INSTALL A FLOATING MANTLE SHELF

In a pinch, you can even make the cuts with a multi-tool or jigsaw, if the boards are securely clamped to a workbench.

When adding any internal cross-members between the end pieces, we recommend driving structural screws through the back rail and down the length of the boards. Apply high-quality wood glue at all joints.

The outer rail doesn’t carry as much load, so it can be glued and screwed through the front rail, completing a ladder-shaped bracket with all board joints flush at the top and bottom.

Installing the Mounting Bracket

First, decide your preferred location and height of the Faux Beam Shelf. Mark its top midpoint exactly where you want it mounted on the wall. Tip: We recommend making pencil marks over masking tape to avoid blemishing the wall.

Use a stud finder to locate and mark the wall studs at the installation area near the top height of the shelf.

Mark the mid-point of the shelf on top of the bracket. Align the bracket’s mid-point 3/4” below the shelf mid-point you marked on the wall. Mark the stud locations on the bracket.

On your workbench, drill pilot holes in the bracket for the mounting screws as close to 90-degrees to the wall as possible. (If your screws have self-starting tips, you can skip the pilot holes.)

Return the bracket to the wall, aligning the midpoint marks, then use a bubble level to make sure it is level to the floor.

Once the bracket is in position, drive 6” cap-head structural screws through its back and into each wall stud it crosses. (The HIR staff uses Construction Screws from U2 Fasteners.) This installation method requires a minimum of two stud connections. Tip: Once you’ve marked the stud locations on your bracket, you might find it easier to start driving the screws while it is on your workbench, then finish driving them into the studs once the bracket is in place against the wall.

Drive the mounting screws tightly to ensure stability of the bracket and to arrest any wobble or movement.

Install the Shelf

Slide the hollow Faux Beam Shelf over the bracket. Center its position, then fasten it by driving trim-head screws through the top board at the very rear of the shelf, sinking them into the back of the interior bracket. Strengthen the installation by driving additional screws into the bracket from the bottom of the beam.

The tiny heads of the trim screws will sit hidden just below the woodgrain surface and blend with the look of a rustic-style shelf.

Straight from the Tree

Although faux-beam shelves offer a lot of advantages to DIY installers, they are limited to a simple box-like appearance, unlike an actual multidimensional wood slab with its live edge intact. Wood lovers know that sometimes you just can’t compete with the unique character of certain pieces that come straight out of nature.

precise alignment so the shelf holes marry with the rod placement like keys in locks.

Installation only gets more complicated as the slabs get larger. As they increase in size, the slabs get substantially heavier, and lifting

Brian Kirkpatrick of Bucket Services

HVAC installed this 6x12 live-edge Black Walnut slab as a floating fireplace mantle. He cut the threaded rods to match the varying depths of the slab. The rods were driven through the brick and mounted into a solid wood header. Wheeled scaffolding supported the heavy mantle as he carefully installed it over the rods.

To install smaller wood slabs 2”-3” thick, you can find ready-made metal brackets which can be fastened to the wall and anchored to the studs. The brackets include metal rods that extend outward at right angles from the wall, and the solid shelf must be drilled through its rear edge so it will slip onto the bracket with the rods inserting into the holes and supporting the shelf from within. Although this sounds simple in concept, the operation requires a high-torque power drill, expensive drill bits, and them into place can require professional equipment. These large slabs are usually supported by 1” threaded rod driven at 90 degrees into the solid wall framing. The slabs are carefully drilled out to receive the threaded rods along the rear edge, in the same way the wall brackets interface with the mantle as described above.

For friendly and reliable HVAC professionals in the central Alabama area, you can find Bucket Services at www.bucketserviceshvac.com.

“TREE RINGS” ON YOUR SHELF ENDS

You may have noticed a circular woodgrain pattern on the ends of our floating shelves. At our carpentry business, Rustic Shelves & Shutters, we modified an orbital sander using a disc out- fitted with protruding screw tips. We clamp a jig over our 3/4” shelf boards, which holds this tool in place as we use it to carve the circular groove pattern. We then cut our shelves’ end panels from the circlegrooved boards. Once stained, the circular pattern helps complete the illusion of tree rings, which gives the shelf a more authentic log-like look. Although DIY’ers probably won’t be modifying a power sander for this application, the pattern can be made with circular shapes and scratching tools to impart a similar effect.