Antique Reclaimed timber mantels are recycled beams that have been salvaged from old buildings. They have an estimated age of 300 to 800+ years. They are antiques. They grew from old growth forests that flourished in America through the 1930’s - forests that are now mostly gone.

Our reclaimed timbers were milled into beams in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to become mills, factories, warehouses, and barns - buildings now being demolished.

Unlike water-salvaged timbers, our Reclaimed timbers have been air-aging for over 100 years. This slow air-drying enhances color, beauty and character.

Most importantly, air-dried timbers are more stable and much less likely to twist or check (crack). Reclaimed antique timbers are a limited resource.




Our ‘Rescued’ timber mantels are milled from present day trees that have been discarded. They are most often logs from urban tree services, storm blown trees, or ‘ends’ from logging operations.



Every Mendota Mantel is a custom hand made one-of-a-kind piece. Many are one in a limited edition series. Each piece is provenanced with the name of the artisan, mantel style, timber species and source, dimensions, approximate age of timber, date of manufacture, and mantel series number.



Our mantels are typically finished with three coats of ‘Danish’ oil and hand rubbed paste wax. We sometimes use boiled linseed oil or, on rare occasion, Shellac. Custom finishes are available upon request.



Pine mantels contain sap which may leak from knots when heated. To remove sap, simply hand rub with “Goo-gone” type product applied to a clean rag.

An occasional hand rubbed coat of quality paste-wax should keep your mantel clean, protected, and looking good for yet another century or two.