Part of owning a home is the reality of constant repairs, and part of that is seeing the flaws in things you’ve worked on in the past. One of the things that’s been bothering me for years is the way the edges of our mantel haven’t matched up with the rest of the facade as a result of the way I built it. Now that the rest of the room has a clean coat of paint, the mantel stood out in even greater relief, and temperature and humidity changes have cracked the bondo I used to cover the seam several years ago.

When I put it together I didn’t allow for the top to be wider than the rest of the box, due to changes in the plan while it was being constructed. I’ve been thinking about fixes for this issue for eight years now, and I bought a sheet of veneer from Amazon last week with the aim of fixing it before Thanksgiving.

The first step was to sand down the face with a random orbital sander, which went easily enough. I figured I’d simply apply a layer of glue to the box and then lay the veneer over top of it, then place bracing across the face to hold it in place. Using our heavy-as-bricks coffee table/chest, I built bracing out of 2″x3″ and put things in place.

After letting that sit for about an hour, I checked on it and was alarmed to find a huge bubble in the middle, as well as warping on each end. Fearing I’d never be able to get it off after it dried fully, I pulled the whole sheet off in two pieces and started researching plan B.

Several YouTube videos presented a different solution: the unorthodox approach of spreading the glue over both pieces, letting it dry, and then using a clothes iron to heat and activate the glue. So, I went back out to get different glue and set things up. First, I sanded the box clean again, then applied two coats of glue to both pieces with a rubber Bondo spreader.

In the meantime, I put four new IKEA chairs together, which should supply sturdier seating for our Thanksgiving guests. For years, we’ve been using a mixture of two old rickety oak chairs and our desk chairs for dinner, which is unappealing and unsafe. The new chairs are remarkably similar to our current chairs–they look like slightly shorter cousins, which is better than we could have hoped for.

Then it was time to bust out the iron. Starting at the center, I worked my way out to the left and then the right, using a damp rag to add some steam to the wood. It worked out better than I’d hoped. Once I went around the edges to make sure there was nothing peeling upwards, I hit the whole thing with 150 grit paper and cleaned up both the veneer and the woodwork around it.

Then I used my chop saw to trim both overhanging edges so that the veneer was as close to the box as possible. Using a piece of sandpaper stapled to a long flat board, I smoothed the edge out flush to the box.

I did some more cleaning with sandpaper and a sharp chisel, and then used caulk along the top and the bottom to seal the edges. I’m going to let it sit and cure overnight, and then hit it with primer tomorrow evening before applying two coats of trim paint to match the rest of the mantel.

While I was working in the area, I sanded down a bunch of raised cracks in the wall on either side of the mantel bumpout and hit them with a skim coat of drywall mud; they’ll get sanded smooth and painted at the same time as the box.

The other thing on the menu for tomorrow evening is some brewing. I bought an Irish Stout and another session IPA, and I think I’ll get the stout working first for Christmas and then do the IPA to replace what’s in the cooler. I haven’t had two beers on tap since early summer, which is a sad state of affairs, but it’s mostly due to the last of the Belgian Dubbel taking up space. I may just bottle the last of that and clear the keg out.

I finished running wiring in the garage last week so that one switch inside the door now controls four lights, which makes a huge difference out there. It’s easier to be out there and not trip over extension cords hanging everywhere, and it makes me want to rip the rickety workbench out completely and start building a newer, better one with storage and organization. I’ve got some stuff to move out of there (an old cast iron sink, a box of slate shingles, old dumbbells) and some roof repairs to make (shingles on the far side are disintegrating) but it’s getting a lot more usable.

Finally, there’s something exciting afoot professionally, the details of which I’ll keep quiet until I know more.