Cement for Hearth

[mrpbjnance]

How wet should the concrete be for pouring the hearth. The pictures on the
website look like it is fairly dry, but to fill in the forms I would seem it would need to be a little more wet.

Any suggestions?

[dmun]

Your structural concrete should be as dry as possible, and still move rather than crumble when pushed with the hoe. When you start to smooth it out, it will "float", in other words the moisture will come to the top, and you can get a smooth surface. If it's wet enough to flow, when you try to float it you will end up with a puddle on top (and weaker concrete)