How High Should A Mantle Be
How high should a mantle be? The ideal height of a mantle is 54″ above the hearth floor and can vary depending on the depth of your fireplace and your intended usage for the space.
Before explaining more about why that number gives you a starting point only, let’s go over some things you should know first about fireplaces.
We found this great article from Gulliver’s when researching fireplaces that explains better than many other articles for us how the fireplace works and what is essential to consider before building it or, in our case, designing one.
The minimum clearance is based on the depth of your fireplace. Here are the standard height requirements for household fireplaces:
How High Should A Mantle Be
In addition to the mantle ‘s height, it must overhang a minimum of 3 inches beyond the face of the fireplace.
This means that if your fireplace is fully inset into the wall, your mantel will be an additional 3 inches deep.
Thus blocking any potential sparks jumping out of the fireplace and absorbing the bulk of heat rising through the fireplace.
If your fireplace protrudes from the wall, you’ll need to add this same amount of depth to your mantle.
So it overhangs by at least three more inches beyond where the fireplace sits with enough room for heat to rise when in use.
What is the Ideal Length of Mantle?
For safety purposes, the front of the mantle and hearth should be at least 6 inches from anything that can unexpectedly burst into flames.
If you wish to have a raised place (which means you need a neutral height between the floor and the bottom of the fireplace itself), you must make sure this is in proportion.
Again with safety considerations in mind – it is easier for debris to fall onto the floor if there is an unbalanced height between the two.
This way, your fireplace won’t look “off” no matter where you stand about it (or its location relative to your wall).
How Thick Your Mantle should be?
Here is an example of a material that will not burn: oxygen. Here’s where fire safety may seem counterintuitive. If you’re using thinner materials to make the mantle, such as wood planks, it only needs to be 3 inches thick.
But if you’re using some more dense material, like decorative logs, it needs to be 7 inches wide. This is because the thinner materials will lose heat faster.
In contrast, the thicker material will absorb and retain the heat to not reignite quickly upon contact with oxygen when the logs are packed away in storage after Christmas.
What Should Your Mantle Be Made Of?
Remember, your mantle’s meant to absorb heat rising out of the fireplace to not overheat the wall above it. As a rule, then, you should make sure your mantle is made from fireproof materials like concrete, stone or glass.
When you’re repairing or painting your mantle, be careful not to use any flammable materials.
Using the Space Above Your Mantle
Your fireplace and mantle will take up a large portion of your wall. Fortunately, however, you have some clearance above the mantle to hang something else.
Your ceiling usually averages 9 feet high, so if your mantle is 4.5-6 feet tall—and most normally are—you’ll have 3-3.5 spaces between it and the ceiling area, allowing you to place pictures of loved ones, decorations or a bookshelf there to store items such as photos, collectibles, or records among many other things.
If you’ve hung your TV at an angle on the wall, this should be out of harm. Your TV will likely be 6 to 12 inches away from your fireplace mantle.
As long as it’s not too hot, that makes it safe from damage while hanging on the wall. The TV shouldn’t exceed 100 degrees above the mantle, which might damage it.
But as long as you sit at the right angle with your chair or couch when watching TV, everything should be fine. Just remember to tilt the television downward so that you can see everything.
Of course, you may not want to have the TV or other decorations come right up to the ceiling, especially if you have crown molding.
It looks best to leave at least 3 inches of clearance between anything hung on the wall and the top of your mantle. If you are hanging a TV in your den, this means it’s best to consider getting one that measures 27 inches tall.
It doesn’t matter if the TV’s width extends over the three-foot projection of your fireplace mantle because, for this reason, you can mount a widescreen model in front of it without issue!
Conclusion
How high should a mantle be. Many people get wrong when it comes to making an effective mantle for the fireplace that genuinely complements the existing decorations in the room. That is because there are many things one needs to consider first before purchasing any materials.
First of all, one should make sure the mantle will fit the fireplace’s proportional requirements and has enough width, height, and length that won’t let it look out of place with decorations in the room. Don’t forget to ask a housing officer about regulations regarding mantles as some don’t allow any gas-related appliances.
Especially in wooded areas which have historically been subject to natural fires that spread quickly, causing fire hazards in populated regions; so be careful! We hope that this article has helped you, and if you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me anytime!
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