Choosing a Mantel and Surround to Match Your Room

A mantel is the one part of a fireplace you choose with your eyes, and the one part the building code and the appliance manual have opinions about. The way to get both right is to settle three things in order: how far the mantel has to sit from the fire, what it should be made of, and only then what it should look like. This is the order we use in the showroom, and it is why the mantel conversation starts with a tape measure rather than a catalog.

Start with the clearance, not the style

For a masonry fireplace the residential code keeps woodwork and other combustible material at least 6 inches from the opening, and anything combustible within 12 inches of the opening may project no more than 1/8 inch for each inch it sits from the fire. In practice that rule is what pushes a wood shelf up the wall. Within a foot of the opening only a sliver of trim is allowed, so any wood shelf deeper than an inch and a half has to start at least 12 inches above the opening. A factory-built or direct-vent gas fireplace has its own clearance table in the manual, and the manual governs. Some units allow a mantel a few inches lower than the masonry rule, some demand more, and the number changes with the depth of the shelf.

Non-combustible mantels change the arithmetic. Cast stone from Omega Mantels, the concrete beams Magra Hearth casts from old barn timber (tested non-combustible to ASTM E136 by the maker), Lexington Hearth’s Burncrete pieces and Stoll’s steel shelves can all sit closer to the opening than wood. That is why a television can hang lower over one of them. Each maker publishes its own clearance rule and we install to it. If you want a real wood beam, we will tell you where it has to go before you fall in love with it.

Match the proportion of the wall, then the opening

Most mantels that look wrong are the wrong size, not the wrong style. Three rules of thumb hold up in almost every room:

• Width. A shelf that runs 6 to 12 inches past each side of the firebox reads as a frame; one that runs much wider starts to read as a wall unit and needs something to stop against, like a bookcase or a window.
• Height. On an 8-foot ceiling the shelf usually lands between 48 and 60 inches; on a taller wall it can climb, but the clearance rule already sets the floor, so the question is how far above that floor the room can carry it.
• Depth. A deep shelf (7 to 9 inches) suits a heavy surround or a beam; a shallow one (4 to 6 inches) suits a linear gas fireplace and a flat wall. The deeper the shelf, the higher the manual usually puts it.

Bring the room into it: a linear gas unit with a 42- or 54-inch opening wants a long, shallow, low-profile shelf or a picture-frame surround rather than a Colonial mantel with legs; an arched masonry opening wants legs, a header and a shelf. When we measure at the in-home visit we photograph the wall and mark the opening so you can see the candidates at their real size.

Material: what each one is for

We carry four mantel makers because each does one thing best, and a stone maker for the wall around them.

• Cast stone (Omega Mantels). The classic mantel and surround, made to your opening, in a range of standard colors and textures. A mantel weighs 200 to 400 pounds, so it is a two-person install on anchors in the studs or the masonry, and it arrives in pieces that are seamed on site.
• Concrete with a wood look (Magra Hearth). Beam and plank shelves cast from real barn timber, in barn-wood and stone colors, with post-and-beam surrounds, hearth boards and wall boards to match. The look of a reclaimed beam with a maker’s clearance rule you can rely on.
• Burncrete beams (Lexington Hearth). Rustic beams — Rickhouse, Hayloft and the like — over stacked stone or a linear fireplace, in a material that does not burn.
• Steel (Stoll). Shelves and panel systems that clad the wall without demolition, for modern rooms and for a television that needs to sit low.
• Stone and brick veneer (Eldorado Stone). The wall itself, quoted per project with the mantel so the two are designed together.

Every piece on the mantels and surrounds page opens to the maker’s specification, and the samples are in the showroom so you can hold a color against your floor and your paint.

Style: let the room decide, not the fireplace

A mantel is furniture. The test is whether it would look right in the room with the fire out. A few pairings that work again and again in the western suburbs:

• A 1920s brick house in Downers Grove or Hinsdale: a cast stone surround with simple legs and a modest shelf, or a plain wood shelf on corbels if the clearance allows it.
• A 1960s ranch or split-level: a single beam — concrete or Burncrete — over a stone or brick face, nothing else.
• A new-build great room with a linear gas fireplace: a picture-frame surround or a shallow steel shelf, with the wall finished in large-format tile or veneer.
• A basement family room: a low, wide shelf that doubles as a ledge, in a color that matches the built-ins.

Paint and stain are the last decision, and the cheapest one to change. Choose the material and the proportion first.

The hearth belongs in the same drawing

The code that sets the mantel clearance also sets the hearth. For a masonry fireplace opening under 6 square feet the hearth extension runs at least 16 inches in front of the opening and 8 inches past each side; at 6 square feet or more it grows to 20 and 12 inches. A hearth board from Magra Hearth or an Omega seamless hearth solves it for a stove or a fireplace that never had one. Design the mantel, the surround and the hearth as one piece and the wall looks intended.

Questions we hear in the showroom

Can I put a wood mantel over a gas fireplace?

Usually, at the height the manual sets — which is often higher than people expect. The clearance table in the manual is written for the depth of the mantel; a 6-inch shelf and a 10-inch shelf have different minimum heights. Bring the model number and we will read it with you, or choose a non-combustible mantel and hang it lower.

How high should a mantel be?

High enough to clear the fire by the code or the manual, and then as high as the room’s proportion wants. On an 8-foot ceiling most shelves land between 48 and 60 inches; the clearance rule sets the floor and the depth of the shelf moves it up.

Can you match a mantel I already have?

Often. Omega casts to a drawing, Magra Hearth makes custom colors on request, and for corners, curved walls and matches to existing stone we work with a custom shop. Bring a photo and a measurement to the showroom.

Do you install what you sell?

Yes. We measure, order and install, and the same crew comes back if anything needs attention. The heavy pieces are two-person installs on anchors we set ourselves.

Start with a measurement

Bring a photo of the wall and the width and height of the opening to the showroom at 1202-B 75th Street in Downers Grove, or book a free in-home estimate and we will measure it for you. The mantels and surrounds page has every piece we carry, by maker and by style.

Sources

• International Residential Code, Chapter 10 (Chimneys and Fireplaces): fireplace clearance to combustibles and hearth extensions — codes.iccsafe.org.
• Magra Hearth: non-combustible rating (ASTM E136) and mounting instructions — magrahearth.com.
• Omega Mantels: materials, finishes and lead times — omegamantels.com.