When Carter was visiting,
he asked if Christmas stockings
would be hung on bolts and nails again this year.
It was a reminder to us to get it in gear!
The stone masons had put in bolts during construction
and there's been a flat strip waiting for a mantel
to slide into it for waaaaay to long.
Rich scoping out the work to come. (Mantel laying on the hearth) |
We'd had a near impossible time finding the piece of wood for the inside mantel.
I was hoping to find something other than oak,
and didn't want it to be rustic.
But just try to find a piece of wood that's 8' long plus deep and thick!
Pretty much the only choices are salvaged barn beams
which would look great in a cabin,
but weren't what I wanted.
Our GC, Tom came to the rescue
when we poked through the piles of old wood stored in the upper floor
of his 100+ year old barn loft.
We found a perfect piece of old walnut hiding up there!
Once it was cut to shape and drilled for the bolts,
we brought out the beauty of the wood
with some sanding plus 5 thin coats of Waterlox Finish.
We've finally got a mantel that was more than worth the wait and the procrastination.
I wanted it to be just a touch darker than the oak trim
and it worked out perfectly.
There's NO stain on the wood.
The antique walnut is naturally that dark.
The Waterlox brings out the grain
without giving wood the "plastic" look of polyurethane.
Framed poster from college days! |
Another thing off the punch list!