new fireplace mantel

[keith ouellette]

my first fireplace mantel. As usual I'm not happy with the finish but I learned how to make a wide cove on the table saw. It works pretty good and the sanding wasn't that bad at all (120grit). Then again we are talking about pine.

Its a giant improvement over the old one though its hard to tell by the picture. My photography skills aren't any better than my finishing skills.

I liked doing it so I'm gonna make another one and do better on the finish. Right now I'm going to order a couple of books and some dyes and a small hvlp gun.

[John Keeton]

Keith, looks good. Did you end up cutting off a portion of the existing mantle, or is the new one full depth?

[keith ouellette]

Its full depth but I did shave off a little of the width but not much.

[John Thompson]

Looks nice Kieth. I won't ask how that is attached to the wall and will just chalk it up to... "it's magic"!

[Jim Rimmer]

Looks nice Kieth. I won't ask how that is attached to the wall and will just chalk it up to... "it's magic"!

Nice work. And I'll ask - how is it attached?

[David Coburn]

Keith,

I'm about to build and attach a mantel myself and have two questions...

1) Like the other fella asked "How did you attach it to the wall"?

and...

2) My mantel will also be on a rock face where the rocks are not really very even.. How did you handle the back of the mantel having differing gaps where it came in contact with the wall? From one picture it looks like you might have come in after you mounted it and grouted the gaps.. Is the case? If so what about the bottom and sides?

thanks,
david

[keith ouellette]

Keith,

I'm about to build and attach a mantel myself and have two questions...

1) Like the other fella asked "How did you attach it to the wall"?

and...

2) My mantel will also be on a rock face where the rocks are not really very even.. How did you handle the back of the mantel having differing gaps where it came in contact with the wall? From one picture it looks like you might have come in after you mounted it and grouted the gaps.. Is the case? If so what about the bottom and sides?

thanks,
david

With mine I left the old mantle up and built the new one to slip over the old one. In my pictures you can see that the old mantle was just a square slab of cedar which made putting a hollow mantle over it very easy.

As to the wall, I scribed the mantle and used a jig saw to cut away parts so it would fit more snug against the rock wall with only small gaps.

In some parts I found it easier to cut/chisel the rock away to slide the mantel under the rocks.

[Chris S Anderson]

If you look in my gallery, you will see the mantel I attached by hollowing out a railroad tie and attaching that over a 2x4 I have screwed into the wall studs. I imagine this, too, would work on a brick or rock fireplace. You would simple bolt the 2x4 into the fireplace and then place the larger mantel over it. You could rip the 2x4 to a smaller piece to fit your need, but the setup would be the same.

If you put a small lip on the back of the hollowed out mantel piece, you could also put a lip on the 2x4 and it could just rest on top of the anchor piece with the lips keeping it in place. I did this, and I put 3 six in nails into the top of the mantel and filled in the holes.

It's kinda the same method of attaching a floating shelf.

[David Coburn]

Thanks for the reply guys...

I'm thinking that I might be close enough and any gaps I'll just fill in with type N mortar mix...

thanks again,
david

[Brent Dowell]

I notice you have an outlet in the middle just above the mantel. Just wondering if you use it, and what you might use it for? I'm in the process of installing a fireplace and it seems like an interesting idea.