Guides for Installing Marble Mental Surround

If you just want to update your sitting room, if you just want to upgrade your fireplace but replace them all, install a would be a great option, especially for the mental, which is quite popular in the fireplace world. And if you would like to do the job by yourself, the following guides would benefit you!
The first step is to uncrate and unpack the mantel. Each is inspected and carefully packaged before it is shipped from our warehouse. However, sometimes during shipment a mantel may be damaged by the freight carrier, therefore it must be inspected at the time of receipt from the freight carrier. Please report any concealed damage to the freight carrier immediately. Mantels Direct is not responsible for freight damage but will be happy to assist you in your claim with the carrier. Please inform Mantels Direct of all damaged parts so that we can send replacement parts or complete a new mantel. Each crate contains all mantel components. (In some cases, inside leg return pieces may be shipped separately.)

Lay out each component near the installation location in its appropriate position as shown (see Fig 1). Make sure the surface of the fireplace hearth extension and the face of the fireplace is clean and smooth. Each mantel is fully assembled using plaster to insure a proper fit at the factory. The mantel may have some plaster on adjoining edges left over from the final quality inspection. This plaster must be removed prior to assembling and installing the mantel.

The second step is to plan your installation and measuring the inside leg return depth. Before you start to assemble your mantel, you need to plan the layout of the mantel and calculate the inside leg return depth. Each mantel leg is made up of three sides. An inside wall called the inside return, the outside called the outside return and the leg front. On some mantels, the leg front is made up of two parts and on others there is only one part (See Fig 1).

To properly install your mantel, you will need to cut the right, left and top inside returns to the proper width to fit your installation. The term "return" refers to the part of the leg that seals the front face of the leg to the wall. The return depth is the width of the inside wall of each leg. This width can vary depending on the thickness of the marble or brick or tile on the face of your fireplace (See Fig 2). Your return depth depends on your facing thickness. The return depth for a flush installation (where the facing material is flush with the wall) for each mantel is as follows:

Subtract the thickness of the facing material (brick or marble) from the return depth shown above to determine the width of each inside return piece.

For example: If you were installing a Louis XIV mantel over a fireplace with a 3/4" marble on the face, you should cut your returns 6 3/4" (mantel return depth) minus 3/4" (marble facing thickness) or 6" (See Fig 3). All three parts of the return should be cut 6" wide. Two side returns and a top return. (If the facing material was 4" thick brick, then each inside return part should be cut 6 3/4" minus 4 or 2 3/4" wide.)

The third step is to assemble legs and inside returns. Measure the width of the mantel opening. It should be 42", unless you have a Louis XIV-S, which is 36", or a Louis XIV-L, which is 48" wide. Find the center point of the fireplace opening and measure out 21" in each direction. Mark the hearth with a pencil 21" from each side of the opening. DO NOT mark the hearth with ink. Ink or marker will stain the hearth. Make a line perpendicular to the wall about 6" long. This is the location of the inside of the inside return (See Fig 4).

Set the left inside return, the left inside front leg, the left leg and the outside leg return on the hearth. Add marble glue to the joining edges and assemble as shown in Figure 5. NEVER USE A PETROLEUM BASED GLUE! THIS WILL CAUSE PERMANENT STAINING OF THE MARBLE. Start by gluing the inside front leg to the leg. Then glue the outside leg return to the leg. Then glue the inside return to the inside front leg. Make sure that all pieces remain perpendicular to each other. Check to make sure that the leg pieces are assembled as shown in Fig 5 and that the inside return is parallel with the line drawn on the hearth representing the mantel opening as shown in Fig 4.

Repeat Step 3 and assemble the right leg of the mantel. Make sure the glue is dry before leaving the assembly unattended. It will take about 10 minutes for the glue to dry. After completing the right and left leg assemblies, install the top inside return in the position shown in Fig 3. Apply marble glue to the top of each inside return. Push into position making sure that the back edge of the top inside return is tight against the facing material of the fireplace.

More steps, we will introduce in the next article in our website , hope these information would be useful for you!