Today I am sharing how to stain a yellow southern pine wooden beam mantel. Updating your mantel is one of the biggest things you can do to modernize your fireplace.
The wooden dark stained mantel was installed by my friend Jake at Paramount Woodworking (the same person who built the kitchen cabinets for our Police Station Break Room Makeover) and it is the most amazing wooden beam mantel ever.
Staining Yellow Southern Pine
The yellow southern pine wooden beam is over 100 years old and was in the barn when we bought the house the house.
The previous owner had renovated a warehouse in the city nearby and he left the southern beams in the barn.
Here is the granite slab mantel that came with the house.
If you didn’t see the blog post, “how to remove a granite stone mantel,” check it out so you can see the before of the fireplace.
The new wooden beam mantel adds so much more character and texture to the family room and we absolutely love it.
Jake picked up one of the yellow southern pine beams and sandblasted the old paint off at his shop.
Here is the pine wood beam below prior to us sanding and staining.
We used a chainsaw to cut the yellow southern pine mantel to size we needed.
Removing old paint from southern pine wood
We used a hand wood sander to remove the old paint.
Once the old paint was removed, we ran the pine wooden beam through his sanding machine and honestly, the beam natural was beautiful.
Dark Wood Stain
I wanted a more warm toned dark wood look so I ordered Rubio Monocoat Stain in a dark stain color called Chocolate.
This wood stain is actually a wood flooring stain and very durable.
Minwax dark wood stain colors are also very similar.
Staining yellow pine wood instructions
Prior to staining, you must sand the pine wood beam mantel.
1. Simply pour your wood stain into a small throw away container and apply with a lint free rag.
2. Apply stain (wearing gloves) according to the directions on the can. Be sure pine wood beam is clean from any dust.
We counted over 100 lines on the beam which means this is a really old beam!
Isn’t that really cool?
How does yellow pine stain?
I used a dark wood stain color which was very easy to apply and hid any large imperfections.
This was actually the sample wood piece below so we could test the color prior to staining the entire wood beam.
I absolutely love this yellow southern pine wooden beam mantel turned out.
You can see the entire fireplace mantel makeover before and after by clicking here.
My son approves!
Jake also designed corbels to be mounted under the pine wood mantel.
RELATED: See how we removed the old granite stone mantel, “how to remove a granite stone mantel.”
The dark wood stain is such a fabulous color, deep, dark and rich. I will be sharing in a couple days how we mounted this gigantic (very heavy) southern pine wood beam to the existing fireplace.
Lets just say, I got a lesson in steel rebar!
Don’t forget to check out the prior post that shows the large granite stone mantel, it’s a drastic change from this one. Update: You can see the full reveal of the new rustic mantel here!
Brenda says
Wow, how neat to see the whole process! Thanks for sharing it with us. It’s a really nice color. That was a smart idea to test out the stain on a small piece first to make sure it’s the look you want. That’s a cute picture of your son!
Jessica Bruno says
Thank you Brenda! I love the new mantel so much more than the granite one 😉
Jessica Bruno says
Thank you Brenda! I didn’t want to risk wrecking the beam if the color wasn’t right. My friend (the woodworker) would have killed me if we had to lug another 500 lb beam out of the barn 😉
Mark says
I love what you all did and I think my wife would too. Would you mind telling me what the dimensions for the mantle ended up being? I really like the thickness and depth of yours.
Jessica Bruno says
I am sorry for the late reply, I just found your comment in my trash folder! The mantel is 71 inches long, 11.5 inches wide (deep) and 5.5 inches high.