Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - mortar curing time

I had to replace some of the fire bricks in the back of my fireplace. I used a Quickrete mortar with a fireclay additive. My question is how long until I can safely burn in my fireplace again and should I regulate the length and intensity of the fires at first to aid in a more even curing? I have called several local "masonary" companys and have confilicting answers.


Thanks

The typical cure time for most cement products is 28 days. However, since this is a fireplace, I would think that as long as you "temper" the job slowly... by building a brief, small fire... waiting a day or so... and increasing length and size over time accordingly, you shouldn't have a problem after 2 weeks.

I sure hope that you used the contractor grade Type "S" Quikrete product with your fireclay additive.

What did your local contractors tell you? What size firebox do you have? Where are the logs placed in the firebox? What types of wood do you use? It is not a good idea for the logs to fall up against the back wall of the box.

Good luck and stay warm!

www.southsidebuilders.com

Oh, by the way, it's M A S O N R Y... no "extra A"... don't feel bad, there are many bricklayers that don't know how to pronounce it either!

Thanks, I was figuring about the same thing, the local contractors either dont want to give you the info because they want the work or are very elusive to the answer. I actually got a couple of different answers from 2 days to 6 weeks. I mostly burn anything I can get my hands on, mostly oak and pine but sometimes blue gum eucalyptus. Unfortunately the firebox was fixed previous to me moving in and thus reduced the effective size of the firebox. After about 7 years of continuous use the back had gotten really thin so I figured instead of putting out the money to buy a woodburning insert right now I would just fix it. Also there was a gap between the back of the firebrick and the inside of the red brick of the outside fireplace, I filled the gap with the mortar mixture I was using to make it stronger. This is a temp solution since as soon as I can afford the insert I will remove the fireplace complete and replace it with a insert with a stucco outer box insted of just inserting it into the old fireplace.

Thanks for the help!