Bored with your existing fireplace? Here is a step by step tutorial that can give a spin to your existing fireplace. You would need a couple of power tools such as brad nailer, circular saw, orbital sander, drill, belt sander, etc. and materials like wood filler, wood dye, polyurethane, wood glue and much more. If you want to learn how to make a rustic mantel here are the steps.
Cutting the Wood Is Essential
For achieving the optical illusion of single wood piece, it is essential that the cuts on the three sides of a wooden bit should be at an angle of 45 degrees along the complete wooden piece length. The backside of the mantel should be open and flat.
Assemble and Glue the Beam
With the help of the brad nailer and wooden glue, it is essential to attach front board right to top. The next step is connecting the sides. The part facing the wall is entirely flat whereas three sides have cuts at angles.
Distress and Age Wooden Beam
To achieve the vintage and aged finish, you need to apply the wood dye along seems. Then you need to fill up nail holes and apply the wood dye everywhere. This would give the mantle the rugged, rustic look.
Use Sander for More Detail and Depth
With the help of oscillating and belt sanders, you can make dents on edges and corners for creating more depth and detail. With the help of course and medium-grit sandpaper you can create a smooth surface.
Stain and Then Apply the Paint Treatment
Once you achieve the distressed look, you need to stain the mantel with wood dye. For the crevices and corners, you can apply the acrylics paint and blend the different brown shades.
Final Step
After using the paint, you need to mark the corbel location and cut board for the bottom of the mantel beam and create faux brick corbels. You need to attach corbels to the baseboard and attach it to the mantel. Finally, create a support beam for your ‘floating shelf’ mantel and mount it.
Going through the above steps would give you a fair idea on how to make a rustic mantel.