Is the mantle piece solid or is it sided / open in the back? If open, you could put a ledger aginst the drywall into the header/cripples and fasten the mantle to the ledger. If it is solid, i would think the weight will determine if you need more support blocking in the area of the cripples.

Sierraeast

I haven't purchased anything yet. Due to the size of what I see on the other door, I suspect it will be solid. Could you fill in a bit more by what you mean by ledger and blocking? My thoughts are that I would first need to assemble the various pieces of molding to construct one large piece, sort of how some crown moldings are assembled to produce a grander piece. Then if the weight is significant, open the drywall to enable attaching it directly to the side of the cripple studs with a robust attachment to the back of the molding, perhaps a L bracket. Then patch the drywall.

Or what if I recessed L brackets into the top of the mantle to line up with the cripple studs, excavate the drywall just enough to reach the edge of the studs, attach the other wing of the L bracket and patch the ~1 X 4" hole I created. The bracket would be hiden in the recess I dug into the mantle and underneath the drywall. Since the mantle's weight would be pulling more out than down, that sounds like it would support its own weight.

I was wondering how fireplace mantles go on. Are they integral to the wall or is there a retrofit means to attach them.

Hi Jaansu, It sounds by your description that rather than build it/trim it on the ground and then mount it, you might consider building it in place. Without seeing what you are trying to duplicate, i can only guess that part of what is attached will be the mounting. Your "l" bracket idea could work where you simply knotch out enough drywall at the cripples to accept the brackets, then patch over. Any trims at the perimeters would allow you to toe nail or screw the main piece covered by the trims. There are many variables in mantles. Some are topical, some are supported by framing that is around the fireplace, some are installed before drywall, etc. What i meant by ledger is if your main piece was a "box" open at the back, the ledger would be a 1x or a 2x material that the box would slide over and attach to it . the ledger would be fastened to the header/cripples. Blocking would simply be blocks inbetween the cripple studs which means tearing out drtwall and doesn't sound necessary in your case.

Thanks Sierraeast. I guess I will buy the pieces and see what possibilities present themselves. They make some moldings out of super light plastics nowadays. Since it will be out of range of contact, perhaps I can simply nail it in should I be that lucky. I usually overbuild as a philosphy to avoid doing it again. I thank you for sharing your expertise.

Search on "Architrave Molding", and see what you get.
Casey

Are you talking about something like this?

We purchased the pilasters and crosshead from Accent Building Products. It's made from a foam-like product and painted very easily. We screwed straight through the foam into the wall header, countersank the screws, puttied the holes, and painted over them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Accent Building Products

Weedyacres

That is exactly what we have in mind. Exact same style as well except I would like to incorporate a strip of dental molding in the crossmember to match the other doorway.

I guess the Fypon material they sell is the foam-like material you mention? Since you used it as the pilaster which I assume is the column, is the foam robust enough? It would seem to me that foam would easily suffer dents in everyday use, such as when a chair might bump it. Judging by your picture, I suspect you haven't had much chance yet to see damage but does it seem sufficiently dent-resistant to you.

By the way, beautiful style and color selection.

Yes, Fypon's the foam. It's pretty rigid stuff, but would certainly ding if you hit it hard enough. But no more so than a soft wood like pine. And it's easily puttied and painted to repair.

The plinth block at the bottom is actually a harder plastic, not the foam. And that's probably the part more likely to get bumped, by a vacuum or someone's shoe.

It sounds as if this is what I need. It looks like I either need to have a door/passageway that is exactly the length of the crosshead although. My project width isn't the same as their stock width selection. I assume you built yours to match the crosshead available?

Does the finished painted product still resemble wood? I hear some of these molded pieces are so smooth that they are obvious to be artificial as the paint goes on super smooth, resembling plastic.

The doorway was pre-existing, not custom built. I found the widest crosshead that would fit without bumping the upstairs floor (showing a tad in upper RH corner of photo), then picked the pilaster width that would fit. The crosshead can overhang the pilasters, so it doesn't have to be an exact match. For example, I could have bought a crosshead that's 4" wider and pilasters that are each 1" wider, and just have a 1" overhang on either side.

Sorry to horn in on your thread I have a problematic doorway to frame too. I have a transition to make between a room and a narrow hall where right now the doorway is just drywalled.

weedyacres, that is a really nice doorway! IÂm wondering that you used on the part of the door opening that does NOT face the viewer directly. The molding that covers the jamb part? Thanks!

Weedyacres

I just called up Accent products and it turns out they are an internet store - they resell someone else's products. I would like to see if I could buy this at a store rather than paying the $29 shipping. Any chance you recall seeing a manufacturer's name on the crosshead?

Never mind, I see Fypon is the name of the company as well as the trade name of the polyurethane. This seems to be the best choice but the available sizes won't work. I'm going to post another question about cutting and gluing this stuff.

Yes, it is Fypon. jaansu, there are 2 different places on the Accent site that have the crossheads: "door surrounds" and "window crossheads". The latter has smaller ones. How big is your doorway?

lineea: I used MDF on the jamb and wainscoting. If you want to see more photos of the construction, click the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Weedy Acres Remodel

I checked out all the possible crossheads. I need a crosshead that would extend at least 67". There are some just a little short and then the next size would be 19" too long. For the shorties, I could use thiner pillisters but the mouldings would then be out of balance. Neither will give a very nice effect, so I thought the best solution is to cut down the longer one. I see that I can have custom made wood crossheads made from internet sources, but these would run ~$250 at least and really be more suited for fireplaces. Trying to cut down and reglue the Fypon would be the cheapest solution.

I'm impressed by your house renov album. You've given me some ideas for my home.

For those of you interested in authentic all-wood Crossheads visit http://www.overthetopdoortrim.com . They offer fully custom sizes in their online catalog and they are a breeze to install. Foam is great for outside use, but it is no comparison to the real thing and all for about the same cost.

Here is a link that might be useful: Crossheads