Building a faux fireplace mantle

Last month, I told you all about how my husband and I purchased and antique fireplace mantle.

We have a long, blank and boring wall in our living room, that unfortunately is our focal wall when you walk in the door. I’ve always wanted a pretty fireplace on that wall but knew we couldn’t afford a real one. A faux one was the next best thing 🙂

Using a plan from Bless’r House as a model, we decided how large the mantle and hearth would need to be and we purchased the wood.

Here is a list of what we used to build the fireplace:

• Antique mantle (found through local antiques dealers)
• 2 plywood sheets
• Faux brick panel
• 11 2×4 boards
• 2 1X12 boards
• 1 2×12 board
• Finishing nails
• Deck screws
• Drywall screws
• Tape measure and yard stick
• Circular saw
• Jigsaw
• Hammer
• Power drill

We began by deciding how large we wanted the hearth to be and we cut two 2X4sat 64 inches long. We chose 64 inches because this made the hearth a tiny bit wider than the mantle itself. The cross pieces and sides are 24 inches.

We then cut a piece of plywood to fit the top of the hearth, but we did not hammer it down yet.

We then carried the hearth into the house, placed it where we wanted it, and attached it to the baseboards. We then attached the plywood to the top of the hearth.

We then attached plywood strips and two by fours to the back of the mantle.

After attaching the two by fours to the side, and the plywood strips, we cut out a surround from one of the plywood sheets. I attached it using small wood screws.

I then attached 2X4s to the wall at the correct height to the wall. Be sure to hang these on studs, but if you can’t, make sure you use drywall anchors that can accommodate heavy weights.

I then attached the 1X12s for the side braces to the 2x4s.

I then put the mantle up beside these braces, and attached the two by fours on the back of the mantle to the braces. I used decking screws to do this.

I then realized we had about an eight inch gap between the mantle and the wall.

Attaching a 2X6 to this space covered the gap and laid flush with the back of the mantle.

We then cut and added faux brick paneling to the wall behind the mantle and on the sides so that the inside of the mantle couldn’t be seen.

We have nearly finished the mantle. We now only have to paint, add the stone, and fill in some nail holes. Our living room looks so much better already! Can’t wait to share the finished product with you all!