Need your photos!!!

[Donnie Raines]

I am ready to start my over haul of the sorry excuse of a fire place mantel we have currently. I have been googling all day and can not find anything I like( ..though I can kinda see in my head what it is we want). I want to build more then just a mantle and also more then a surround. I want it to extend up to the ceiling(9 foot tall) and to span aprx 8 foot wide. I am thinkng bookcases kinda...with doors on the bottom and crown moulding at the top. In the center will be a mantel. I will most likley be useing birds eye maple for this(pix to come)...with your help!

Please post or send me some photos via the e-mail below.

THANKS!!!!

sohc6e03@allstate.com

[John Gregory]

Here is a pic of the mantel my wife and I built for our son's new house.

[Jack Hogoboom]

John,

That's a really nice piece. Can you describe how you built and installed it?

Jack

[John Gregory]

It was built mostly from Poplar and cabinet grade plywood. We purchased the crown molding but milled the smaller molding ourselves. It consists of 4 main pieces. two legs, one mantel and the panel separating the legs. My wife did the primary design. The panel is attached to the legs. The legs are attached to the wall using ledger board. We used finish nails to attach the legs to the ledger board. The mantel is attached to a ledger board in the same fashion. We used a PC pin nailer for the small molding. We sprayed painted is an airless gun

[Jim Becker]

Fix It UP! on HGTV had a program on a mantle/surround not long ago that might be helpful to you. No bookcases, but how they built it up was "constructive"...other than the gal saying that poplar was a "softwood"... :D

[Jamie Buxton]

There's a pretty good book called Making Mantels, by David Getts, published by Linden Publishing. It has lots of pictures of completed mantels for inspiration, and a bunch of practical material about building one and fastening it to the house. $18 at Amazon.

[Steve Clardy]

All Red Oak, Golden Oak stain. Bookcase could be put at bottom instead of false windows.
Steve
Ps. There are two mirrors above on the walls. Thats why the top above looks a little fishy. Mirrors are showing the wall behind me.

[Tom Sweeney]

Very nice Steve - beautiful workmanship.

Was it Todd Burch that posted a mantel with a bookcase or EC cabinet above the fireplace?? This was many moons ago -- Todd??

[Pete Rosenbohm]

This is one that i built using birch ply and poplar, the built-ins were done with the same materials. Also added glass shelves and lites to built ins. <img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/90/90613/folders/85890/569422mantle5.jpg" width="470" height="241">

[Pete Rosenbohm]

This is another mantle done in cypress and finished with a honey pine. <img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/90/90613/folders/85890/569417mantle4.jpg" width="383" height="255">

[Pete Rosenbohm]

Yet another done in polar and surround done in marble. Finish is white acrylic<img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/90/90613/folders/85890/569454fireplace1.jpg" width="470" height="391">

[Pete Rosenbohm]

Yet another Donnie, this i did for my daughter's new home. <img src="http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/90/90613/folders/128715/1175140DCP2220copy.jpg" width="450" height="300">

[Roy Wall]

Here's one I did in our house. The fireplace is a direct vent gas - so the cabinet on the left (outside) edge houses (conceals) the vent pipe - but they could have been shelving. Doors are removable for access:

[Todd Burch]

I've done two fireplaces/mantles, but one one is tied to a built-in. Here are the before & afters.

Todd

[Mike Wilkins]

Go to the Taunton website; go to the Fine Homebuilding or Fine Woodworking
sites, and look under books. There is a book about building mantles listed
there that should be a great help.

[Donnie Raines]

Thanks for the post/pix thus far. I like many of the designs that have been posted. I guess I need to draw out what I want(first time for everything...) and make corrections along the way. I am wanting something beefier....at least I feel that way now...then has been posted so far.

Picks to be supplied in the coming weeks..... :cool: :D

[Chris Padilla]

I've done two fireplaces/mantles, but one one is tied to a built-in. Here are the before & afters.

Todd
I see that first pic it only took you a little over 7 hours to do everything! Very impressive! :D :rolleyes:

[Fred LeBail]

Here is a Mantle/bookcase that I built for our livingroom. It is constructed from clear pine and pine plywood. Both sides are the same size but got a little distortion in the pic. I covered a Knotty pine wall and added the Cronw moulding. On the oppisite wall are 2 more arched bookcases that share the same center column.
Good luck, Fred

[Bill Erskine]

While not exactly what you described, free ideas are worth every penny. :p

[Bob Marino]

Donnie,

Here's a pic of the Mission Mantle and Bookcase project I completed a while ago. It is loosely based on a project from Wood magazine.

Bob

http://festool.safeshopper.com

[Fred Voorhees]

Here is a pic of a simple raised panel style red oak fireplace surround and mantel that I whipped up for some freinds a couple of years ago. Not high end stylish, but it is what they wanted. In fact, this project was my introduction to working with red oak.

[Michael Shier]

Here's an example made with birchply and maple. The finish is cherry gel followed by satin poly. The cove of the mantle was cut on a table saw and the mouldings were created on a router table. The pilasters were routed with a plunge router and an edge guide.