plan on removing all the loose cracked pieces and giving the entire base a good coat of cement to repair it. It seems the choices are furnace cement or refractory cement. Are they both acceptable for this purpose? If so, which would you chose and why?

Are you talking about the refractory panel inside the fireplace or the hearth extension in front of it?

 

[deamon]

This is right under the wood burning area, inside.

 

[Brawndo71]

This is right under the wood burning area, inside.View attachment 337565

This looks almost exactly like my Heatilator MF36. I replaced the bottom and back panel, as they were too far gone. I bought the bottom part online and cut it to fit. The company no longer made the bottom piece, but the back and sides they did. Water intrusion caused some of the issue certainly. I had cement. but chose to replace.

 

[deamon]

This looks almost exactly like my Heatilator MF36. I replaced the bottom and back panel, as they were too far gone. I bought the bottom part online and cut it to fit. The company no longer made the bottom piece, but the back and sides they did. Water intrusion caused some of the issue certainly. I had cement. but chose to replace.

Thanks for the info. Mine is definitely a Heatilator. What part did you buy and what made you go that route vs cement?

I looked at the Heatilator site and see that it is discontinued, as you said. But what is good is that the part name has "Refractory" in it, which sort of answers my original question. So now maybe this is down to buying and using refractory cement or ordering a similar part as you did, and cutting it to fit.

 

[Brawndo71]

I could see water damage to the refractory bottom and water/poker damage to the back panel. The material was crumbling apart. It wasn't that much to replace them. A Heatilator dealer had to order the back panel for me. The bottom I bought online and cut to fit. I know it wasn't the same exact thickness on the bottom, 1" vs 3/4" or something, just a littler thinner, and had a brick pattern on it.
I put a little refractory cement at the seams, to keep any stuff from getting in there, probably not necessary, and at the log rack holes. I went with a different cast iron log holder.