Fireplace Mantle

Our fireplace mantle was a questionable piece. On one hand it was functional and had plenty of space to put stuff. On the other hand it seemed out of place in our style of house. Although our style of house is different anyway (Spanish Art Deco). But the mantle was an oak slab with crown molding, no where else in our house is there any crown molding.

Many Spanish style houses do not have a mantle per se and they are finished in plaster.  Plus our mantel was really really long, like 10' long. It was in your face and it just looked odd.  The plan was to take off the mantel and refinish the top for a smooth plaster look.

Overall it was a really easy project but time consuming because of the need to use four layers of compound mud and get it smooth. Not to mention I just didn't have much motivation to complete it.

Upon removing the mantel I realized I had more work to do than expected. After working on this house the last four years I don't know what I was really thinking. As with any old house you ALWAYS have more work than you expected. The right side was completely open and it would not be as simple as smoothing out the existing plaster with a thin coat. I went to home depot and had to get metal lathe to cover the opening enough so that the compound could stick.

Four layers and a month and a half later it is finally completed!!