How do look after my fireplace timber mantel

Taking care of your Wooden fire surround is really quite a simple matter. For starters, it’s not ideal to let your wooden fireplace become wet in any way and try to avoid sitting hot cups on the mantel shelf to avoid the white ring effect.

Pine surrounds are made from solid pine timber, which is classed as a soft wood. They are stained with our own hand-mixed water-based stain made from Van-Dyke crystals. We apply 1–2 coats of stain depending on the colour we wish to achieve. We then leave to dry and add a hand-waxed finish using a Morrells wax to get the look we want.

For the upkeep of your pine surround, you should only need to lightly wire-wool surface using 0000 grade, then reapply a coat of wax and buff to the sheen you require. This should be done once a year or more often. If required. Over the years, the surroundings will build up a patina which will look more and more like antique pine. This is the true finish of pine and looks great.

For our solid oak surrounds, such as the oak Stourhead, it’s finished with an oiled finish such as finishing oil or Tung oil. This is 2–3 coats of this oil are applied prior to delivery of these surrounds and are quite water-resistant. You should re-oil the surrounds every year using good-quality oil and apply it with a clean cloth and work the oil onto the surface of the wooden surround, remove any excess after 10 minutes and then let the oil soak into the timber once it’s dried. That’s all that has to be done. It and it’s ready to be refitted.

For all of our fireplace surrounds, if you do have water stains or heat marks, the surface needs to be re-sanded and stain coats applied before waxing or oiling. Please contact us for further advice on what you need to do and what to use, as we can supply any stains or oils you require.