Rustic Fireplace Mantels
Freelance Writer
Rustic fireplace mantels are marking a strong return to an era
of log cabin simplicity. With hand-hewn textures, hardy wood
material and affordability in equal measure, handsome rustic
fireplace mantels are cozying up fireplaces everywhere—quicker
than you can say Abe Lincoln.
Rustic Fireplace Mantel Trends
Georgia mantel manufacturer Park Pigott says homeowners are
specific about styling when it comes to rustic fireplace
mantels. A top seller for Pigott has been a reproduction of an
1850s Kentucky farm house mantel, along with Craftsman-style
mantels. Though those styles recall later eras, hand-hewn
fireplace mantels with a much more rough-hewn look are also
becoming a hit with today’s homeowners.
Popular styles in rustic fireplace mantels include raw,
hand-hewn pine planks that you sand and stain as a weekend
project. For a less demanding do-it-yourselfer, you can simply
install a pine plank that’s already been sanded and stained.
Some even prefer a much simpler fixture: a pine log sawed in
half and set into special brackets.
"A lot of people are buying timber frame and log homes today,"
explains Pigott of the trend to get rustic. "Twenty years ago,
nobody would dream of living in a log house, even if it was
brand new. 100 years ago, you either lived in a log cabin, or
if you (were wealthy), you lived in a nice house with a nice
mantel. If you lived in a log cabin, it was a lot more
primitive."
Rustic Fireplace Mantel Process
Even more primitive than the style of rustic fireplace mantels
is the tool used to create the look. Called an adz, the tool
traditionally used centuries ago for log cabins and woodworking
has a blade attached at a right angle to the handle (an axe
blade is perpendicular to the handle). "Hand-hewn means shaped
with an adz, which gives it that rustic look, like old log
cabins," Pigott says. "With an adz, there are two kinds. One
cuts flat, one cuts curved. We use curved and it's just like a
hoe with a curved blade, if you will. You start off with a beam
that's been planed down and then do the hewing. It's done just
the same way you did it 100 years ago."
The process, which creates a dappled look in the rustic
fireplace mantel—as if someone repeatedly dipped at it with an
especially sharp ice cream scoop—is an arduous one. Centuries
ago, a woodsman would stand astride the plank of wood, take a
downwards swipe with the blade, and then walk backwards,
repeating the motion. Today’s process isn’t much different.
"It's a lot of work," Pigott says.
Rustic Fireplace Mantel Materials
The work doesn't stop there. Once the wood is shaped, it has to
be dried in giant kilns—a process Pigott says that can take up
to a month. To help cut down on the drying time, Pigott uses
white pine, because of its porous quality.
"Kiln-dried white pine is softer and dries faster than green
wood or wood that’s been air dried,” Pigott says, adding oak
and cherry woods don’t dry as fast and aren’t suitable for
rustic fireplace mantels. “Anything you build out of wood——will
buck, warp, split or shrink if it's not dried. Even construction
grade lumber is dried to a degree. A lot of people who want a
rustic beam will go out and cut down a tree, saw it up, and put
it on a mantel. But once they burn a fire or two it will buck
and warp."
white pine is used for its affordability. “People that buy
rustic fireplace shelves typically want something cheap,”
Pigott explains. “A full fireplace mantel can cost from $2,000
- $2,500, but a (rustic fireplace mantel) beam sells for $250 -
$1,000.”
About The Author: By a Freelance writer sponsored by
http://www.brick-anew.com/ that
provides fireplace glass doors:
http://www.brick-anew.com/glass-doors/fireplace-glass-doors.html
Brick-Anew has been a providor of fireplace paint & accessories
since 1997.
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