Completed Fireplace Surround

The fireplace surround is finished and installed.  What do you think?

More Fireplace surround constuction

Back view of the mantel

Sideview of back plate cleat

Cleat attached to wall

Fireplace surround underlying construction

Mantel and corbels being stained

Finishing in progress

So here’s the continuation of my earlier post on building the fireplace surround.   The pieces I haven’t covered yet are the corbels, the mantel, and how these pieces are mounted to the wall.

I drew a template of the corbel on paper and transferred it to a piece of pine.  I cut out the template with a jig saw and sanded the curves smooth.  Each corbel is glued up from three pieces of 1 inch red oak.

I cut equal sized blanks for each piece on the table saw and cut them to length on the miter saw.  I ripped all the pieces to width during one session on the table saw so the dimensions would be the same.  I set a stop on the miter saw stand so the length would be the same on each.

I traced the template on to each blank and rough cut the curves with a jig saw.  I then clamped the pine template to the blank and finished cutting the curve with a straight bit in my router.  It was a little time consuming, but it worked OK.  I thought using 1 inch oak would be easier than 3/4 inch because I would have fewer pieces to cut and glue up.  It turned out that 1 inch is just beyond the depth I could cut with my router and bit, so it came out a bit rougher than I would like.

I glued the pieces for the corbels together.  They are attached to the back plate with wood screws.  The back plate has 3 pieces of oak glued and screwed to it.  The top and bottom piece are to pushi it out from the wall to give it some more depth.

The middle piece is a cleat that attaches the corbels and back plate to the wall.  I cut one piece of oak at a 45 degree angle.  Once piece is attached with glue and screws to the back plate.  The other is screwed to the studs.  I used construction adhesive as well to provide additional bonding.

The matel is a box created with pocket screws.  Everthing is glued together.  It mounts to the wall by sliding over a piece of 2x ripped to slightly less than the opening on the back of the mantel and attached to the wall with lag bolts.

Here’s how it all goes together.  The leg on the left side of the fireplace goes on first.  Making sure it is plumb and level, it is attached to the two blocks of pine behind it.  Then the base is attached to the leg.

Next the corbel and back plate slide over the cleats and sit against the right leg.  Then the mantel slides over the block.  Once it is leveled, it is attached with wood screws through the top.  I tried several different ideas so that there wouldn’t be any exposed hardware, but this won’t really show.

Then the left leg and base are attached.

Fireplace surround construction

I finally got around to buying a TV for the basement.  The blue tape about the mantle was used to get a feel for the TV size.    Since it’s going to be installed over the fireplace, I felt motivated (finally) to finish the fireplace surround.  Lots of sanding, stain, then poly.

Fireplace surround before finishing

Fireplace viewed from the right

Construction detail of base of leg on fireplace surround

Construction detail of leg of fireplace surround

I wanted to show a bit of the underlying construction before it gets permanently attached.  It’s built from red oak.  The legs on either side are three pieces of oak joined with pocket screws and glue.    At the top I added a band of flat trim with cove underneath it.  The base is made from three mitered pieces topped with cove.

I routed the cove trim from the same material so it would all match.  I used brads to attach the trim, but if I was to do it over, I’d do it all with glue.  The oak is really hard and I had some splits in the trim from using the nail gun.

The legs will be attached to the pine blocks screwed to the wall.    The hardware will be hidden at the bottom by the base and at the top I’ll attach it from the side facing the mantel.

More on constructing the corbels and mantel later.

Fireplace surround update

Construction of the fireplace surround is underway.  Here’s a recent picture.

Mantel under construction

The surround I based this design on was constructed from quarter sawn oak.   After a visit to a local lumber supply, I decided on red oak.  There was plenty of stock to choose from and I really liked the grain of the wood.  I built the legs of the surround with pocket screws and glue.  The mantel is joined in the same manner except that the bottom is fixed with glue and brads since there isn’t enough room to join both the top and bottom with pocket screws.

Three corbels (brackets) will be mounted under the mantel shelf.  There are also a few pieces of trim to apply yet.  Joining each piece to the wall creates its own set of challenges.  I want to minimize any visible hardware and I want to be able to build it in place, remove it for finishing, and then reinstall it.     I’ll try to post more detailed pictures of the underlying construction when I do the final install.

There’s a picture of the fireplace without the surround in this post.

Projects for This Weekend

Carpet is getting installed on Monday so there are a few things that I need to get done this weekend.  Here’s what the media room and the recreation room look like now:

Media room before carpet install and equipment install

Fireplace Before Carpet

I’m planning built-in cabinets and bookshelves to flank the fireplace.  Saturday will largely be occupied by my daughter’s last day of soccer for the Fall season, so there isn’t much time to build, finish, and install the four base cabinets.

So my plan is to just build a level base to install the cabinets on.  That way the carpet installers can finish the job on Monday and I can come back to the cabinets as time allows.

You’ll notice that the paint around the fireplace surround has an outline of a mantle that I’ve yet to build.  My wife found a mission style mantle in “This Old House” magazine that we really liked.  I transferred the design to the wall to make sure the proportions looked right.  I’ll commit the measurements to paper and paint around the tile so it looks more finished.

If that all goes smoothly, I’ll prime and paint the doors I built to hide the breaker boxes and snake of cables that I’ve yet to connect.

We’ll see how I make out after the weekend.  Wish me luck.

Doors over Sub-Panels

View behind the doors