Help I have cracks in my soapstone fireplace

[nnv]

Hello and thanks for having a forum on this topic.

We have a wonderful "tulikivi like" soapstone woodstove and noted 2 cracks in the soapstone, one large one and the other smaller above the arch around the metal doors. I have posted pictures (no smoke comes through them).

Any suggestions for filling them in? epoxy or cement? can't find a great product, but there are so many to choose from. I have used epoxy on other things around the house like tiles, and garage door but not epoxy for soapstone that gets very hot up to 400 degrees some nights.
thanks for any suggestions
Nicole

 

[jetsam]

Furnace cement is good to 2000 degrees. Not sure how it does as a glue though!

 

[Newburnerwisconsin]

Hearthstone makes stove cement. You can buy it in a tube at Lehman's. It works great for sealing stoves and on soapstone. A Hearthstone dealer may also be able to get it for you Rocky Mountain Stove is another place I would try.

 

[Toomb]

Cool looking stove. Do you have any other pics of it?

 

[kennyp2339]

I have been stewing on this for a while, and I have been asking myself what would I do if I owned this. The temp fix is to use a stove cement to hold the cracked piece in and seal the crack, but the true fix is to have a quality mason / fireplace guy come out and cut the section out with a cutting wheel, grind the back flat and make a templet to cut a new fill piece and re-install it. I'm also wondering since the cracks are on the door arch if the metal frame of the door is expanding and since those are the weak veins in the rock that area is failing first.

 

[Rearscreen]

It almost appears that parts of the stone is concrete. Veins on one section, concrete stone next to it. Could be the smallness of the picture or possibly repair work was done in the past. Anyway, having poured my own concrete countertops, one alternative would be to make a template of the arch, build a form and create a poured concrete overlay with mesh that could be glued over the cracked piece. That said, usually concrete countertops have to be around 2 inches otherwise they are prone to cracking, but, I believe Quickcrete is now making a formula specially for this application. Or, I'm sure if you made a template and brought it to a marble place a CNC cutter could make up a thinner piece.

 

[webby3650]

You have a beautiful all soapstone Fireplace there! No concrete...
I would get some cement from Hearthstone. It’s great stuff, it has soapstone dust in it. It’s made for this application.

 

[byQ]

I would call a Tulikivi store/office. I bet they do crack repair by using the same stuff they put between soapstone sections on the heater.

On masonry heaters made of other materials the small cracks above the firebox are usually just ignored. I've heard of hi-temp color matched silicone being used to improve looks.