Recently, I was introduced to a wonderful couple in town who manage Tumbleweeds theatre and are regulars on UsedVictoria.  They were looking for props, set pieces, and costumes.  Over time, they’ve gathered furniture and decoration for their home as well.  With their collected mix of Victoria heritage – including chairs from the Fairmont Empress Hotel, off of UsedVictoria.com – they were looking for a fireplace mantle that would fit the vibe.

We had talked about finding some reclaimed wood for the mantle, when one night I was walking home from downtown, and came across a dumpster in front of a heritage building being gutted.  Inside, I found a giant chunk of Cedar from the old support structure.

I found this in a dumpster downtown, took it home, and re-finished it.

Using pretty much the original form, we agreed to mill it down to some clean lines, and set it up as is.  I milled out the back, filled the grooves with epoxy (a general purpose adhisive), set an angle iron into the brick (see below), and set the mantle in place.

These angle irons are only $10 each on UsedVictoria.com. Click to see posting.

Make sure to get someone with experience to mount an angle iron in place, especially when dealing with old brick.

We chose to simply varnish the mantle without a stain to keep and enhance the warm glow of the natural wood.

As you can see, the piece adds warmth to the room and is a fantastic place to display the couple’s rotating collection of memorabilia.

With a picture and some eclectic art, it fits right in!

They continue to surf UsedVictoria on a daily basis, helping their business grow and always adding to their home.  A used couch now faces the mantle, and a reclaimed stained glass piece hangs in their window adding even more colour to the living room.  They keep me posted on useful material that often pops up on the site, and I’ve started a habit of always checking dumpsters downtown.

Happy scavenging!

Tyler Weid