How to Reface Fireplaces With Cement

Clean the face of your fireplace well with soap and water. Allow it to dry.

Apply an even coat of cement or concrete bonding agent over the entire face of your fireplace, using a paintbrush. Allow the bond to dry for 30 to 45 minutes.

Mix together ready-made stucco (a mix of cement, aggregate, and clean sand) and enough of the concrete or cement bonding agent in a medium bucket with a shovel or paint-mixing stick so that your mixture has the consistency of toothpaste.

Apply a coat of the stucco to the face of your fireplace that is approximately 3/8 inch thick, using a flat metal trowel. Keep the application level and even in all areas. Cover the edges of the fireplace, too. Allow this first coat to dry for half an hour, until it has softly set.

Dig a series of fairly straight grooves in the initial layer of stucco, using a notched trowel and working from one end of the face of the fireplace to the other. This texturing will allow the second coat of stucco to stick to the first.

Apply a second even level coat of stucco that is thicker than the first, using your trowel. Also cover the edges of the fireplace face. Smother the surface of the stucco with the trowel for a sleek finish, or texture the stucco with the pointed end of the trowel for a traditional stucco finish. Allow the completed fireplace to cure for two or three days and ensure that it is completely dry before using it.