Fireplaces: Guide to Mantels and Surrounds
Creating a distinctive look for your fireplace
When you choose materials and a style for your fireplace surround, or facing, you're making a strong design statement in your room. Whether you've selected a traditional masonry fireplace, a prefabricated model, or an insert, what gives it character are the mantel, facing, and hearth. From the simplest option -- a plain mantel -- to a full-blown stone mantel, surround, and hearth combination, you have numerous possibilities from which to make your choice. You'll see all kinds of mantels and facings illustrated in photos throughout this book.
A mantel is actually a decorative frame around the fireplace and its facing. The ledge above the firebox is the mantel shelf; the "legs" are the vertical elements on either side of the firebox. Sometimes an overmantel, a panel above the shelf, is part of the design. The surround (sometimes called the filler panel) is the frame right around the firebox; it must be of noncombustible material.
A mantel made of noncombustible materials can be built right up to the firebox opening without an intervening facing. For a wood mantel, check with your fire department and building code officials to see how close combustible materials can be to the firebox opening and how far a mantel shelf can project.
To explore your options, visit home improvement stores and fireplace and mantel dealers' showrooms. If you're seeking a vintage mantel, you'll want to haunt antique stores and salvage yards. Don't overlook the Internet (search under "Fireplace mantels") as a source of ideas.
Shelf mantels
The simplest of treatments, these "floating" mantels range from a single rough-hewn beam or a simple shelf on brackets to a fancy prefabricated mantel. You can install a shelf mantel directly on the wall above a firebox opening, whether the wall is constructed of drywall, stone, brick, or another material.
Full-surround mantels
Manufacturers of both prefabricated and made-to-order mantels offer mantel shelves, legs, and overmantels in mix-and-match options in a variety of designs. Legs may be simple, or they may be more elaborate pilasters or columns. You can purchase prefabs to fit around corner fireplaces as well as single-face fireplaces.
Off-the-shelf mantels offer a relatively inexpensive alternative to custom-made designs. Least expensive is unfinished paint-grade fiberboard; the most costly is stainable oak, cherry, or other hardwood or fruitwood. Designs range from plain and simple to intricately routed and trimmed.
Ready-made mantels come in various sizes, often adjustable to fit your particular fireplace and room. Prefab fireplace makers often offer ready-made mantels to fit their products. Some claim that these make it possible to have a new fireplace and mantel delivered and installed in less than a day's time.
If you want a one-of-a-kind mantel and surround tailored to your room and your fireplace, custom-made and site-built is the way to go. You'll have carte blanche in choosing your materials and designs -- for a price.
A mantel is actually a decorative frame around the fireplace and its facing. The ledge above the firebox is the mantel shelf; the "legs" are the vertical elements on either side of the firebox. Sometimes an overmantel, a panel above the shelf, is part of the design. The surround (sometimes called the filler panel) is the frame right around the firebox; it must be of noncombustible material.
A mantel made of noncombustible materials can be built right up to the firebox opening without an intervening facing. For a wood mantel, check with your fire department and building code officials to see how close combustible materials can be to the firebox opening and how far a mantel shelf can project.
To explore your options, visit home improvement stores and fireplace and mantel dealers' showrooms. If you're seeking a vintage mantel, you'll want to haunt antique stores and salvage yards. Don't overlook the Internet (search under "Fireplace mantels") as a source of ideas.
Shelf mantels
The simplest of treatments, these "floating" mantels range from a single rough-hewn beam or a simple shelf on brackets to a fancy prefabricated mantel. You can install a shelf mantel directly on the wall above a firebox opening, whether the wall is constructed of drywall, stone, brick, or another material.
Full-surround mantels
Manufacturers of both prefabricated and made-to-order mantels offer mantel shelves, legs, and overmantels in mix-and-match options in a variety of designs. Legs may be simple, or they may be more elaborate pilasters or columns. You can purchase prefabs to fit around corner fireplaces as well as single-face fireplaces.
Off-the-shelf mantels offer a relatively inexpensive alternative to custom-made designs. Least expensive is unfinished paint-grade fiberboard; the most costly is stainable oak, cherry, or other hardwood or fruitwood. Designs range from plain and simple to intricately routed and trimmed.
Ready-made mantels come in various sizes, often adjustable to fit your particular fireplace and room. Prefab fireplace makers often offer ready-made mantels to fit their products. Some claim that these make it possible to have a new fireplace and mantel delivered and installed in less than a day's time.
If you want a one-of-a-kind mantel and surround tailored to your room and your fireplace, custom-made and site-built is the way to go. You'll have carte blanche in choosing your materials and designs -- for a price.
