# Wood Shelves/Mantel on Stone Veneer Wall



## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> My question is related to the installation of the new mantel and shelves. After the cement backerboard is put up should I then put in the mantel and shelves, and simply veneer around them. (Current plan)


Yup.


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## TheStoneExpert (Oct 29, 2011)

*Best practice installation for mantel and shelves.*

I would suggest you mount the mantel first and apply the stone around the mantel. Since the stone will take up about two inches of depth on the mantel, you might want to "pad out" the mantel by an inch so you don't lose depth on the mantel when the stone is installed.

The shelves should also be installed first. If the shelves aren't ready when you are ready to install the stone, add a piece of wood to vertically to the location of where the shelves will meet the stone for a nice finished look.


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## Skystrider17 (Oct 30, 2011)

Thanks for the help everybody, I'm going to have everything mounted on backeboard first before applying the stone


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## Msradell (Sep 1, 2011)

You can actually do it either way depending on what kind of look you want. 

Doing it the way you're thinking of doing it is certainly easier to do but also has a couple of disadvantages. Obviously the stones will look more broken up this way because you'll have to piece them in on both sides of each shelf, this probably will also mean you'll have to do a lot more cutting of the stones. The advantage is that attaching the shelves a mantle will be much easier.

Attaching the shelves and mantle afterwards would make the stone wall much more like a real stone wall and would make it much easier to put up the stone. The disadvantage is it would be much harder to attach the shelves and mantle, of course it would also be easier to take them down if you ever wanted to.

If it was my project I would probably attach the mantle first and the shelves afterwards.


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## Skystrider17 (Oct 30, 2011)

TheStoneExpert said:


> I would suggest you mount the mantel first and apply the stone around the mantel. Since the stone will take up about two inches of depth on the mantel, you might want to "pad out" the mantel by an inch so you don't lose depth on the mantel when the stone is installed.
> 
> The shelves should also be installed first. If the shelves aren't ready when you are ready to install the stone, add a piece of wood to vertically to the location of where the shelves will meet the stone for a nice finished look.


Hi Stone Expert,

I've finished putting up the Durock and the mantel is here. Just a quick question about how to "pad out". I was thinking of simply adding a 1x2 on top of the durock, with a sufficiently long enough screw to go into the studs. Then attaching the mantel on to this. Would this be an acceptable method?

Also, I believe I should add wire mesh and then mortar for a scratch coat on top of the durock. How thick is this scratch coat typically? .5" or 1"?


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> Also, I believe I should add wire mesh and then mortar for a scratch coat on top of the durock.


Why would you want all of that additional work and expense when it isn't at all necessary?



> Attaching the shelves and mantle afterwards would make the stone wall much more like a real stone wall and would make it much easier to put up the stone.


Nonsense! I don't know of a stone professional anywhere in the world that wouldn't plan for the mantel and shelves and do what is required to have them firmly anchored to the foundation. No body would try to mount those things to the rough surface of a stone finish. How would you do that? Mantels and shelves are considered a permanent part of the fireplace, you don't normally build such a thing with changing the shelves sometime in the future in mind.


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## jomama45 (Nov 13, 2008)

Skystrider17 said:


> Hi Stone Expert,
> 
> I've finished putting up the Durock and the mantel is here. Just a quick question about how to "pad out". I was thinking of simply adding a 1x2 on top of the durock, with a sufficiently long enough screw to go into the studs. Then attaching the mantel on to this. Would this be an acceptable method?
> 
> ...


IF you decided to lath & scratchcoat, it should be closer to 1/2". You don't necessarily need to though, you should be able to make it stick with a bonding agent added to the mortar. That said, I rarely use backerboard because it doesn't grab near as well as a good rough scratchcoat does, nor does it suck the moisture out of the bedding mud as fast, so heavier stone have a tenancy to slide down the wall.

One more thing about the mantel: Make sure it has it's final coat of sealer/varnish on it before you stone around it. If not, the water in the mortar against it can easily leach into the wood & stain it.


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