Non factory heat shield for mantel

[diceymatters]

I just put in an order for an Avalon Ranier 45 insert and I'm going to need a heat shield for the mantle but want to avoid the need to use the surround panels. The guy at the shop said I could go to a sheet metal fabrication place and have a custom shield created that would be more attractive and doesn't require use of surround panels. I've searched this site for pics of this kind of thing but didn't find much. (though I love this site!)

I'm trying to visualize how a custom shield would be attached to the face of the fireplace (or mantle) so if anyone has any pics of this sort of thing, I'd appreciate seeing what you've got. Thanks!

 

[summit]

some one has a metal break and can make one. put up some pics and measurements of what you need done. we do that kinda stuff all the time, its not too terribly difficult, just gotta have a metal break and the know how. If you can't find anyone, shoot me a pm. we ship out stuff all the time, could probably make something up 4 u.

 

[Dune]

I was at a freinds house the other day, checking out his new stove install. He had a mason do it and it came out nice. I commented about his wood mantle and he said he ordered a sheild. I told him it might be a good idea to change the wood mantle for a stone one, perhaps bluestone.

 

[begreen]

Another alternative would be to attach a simple, custom, heat shield on spacers on the underside of the mantel. Sometimes that is more discrete and attractive.

 

[diceymatters]

Thanks everyone. It did occur to me to redo the mantle in some kind non combustible but in the spirit of laziness and not spending much (plus the existing mantle really works for the space) I'm not going to touch it.

BeGreen- what do you mean by spacers? My mantle is only 6 inches on the top, but less on the underside because the face of the fireplace comes forward (in two brick steps) a total of 3 inches, and then there are two pieces of molding - a small cove piece and then another piece... so there isn't much horizontal space under the mantle to attach anything... but I think this is the way to go.

Pryo Extraordinaire- do you have any pics of these things? Tomorrow I'll PM you with a pic or two of my mantle.

 

[begreen]

Post the pictures here in the forum. It will be easier to give specific directions if this is a working solution.

Here an older thread on this same topic:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/47301/#520496

 

[ddddddden]

For an example, take a look at the Meeco Mantel Protector. ($40 @ Northern Tool.) It attaches to the underside of the mantel.

 

[diceymatters]

That other thread from Dec 09 has some great info, and now I understand much better what needs to be done.

As for design... given the placement of the combustible molding under my mantle it seems the shield in my case should be positioned so that an edge is under the top row of bricks. In the picture, the bottom piece of molding is positioned 0.25 inches above the bottom of the last course of bricks.

So I'm imagining a custom shield that is attached to the underside of the mantle and has two bends in it so that it has a profile like this:

__/
/
_/

Thoughts?

 

[diceymatters]

On second thought, maybe it should only have one bend, and then go up at 45 degrees like this:

/
/
_/

but I'm not sure how this shape would be attached? Maybe screwed into the underside of the top course of bricks, with spacers? Do I risk chipping if I drill near the edge of bricks?

Or perhaps the shield should have a vertical seciton so I could screw it into the face of the bricks:


/
/
_/
|


Thanks!

 

[branchburner]

Rube Goldberg did mine by drilling three small 45deg holes about halfway up to the mantle (in the mortar, not the brick) and inserting three finishing nails, on which I rest a thin piece of sheet metal (6' x 36"). The setup is not exactly attractive, but it can easily be removed anytime the stove is not in use. My mantle only extends a few inches, making this 6" piece very effective, but not sure if it's code compliant.

 

[begreen]

dicey, you have the right idea, but after looking at the picture it might be easier to attach a simple, angled shield to the underside of the lintel.

 

[tickbitty]

dicey, you have the right idea, but after looking at the picture it might be easier to attach a simple, angled shield to the underside of the lintel.

I bought one of the "homesaver" shields with the intention of installing it up at the top of the surround, but then decided not to use the surround, so I did what Begreen says here - had the sheet steel mantel shield (with about a 45 degree angle bend about 3" in from one side) cut down to fit inside my fireplace opening, (cut down by a local metal shop for $10) and then I got two strong, donut shaped metal-jacketed magnets from the hardware store. Attached the magnets to the underside of the iron lintel, and put bolts through the middle of the donuts to come down through small holes in the shield. If I could have found magnets that were not jacketed, I wouldn't have to have any holes in anything and it would all hold with the magnets, but I just went with what was easy. It's removable with the bolts or with the magnets.

 

[diceymatters]

Tickbitty / BeGreen, this bud's for you! I like the simplicity of branchburner's solution but in the spirit of maintaining bourgeois respectability I think I'll attach to the lintel.

It turns out, after taking down the fireplace screen, there are a couple brackets / clips around the lintel that had held the screen - it seems I can use these to screw in the shield, so I won't even need to drill holes in the lintel or use magnets.

Tomorrow I'll venture out to the sheet metal place with dimensions and I think all will be well.

I very much appreciate the help.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

If all the parts on that chimney that 'stick out' are wood trim, then what I'd do is to get some inexpensive aluminum flashing and screw it to the underside of the lowest piece of wood. Are those lower two bands wood or masonry? Anyway, screw it to the underside of the lowest piece of wood trim. All you need are a few sheet metal screws.

The flashing comes in rolls. I got mine at Home Depot. I think it's mainly used as roof flashing. One size is 14 inches wide by 10ft long. It's factory painted brown one side, white the other side. Cut it to the length you want. The stuff is real light gage. You can easily cut it with tin snips or even an old pair of scissors. I'd recommend making it 'wide', something like 4-5ft. Make a single bend, say 4 to 6in out, and angle it out slightly off of vertical, up to 45 degrees or so. Whatever looks best to you. If you don't like the color, you can spray paint it with any enamel paint. You don't need high temperature stove paint here.

If you want to get fancy, you could suspend it off of 1in spacers. Personally, I'd just screw it up flush with the wood trim and not worry about it.

Here's the one I did. With my free standing stove, the problem was the single wall stove pipe passing under the mantle. I went 'extra wide', just to be sure. This shield was very effective.

Mantle Heat Shield

If you do a search, there are a bunch of threads in this forum about mantle heat shields. I've seen tons of good ideas about how to do this. Here are a couple:

Is my mantle getting too hot?
Mantel shields - anyone know the regulations?

 

[Jambx]

dicey, you have the right idea, but after looking at the picture it might be easier to attach a simple, angled shield to the underside of the lintel.

I bought one of the "homesaver" shields with the intention of installing it up at the top of the surround, but then decided not to use the surround, so I did what Begreen says here - had the sheet steel mantel shield (with about a 45 degree angle bend about 3" in from one side) cut down to fit inside my fireplace opening, (cut down by a local metal shop for $10) and then I got two strong, donut shaped metal-jacketed magnets from the hardware store. Attached the magnets to the underside of the iron lintel, and put bolts through the middle of the donuts to come down through small holes in the shield. If I could have found magnets that were not jacketed, I wouldn't have to have any holes in anything and it would all hold with the magnets, but I just went with what was easy. It's removable with the bolts or with the magnets.

Yes an old thread however I have a quick simple question since this suggestion is such a good idea.

Looking at my lintel / fireplace opening area the magnet idea would save me a lot of work and it would easily be removable during the off season. I am leery about how the magnets would react to the heat.

Could heavy duty magnets effectively attatch a heat shield to the underside of the lintel?

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Yes, if the lintel is made of steel, this should work fine. But you could attach (glue?) a thin strip of steel to wooden lintels permanently, as well, then glue magnets to steel or aluminum baffle material, such as the roof flashing I have used. I think some permanent magnets can lose their magnetism if heated really hot- maybe permanently. I doubt that would happen in most cases, however. Try it and let us know how it worked out.

BTW for the ultimate magnet, get yourself a couple salvaged from computer hard drives. Those are really powerful, but the round ones are pretty OK. Go with the thin, aluminum roof flashing, and you've very little weight to support with those magnets. Good Luck!