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I recently built my home with a large river rock stone masonry (Swedish)fireplace in the center of our living room. To tie this into the Douglas Fir beams of the house visually, I made a mantel out of half of a cedar log that I carefully peeled, then planed the top surface flat and squared and chamfered the ends. The organic look of the underside matches the rounded stones of the fireplace well, and the squared off nature of the top and ends makes it fit in with the squared off posts and beams nicely, too.
To it looks very nice, it is, as yet, without a finish. I’ve been holding off because mostly I wanted the mantelpiece to stabilize in moisture content, and establish the inevitable cracks where it may before I finished it off. Also, I did not know how warm the mantelpiece would get until after a season of running the fireplace. It turns out that it gets fairly warm, but not hot, to the touch after a few days of heating.
My question is: what finish would one use in this situation where the piece (mantel) gets fairly warm for extended periods over a fireplace? And my druthers on the performance of the finish are threefold:
1) That it not darken the cedar too much (if any), and
2) That it somehow provides some sealing qualities to the wood so that it can be cleaned up with warm water and mild soap (dusting, and some smoke), and
3) That the finish not get gummy, or sticky from being warmed up by the fireplace operation.
An oil finish I am afraid would get gummy, as would a varnish (over several days of being warm). How do polyurethanes hold up in this situation? Water based, or oil based?
Does anyone have any experience or insight into this sort of situation?
Thank you in advance for your help.
– David
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D, I'm not sure what to use, I've used tung oil on a mantel but it would darken the cedar. I'd like to see some pictures of your work posted in the gallery, though....
Mike
*David,FWIW, many homes built in northern Michigan not only have half log mantels, but stair treads as well. What was used then was spar varnish. My recomemdation would be that or a urethane. I stay away from water base finishes.Dano
*Dano,Thanks for your comments. I am leaning towards a urethane; I know that you can set a warm pan or dish on it without too much worry (witness the finish of cafe dining tables in rustic locales), but I'm not sure how it does in sustained hot situations, and I just wondered if anyone had any real-world experiences (besides the mfg specs on the side of the can...) Tks!- David
*David,No problem. The log vacation home that I grew up in, winters and summer, had a slab cedar mantle, place is still standing last time I was there, hadn't had any problems during the time my folks owned it, was built in September, 1945.As long as the brick or stone mason is competent, there really shouldn't be any heat issues. Most of the heat goes up the chimney and the heat vents. The varnish on a wooden boat sees more heat from the sun than a varnished mantle piece.I have yet to have any complaints from any clients on the mantle pieces that I have done over the years. Never have done a half log cedar one though.Dano
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