I have recently purchased a home (Built in 1941) that has a fireplace in the basement. The basement is finished and I’m fixing it up a bit to be used as the main family room.

However, the base of the firebox is badly deteriorated. Basically, the cement is chipped out about 2 inches deep covering about 75% of the surface of the floor. I would like to bust out the rest of the old cement and lay a new floor in the firebox.

What would be the best way to remove the old cement and what type of mortar mix should I use? I assume there is a mixture that I can just mix with water and not deal with mixing in sand. Any ideas?