In my opinion, nothing looks better than a barn beam mantel over your fire place. The hand hewn beams have lots of character and give off a warm feel.
Hand Hewn: "hewing" is the process of converting a log from its rounded natural form into lumber (timber) with more or less flat surfaces using primarily an axe. Cleaning up a beam is simple! All you need is a wire brush and an orbital sander. You can either stain the beam or add a protective clear coat.
Mounting a heavy barn beam mantel can be a challenge so make sure you have a clear game plan before deciding to nail one of these to one of your walls. The most common way to install a beam is to hollow out the back and screw it to a mounting bar/plate that is already secured into your stud wall. See below:
Step #1 - Install your mounting plate to the wall.
Step #2 - Hollow out the back of your beam. Apply PL Premium (our favorite) to the mounting plate and inside the beam.
Step #3 - Screw the mantel at the back to the mounting plate that is on the wall. Both the screws and adhesive will make sure that this beam isn't going anywhere.
Click below on a few examples of some really nice barn beam mantels. Here at Stairhaus, we stock beams anywhere from 6x6 all the way up to 12x12. The most popular mantel size seems to be anywhere around 7x7 to 9x9. We can cut them to any length and you can pick out what beam you want to mount on your wall!
Take a look at the gallery below and be prepared to want one of these over your fireplace! It's time to replace that cheap mdf builders grade mantel!
