Reparing cracked sandstone hearth?

[toganet]

So this weekend my freakishly strong 2.5-yr-old daughter dropped a 10lb dumbbell on one of the stones in front of our fireplace, right where it overhangs the floor.  This resulted in a Y-shaped crack in the stone, which is some kind of sandstone.  Luckily, the stone took the brunt of the force, as the dumbbell then rolled onto my daughter's foot (she's fine).

I'm wondering if there is a way to repair the crack with mortar or epoxy of some kind, and if anyone's had luck doing that.  Am I better off removing that stone and replacing it?

Keep in mind I have little-to-no masonry experience, so easier DIY is a factor.

[thd7t]

You may be able to mix stone dust with an epoxy to get an even look.  It's not super common, but with most sandstones, it should look fine.

[405programmer]

Is the stone now loose on the mantle? If it's not loose, I would probably do nothing. If it is loose you can take out the newly made smaller chunks of sandstone and re-mortar them in. You'll want to clean as much of the old mortar from behind the stones if you go that route.

Also what do you mean overhang? Is there nothing beneath the cracked stone? That might mean replace so it won't fall later. But if it's mortared to a bench in front of the fireplace then I'd just laugh your awesome story.

Alternatively if this stone is in your floor and the other stones are sealed to a glossy finish, I would apply a healthy dose of sealer to the crack and the surrounding grout lines.

[toganet]

The fireplace is raised about 6-8 inches off the floor, with ~18" sandstone forming a low shelf in front, with about 4 inches of overhang over the layer underneath.  The damaged stone has two triangular sections that are now slumping slightly, but are still held together.  I could probably move them back into position and inject the epoxy+sand as suggested above.  I suspect I would want to build some kind of frame around it while it hardens, perhaps?

[Sibley]

Given that overhand (4 inches!), I don't think I'd be comfortable with it now. It's slumping, which means that whatever you do to repair it, gravity will eventually win. If it takes 50 years for gravity to win, you're ok, but I'm not a stonemason.

honestly, I'd put something underneath it to support it for now, then see if you can get a mason in over the winter (they'll be less busy) to look at it. However, I am not strong enough to really do much with a stone slab, so your options may open up some.

And keep said dumb bell away from the kid. Kids are cute, but they do really dumb things because they don't know better.

[DoNorth]

better off replacing it.  I just had this conversation with the guy that did mine and we debated whether to do the single piece or the individual ones and he said if they ever break, its better remove and replace.