I took a chance and tried to repair some chipped and cracked fire plates for my fireplace. Replacement panels for my fireplace are very difficult to find and very expensive. The cement is not similar to Portland cement as it is much granular and therefore not suitable for thin application. It's more like crushed pieces of clams. The directions on the can say not to mix more than 5 ounces of water in this 3 pound container. That can't be right as you end up with a very dry mix with a lot of cement that the water didn't touch.