Unusual mantel - Need some advice on finishing it (See Pics)

tas10000

I have an irregular and deep (16") mantel that was drywall on wood frame. I recently trimmed it with moulding and painted (see pics).

Unfortunately the top is now uneven where the angled pieces are joined and looks shabby. Would you suggest a way to place a thin piece of a single sheet on top to finish? I was thinking of cutting a piece of plywood, then trimming the edges with docorative moulding.

Thank you...

Tom

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mae-ling

Your idea would work ok.
Also you cold Spackle or putty and sand.

joecaption

Really never should have been drywall on the top of it. Now anything that gets moved acrossed it or sat on it can stain it.
3/4" A/C plywood would have been much better.

tas10000

thanks for reply...actually the drywall was the original surface before i put the wood top on it.

joecaption

If it's plywood now then all your missing is a bead of caulking and some more paint to cover it.

rjniles

That thing is ugly as sin. Tear it off and do something with some style.

JMO

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woodworkbykirk

i wouldnt say its ugly its just a simple design, the flaw it has is that its out way too far off the wall to not have legs.. i would either add legs to it or reduce the projection off the wall to 6 or 8". by having it that far off the wall its more likely to pull away over time and its too overpowering for the fireplace itself.

heres a mantle i built 2 weeks ago to give you an idea of proportion

dont get me started on the shelves though... they were sorta a afterthought by the homeowner.. its what they wanted. but money was running out at the end a very extensive remodel

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mae-ling

Wow nice mantle and surround then cheap shelves=Bad, but I understand about the customers choice.

SPS-1

So the top surface is wood? You may want to look at putting some Formica laminate on the top surface. Contact cement to hold it in place. Your big box store will have a dozen or so styles in stock, but the available variety is much larger. It comes in different gloss levels too. Formica will be happy to send a sample piece of the style/gloss/thickness you are thinking of (but some suppliers hate doing special orders and will try to convince you to use what is on their shelf).

mae-ling

If you look close you can see a faint joint line, I thik the original was drywall, then extended with wood.
1/4" or 1/2" or3/4" or whatever and a moulding around the edge could be done and look very nice.

woodworkbykirk

yah for those shelves i wanted to build pre assembled mdf boxes that would slide into the sides by the mantle then run a small piece of trim to hide the gap between the box and plaster.. or atleast make a face trim on the shelves to make it look a little heftier and to hide the cleats

mae-ling

That would have looked sweet. Oh wewll sometimes you have to do what the customer is willing to pay for.
I used to say - "We can do anything you can afford."