question about building a mantle

15 years ago

Hi All -

My husband and I are trying to make some updates to our FP. We would like to add a wood mantle. It right now has a stone ledge. We would ideally like to build a box that would fit over the stone.

The problem we are having as we are starting the planning process is that the FP is 8'1" (97 inches) wide. We were considering getting a good quality plywood but they are only 8' long.??? We would rather not have a seam in there - as we are new to woodworking and would not want to mess it up. We want a simple box like shelf - maybe possibly some moldings.

I am attaching a picture so you can see what we are dealing with:

Here are the measurements of the current stone mantle shelf

Length: 97 inches

Depth from wall: 8 inches

width: 2 inches

We are at a loss as to what to do. We wanted to build something to save money - and I was just looking up some and most of them come much smaller and only a few sites carried them at 8 ft But that would still be too small.

Please help!!

Thanks

Ruth

Comments (6)

justnigel
15 years ago
I'd suggest you draw exactly what it is you want, without getting stuck on a particular sheet good right now. It might be that solid wood will be suitable; if it isn't, there are ways around that. (Veneers, cutting along the diagonal of the plywood, design that puts something right in the middle to break the sheet...) Solid wood might even end up being cheaper in the end, as you aren't discarding part of a sheet.

Good luck!
aidan_m
15 years ago
forget ply, use real wood. You could also install new stone or tile over the existing surround.
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lamguy
15 years ago
might try using large crown molding with a solid board for the top piece
roorezzi
Original Author
15 years ago
thanks everyone!

We are going today to go look at the wood that they have at HD - maybe something like the red oak or the maple. We tried to go yesterday but the aisle was closed for workers restocking. I like the idea of using crown but my husband wants something simpler.

We are hopefully going to work on it this weekend.

Thanks Again!
lamguy
15 years ago
Send me a private email from my page and I think I can send you a couple of pictures of how to use the crown to make the mantle, you might be interested once you see it
brickeyee
15 years ago
"We are going today to go look at the wood that they have at HD - maybe something like the red oak or the maple."

Look in the yellow pages under 'hardwood.'
Evil orange will rape you over any hardwood purchased.

I just got four 12 foot pieces of ash (FAS, first and seconds), around 32 board feet, for the (high) price of $130.
There is a little wane in one piece, but not a single knot in any of them.

Surfaced two sides (S2S) would have been $0.20 a board foot more, but I own a surface planer and jointer.