This is not a sponsored post. There is no compensation for this post, I just want to share something that is making me feel safer to have a fire in the fireplace and that was easy to accomplish ourselves.
We gave the fireplace a thorough cleaning by shoveling out the winter ashes during the spring de junk challenge. I spread the ashes in a thin layer in my rose beds, [they'll thank me as they bloom] We used a shop vac to vacuum out the small dusty ashes then wiped it out with paper towels. I even took the extra step of washing it down with the same stuff I use to clean the kitchen counters. [I love that stuff]
It was a bit difficult to photo, but there is the crack.
The furnace cement is black and pretty darn thick. Hubs used his muscles to work it into the cracks and smoothed it out across the entire bottom of the fireplace. Last, he used a damp paper towel to smooth out the trowell marks. He did a fantastic job. Love a man that works hard and pays attention to the details...right?!
After the furnace cement cured I used a high heat spray paint to give the inside a nice uniform black color. The fire grate was taken outside for a hosing down and a coat of the same high heat paint and then stored back inside the fireplace. It looks so clean I'm not sure I want it to get dirty again this winter. :) Maybe we'll be in a new home by then and I won't have to face that delima. 
- Supply list:
- Silicate high heat furnace cement
- trowell
- paper towells
- protective rubber gloves
- warm water or cleaning spray
- vacuum cleaner/shop vac
- high heat spray paint
