Beautiful Strong Patina White Oak Mantel (Sheer Wools)

Additional information

Weight 107 lbs
Dimensions 60.5 × 6 × 9.5 in
Wood:

Texture:

Color:

Mantel Type

Size Category:     

,

Price:

$500.00

Out of stock

Product Description

–SOLD TO SERGIO From Milwaukee, WI 9/28/2017–
–Please do not add to your cart —

This fireplace mantel beam has a wonderful bunch of features. It has as stunning warm, saddle brown color accented with dark streaks and nail holes. It also has a great size. The beam was originally an approximately 10×10 beam. We cut it down to a 6×10 to remove some rot, but revealed this great streaked character. We cheated a little and applied ammonia to the top to naturally darken it. The great effect is that this treatment warmed up the color, but still left the darker streaks and gain patterns. The front face sports some nice original nail holes and a few cracks. If you look closely, you can see where the the ghosts of the original circle saw that cut these timbers 100 years ago. Back in the day, they would bring portable sawmills, like the one in the ad, on-site to cut the required lumber. You can see the big saw blade that left its mark on this old beam.

sawmill-sm

The bottom is an original face very similar to the top, but it hosts some more color variation. On the ends, you can see the super tight grain patterns of the slow growth, Northern white oak.

White oak is naturally a wheatish-tan color. However, when the wood sits in a barn environment, it can darken up to nearly a dark roast coffee brown. The dark coloring saturates into the surface and cracks of the wood. This is the real deal — 100 year old barn beams with no modern distressing here.

This mantel beam came from a early 1900s vintage barn near Cologne, Minnesota, about 40 miles SW of Minneapolis downtown. This is the beginning of farm country. The soil here is rich and black and runs black as deep as three feet. If you are familiar with the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, this area was known as the edge of the Big Woods. As a bit of trivia, the barn was owned by the brother-in-law of Carol Molnau, the Lt. Governer of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. He recalls when President Reagan visited Minnesota and the Molnau farm. There were secret service snipers perched on the silo.

There’s a couple of pictures of the actual barn being dismantled. This beam probably came from the basement and was as icky and gooey as it looks. It is amazing what great wood can be hidden underneath all of that goo. Farmers regularly “white washed” their milking parlors with lime to keep the environment sanitary.

This beam is priced at $100/LF. 5ft = $500. We can cut this one down for no cost, but the total price is the same. It really is an exceptionally nice piece. Shipping will run $65 via FedEx Gnd. If you’d like it cut down, please contact us at antiqueww@gmail.com or call 888-226-5370.

The newspaper tag is from the the 1930s vintage newspaper that had been used as insulation in a house. They not only used newspaper for insulation, but there was a actually a company that manufactured a product where about a 1/4in of newspaper was sewn together with a Kraft paper backer.

More Mantel Inventory

You can shop some available mantel beams and thinner mantel shelves on this website. 

However, our website here only contains a small number of all of the mantels that we have in stock.
We are literally a mom-and-pop shop that does lots of custom work. We often just don’t quite find enough time to update this website regularly.
We have nearly 150 finished mantels and another 500 or so unfinished pieces in stock at any time that can be viewed with other links. 

We also do lots of custom work. If we understand what you are seeking, we can find and create that magic piece.

Please contact us for a full list and personal recommendations. We’re happy to chat and find a great piece for you.

We work with a great local blacksmith to add metal straps and other ornamentation to our mantels. He is the real deal — coal forged and hand hammered. The metalwork has great color and tight fit. Nothing machined. We can start with a finished mantel you find on our site, or we can start with raw stock for more options.

Here are a few examples of the hundreds that we have crafted over the years. We can work together to create something unique. You can also browse our Mantels with Metalwork page.

Mantel with metal rings  Fireplace Mantel with Metal Cross 

In most cases, no special and expensive brackets are required — just some lag screws. The different approaches outlined are very strong, simple, and economical. Take a look at our mantel installation tips.

Contact us via email at antiqueww@gmail.com or call 612-281-9330.