help covering a fireplace mantle please

[keith ouellette]

We have (what my wife calls) a very ugly mantle. Its a slab of cedar 3" thick, 60" wide and has 8" sticking out of the fireplace and then more stuck inside the chimney. It really is very plain and ugly.

She asked if I could cover it with something. So I said I could cover it with pine (which I have).

My idea is to build a mantle to slip over the existing one.

Am I going to have any problems with this plan? How much do I have to worry about expansion? Or any other things anyone can think of?

[Gary Gleave]

Disassemble, redesign, and build new.
Post a picture of the existing mantel piece. Can probable get some good ideas on here.

[Jim McFarland]

My son had a similar problem with a formica covering over a mantle/bookcase top. We put a 5/8" walnut veneer over it using end-to-end dovetails to build up long the boards then edge glued to build a wide plank. Re expansion/contraction: we fastened at the back edge with screws plugged with walnut and fastened under the front edge using screw slots covered by half-butterfly inlays. Installed for 2 years now and no cracks have developed.

Here are some photos:

[scott spencer]

Yeah...a pic would help us a ton.

Expansion and contraction is gonna happen, but I don't know as though it'll cause problems for you. I've built two mantels...one from knotty pine (http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/hewood/?action=view&current=FP1.jpg), the other oak (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/hewood/fireplaces/Fireplaceupdates017.jpg). Neither has shown signs of expansion problems, but the oak mantel is brand new with no history...don't even have the surround material finished yet.

[Bryan Cowing]

I made this oak cover for this 50's style fireplace.
133908

133909

[keith ouellette]

this mantle is built into the chimney so I don't want to take it out. It would involve a lot of chiseling.

So what I have begun to do is build a hollow mantel to fit over the existing mantle. the top, bottom and sides will be 3/4" pine and the front will be thicker pine so it can accommodate some profiles.

That is why I was asking if anyone had an idea of the problems I may encounter. So any ideas wold be very appreciated. thanks.

[bill mullin]

this mantle is built into the chimney so I don't want to take it out. It would involve a lot of chiseling.

So what I have begun to do is build a hollow mantel to fit over the existing mantle. the top, bottom and sides will be 3/4" pine and the front will be thicker pine so it can accommodate some profiles.

That is why I was asking if anyone had an idea of the problems I may encounter. So any ideas wold be very appreciated. thanks.

I redid a mantle exactly like yours a couple years back. No pics., their design was kind of ugly.
I cut a few inches off the front with a circular saw and sawzall so it wouldn't end up so deep. Then just built around it.
It looks like you have plenty of space between the bottom, and the firebox, so you should have no problems.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

+1 for cutting some off to start
looking at your picture you might also consider some sort
of side pieces to go with the new mantle. I think one of the
problems is that the mantle is overwhelmed by the massive
rocks.

[keith ouellette]

+1 for cutting some off to start
looking at your picture you might also consider some sort
of side pieces to go with the new mantle. I think one of the
problems is that the mantle is overwhelmed by the massive
rocks.

Yes we hate the stone also. It is going to be completely wrapped around the sides also.

[John Keeton]

I redid a mantle exactly like yours a couple years back. No pics., their design was kind of ugly.
I cut a few inches off the front with a circular saw and sawzall so it wouldn't end up so deep. Then just built around it.
It looks like you have plenty of space between the bottom, and the firebox, so you should have no problems.Keith, I did something similar with an oak beam that we had installed and bolted in from the back. The bolts were inaccessible, so I used a sawzall and cut off about 1/2 of the depth, and built a new mantle over it.

Here is a pic -
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=84643&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1206200485 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=84643&d=1206200485)
And, here (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=80027) is the thread.

[Brian J McMillan]

I did a similar thing for a friend of mine. Her existing FP was old red brick with a slab mantle. The FP wall was covered in Z brick (fake sliced brick glued on, popular in the 60's).
I plastered over the brick, and built an mdf box to slide over the old mantle; added some columns, moldings and a tile high lite over the fire box and finished off with a faux marble paint job.

[bill mullin]

I did a similar thing for a friend of mine. Her existing FP was old red brick with a slab mantle. The FP wall was covered in Z brick (fake sliced brick glued on, popular in the 60's).
I plastered over the brick, and built an mdf box to slide over the old mantle; added some columns, moldings and a tile high lite over the fire box and finished off with a faux marble paint job.

Dramatic difference. Nice job!

[Gerry Werth]

You should not have problems slipping a new mantle over the old one. I am doing a similar one right now for a lady. The old mantle is just 4" x 4" of brick sticking out of the wall. I made it out of clear pine because she wants it painted black. You might consider using crown molding for the front face, but creating your own profile on the router will work just as well, depends on the look you want to achieve. I am using crown molding, and wrapping it around the total of 8" protrusion.

[keith ouellette]

thanks for the pictures and the advice. I'm glad to see people have done it just like I'm planning. Those are all nice mantles you've shown me.