Build a new wooden mantel to be attached to and to cover an existing brick fireplace opening.
| how to: Build a Fireplace Mantel | how to build a mantel over the top of an existing brick fireplace Read the details here... |
| Project Description Build a new wooden mantel to be attached to and to cover an existing brick fireplace opening. |
|
 |
Step 1 The first step is to attach some nailing cleats to the wall and build our base. We are using MDF for this project as it routes nicely and takes paint very well. |
| 3/4" MDF To build up the mantel, we are using 3/4" MDF that is edge glued and nailed. |
 |
 |
Base We start with a bottom base piece that is nailed to our nailing strip. |
| Brick side On the side that touches the bricks, we are just butting our wood up. The overall mantel will hold everything in place as we build it up. |
 |
 |
Columns On top of our base will be a column made from MDF with our raised panel bits and a simple flat face. |
| Left and Right Columns There will be a left and right hand column with wider boards on the outside and shorter on the brick side. |
 |
 |
Columns on Base The columns are made about an inch smaller than the base so that they looked recessed. |
| Column in Place With the columns in place, we can now measure for our cross piece that will tie the mantel together. Since we are dealing with bricks and mortar that does not provide a perfectly flat surface, we didn't build our cross piece until after this measurement was taken. |
 |
 |
Center Piece The center piece is also made with some raised panel bits and MDF panels. The left are right quadrant match the columns width, the center quadrant is slightly smaller than the two adjacent quadrants. Any symmetrical look will do. |
| Mouldings We are now wrapping any joints with some half round mouldings. |
 |
 |
Stacked Mouldings We are also stacking some mouldings on top of others and offsetting the top moulding slightly to give it some depth. |
| Offset Mouldings Since our columns were slightly smaller than our base, the mouldings automatically are recessed slightly. |
 |
 |
Mouldings in Place With our mouldings in place, we are ready to move to the top. |
| Tops The top is a piece of MDF with a nice routed table edge detail. We use a few dabs of liquid nails on the stone mantel and then set the MDF on it. |
 |
 |
Crown Mouldings To finish off the top, we cut some crown mouldings and nail into our center piece and the underside of our top piece. This ties the top together nicely. |
| Paint After filling any nail holes or joints and a light sanding, we prime and paint the MDF with a semi-gloss white. A light 220 grit sanding between coats leaves us with a glass finish after 4 coats. |
 |
 |
New Family Room! The room is now transformed from a typical brick fireplace to a classic colonial fireplace and mantel. |
| Some tools we used: |
| Our Rockler Crown Moulding Cutter! |  |
Crown Molding Compound Miter Jig Now it’s easy to create a distinct, stylish look with crown molding! Our innovative new compound miter jig makes it simple to cut difficult compound miters with a standard miter saw... |