Can I use a reclaimed barn beam as a fireplace mantel?
Yes — and in Hendersonville the barn-beam mantel we install most often sits above a quiet, sealed gas insert, the low-maintenance heat our retirement community favors. The timber brings warmth and history to a home on Main Street or off Spartanburg Highway; it just has to be sound, dry, and mounted at the unit's required clearance.
Character without the upkeep
Downtown Main Street homes and the hillside houses of Laurel Park want the look of a rustic hearth without the work of hauling and burning wood. A reclaimed oak or chestnut beam over a sealed natural-gas insert gives exactly that — real character above the mantel, flip-of-a-switch heat below it.
Natural gas serves the Hendersonville mains, so these installs are almost always clean, sealed units rather than open fireboxes.
Old chimneys and settled ground
Henderson County's clay-heavy soil settles foundations and stresses older masonry chimneys, so a lot of beam jobs here come alongside dropping a sealed insert into an oversized, draft-prone open firebox and lining it properly. The timber and the appliance get planned together, not bolted on afterward.
That way the fireplace works better and the mantel looks right, instead of a beautiful beam sitting over a chimney that still pulls cold air into the room.
Permit and clearance, handled
If the beam is part of a new insert or any gas-line work, we pull the Henderson County permit and meet the inspector, then set the timber to the manufacturer's clearance so it never scorches or dries and cracks. Call (828) 545-0525 — we're 25 minutes south of the Asheville showroom.
Fireplace help in Hendersonville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Hendersonville and the rest of Henderson County — just 25 minutes south from our Asheville-area showroom.