Can I use a reclaimed barn beam as a fireplace mantel?
Yes — but in Brevard, propane country with 80-plus inches of rain a year, moisture is the whole game. A beam pulled from a damp barn will check, cup, and pull away from the wall once a heated Connestee Falls or downtown home dries it out. We acclimate the timber first, then mount it at the propane unit's required clearance.
Rain is the enemy of raw timber
Transylvania's 80-plus inches of annual rainfall cracks crowns, spalls brick, and rusts dampers — and the same wet season, March through June, soaks into a reclaimed beam. Timber that spent decades in a leaky barn holds far more water than it appears to.
Brought into a heated home, it shrinks and moves. We dry and acclimate it, and we check the crawl-space and chimney-chase moisture that's so common on Brevard properties before anything goes up.
Timber-frame homes wear it best
The cabins and timber-frame builds around Sherwood Forest, Pisgah Forest, and Connestee Falls are where a rough-hewn beam looks native — the same mountain-modern rooms our Mendota units anchor. Reclaimed oak, chestnut, or heart pine ties the mantel straight to the exposed structure around it.
Propane runs hot — mind the clearance
Propane burns hotter per unit than natural gas, and a reclaimed beam is still combustible wood, so it lives by the appliance's clearance-to-combustibles above the opening. We set it to the manufacturer's chart and pull the Transylvania County permit on the gas side. Call (828) 545-0525; Brevard is 40 minutes southwest of our showroom.
Fireplace help in Brevard
We install and service fireplaces throughout Brevard and the rest of Transylvania County — just 40 minutes southwest from our Asheville-area showroom.