Terrible

Terrible. Aged oak doesn't look anything like the picture. Had to return.

Also disappointed

I ordered “Aged oak,” which is pictured as a walnut-ish finish. The one received is gray and the staining looks awful; streaked and looks like it dripped down the front. It’s going back to Home Depot today!

I like it! It updated the look in my living room. It was easy to install in the brick over my fireplace, despite the instructions not being terribly useful for this installation type. (Thats why I dropped a star). If mounting into brick ensure you have tap on screws (3 or above) and a masonry bit nut driver for your drill. Installation took 15 min or less. Was easy.

ABSOLUTELY horrible cut marks

I have used so much sand paper and now have to buy putty to fill in the rest. of the cut marks. These were deep grooves and couldn't be hidden with putty. I purchased unfinished so I could stain it to match my cabinets. Unfinished means the finish. It doesn't mean gouged up. I would have been better off ordering a stained one and sanding that down. I am completely disgusted 😒.

The mantel looks great on our new fireplace! We did cut 1 1/2” from the depth (it was 9”), but it is very easy to install. The color is perfect with the tile of the fireplace and is just rustic enough to still look elegant. We’re very pleased. We installed it right before Christmas and were able to hang stockings from it!

This 72” mantel worked out great. It is made of real wood (pine probably) so we could trim off 14” that hit the window trim. It was easy to hang and was very well packaged when it arrived. It took about a week to arrive. I touched up the cut area with Minwax Polyshades in Satin Bombay Mahogany and it was a perfect match. Only negative is that the stain must be fresh as it comes off on your hands and anything that rubs against it. A clear-coat might be necessary if it would get touched a lot or to prevent staining decorations.

3 Stars

It would have worked, but I did not like the stain pattern on the front of the mantel. I actually bought this same mantel for a previous home. This one was very different from the picture. It looked like stain just dripped down from many spots along the front. I just did not care for the effect, so I sent it back.

It is what they said it was

Positives: Its a good value, its solid, it installs easy. Shipped quickly, no problems ordering or opening etc. Negatives: the tone is slightly more red than appears on line. Some of the treatments on the front to make it look "rustic" look more like a drip of the stain from a distance. I'm being very picky here. Many might not notice. Overall it looks pretty darn good. BUT, if I had to do it again, I would be willing to spend 2x$ to try to find a stand out piece of solid wood that makes people go ooohhh. Problem is, I looked and couldnt find that for less than 4x$. So yeah, Im happy. .I wish Dogberry offered a reasonably priced higher end product.

Runny streaks not close to color

I mean, I guess there are streaks of dark chocolate here and there. But definitely not a "dark chocolate" stain at all. Opened the box and just shocked at the condition of this mantle's staining. Definitely not as advertised. Just unusable. I do like the size, and styling so am taking my chances on a replacement, as I have also seen positive reviews on here and am hoping to get lucky and use this when refinishing my fireplace. Will update based upon the replacement's condition.

Gorgeous! Highly recommend!

Love my gorgeous new mantle! It looks just like the photo and looks even more expensive in real life! Great quality and heavy. My fireplace surround is not flat so I had to hire a handyman to install it. It has really transformed the look of my fireplace. Highly recommend!

Construction of mantel was good. Mahogany staining was poor and...

Construction of mantel was good. Mahogany staining was poor and not evenly applied. Top of mantel had a dark block on one end. Distress appearance was stained heavily on the front of the mantle liking like dark streaks not at all visually appealing.

4 Stars

Our fireplace didn't have mantle when we bought our house so we wanted to find one that was easy enough to install on our own and are pretty happy with this one. You're going to need concrete drill bits, concrete anchors and patience to install this. The plywood mounting board was also so thick that we had to pre drill holes into it in order to get the provided screws through it when mounting the mantle to the board. Looks good but definitely glad we only have to do this once!

Buyer Beware! Wayfair does not show accurate pictures. They knowingly do this and do not stand behind this product when it shows up not looking like the photos on Wayfair. $75 cost to me to return this mantle. Not the customer service I would expect of Wayfair. They say these vertical lines of stain are “rustic”. Customer Service told me in a chat that I should have looked at photos posted in customer reviews if I wanted an accurate representation of what I was buying!

One Hit, One Miss

We ordered a 5' and a 6' to mount onto our oversized fireplace, both in identical Midnight Black color. The 5' mantle arrived first & looked perfect, exactly like the product page on the Home Depot website! A few days later the 6' mantle was delivered, but it looked awful, NOTHING like the 5' one. It never got its second coat of stain, and the top board doesn't connect with the front. Product consistency is crucial, this doesn't come close. See the pics. Can't recommend until this is resolved.

Doesn't look like photos on website

This seems like a sturdy, nicely built mantel. But, the color and strange look on the front piece look nothing like the photo. The mantel is much lighter than represented on Lowes. Also, there are a number of cuts made into the front piece which are much darker than the main color. This looks like a flaw with stain running down.

This is a very nice-looking mantel which at first looked "too thick" to us, but we realized we we...

This is a very nice-looking mantel which at first looked "too thick" to us, but we realized we were just so used to the fireplace as-is, that we weren't used to seeing a big mantel piece there. We did an internet search for "rustic fireplace mantel" and found quite a few fireplaces like ours, with similar mantels - so instead of returning it, we went ahead an installed it.

5 Stars

Love this mantel! It's exactly what I wanted. It came true to size and color (72" wide and Espresso stain). Looks like a rustic, hand-sawed beam. The marks are random and realistic looking. I especially like the marks that look like saw marks. I also like how the corners have been rounded slightly to look like an actual beam and not a constructed "box." Because this mantel is not as heavy as a solid beam, our brick corbels can support it. My husband used some lag bolts through a hole in the corbels up into the mantle to secure it. It came with mounting instructions, a 2x4 board, and screws for installation, but we didn't need them because we chose a different method. Most important to us, the hollow center of the mantel allowed us to hide our TV cords. My husband made a tiny notch where the cords come down from the TV and go into the mantel, and a tiny notch on the side where they come out of the mantel. I looked on a lot of different websites for this type of product. This was the best option for the money by far. So happy with my purchase!

low quality by manufacture

When my item was delivered to me it was left in the rain. The second issue is that regardless of water damage; the item is poorly constructed. Short-cuts were taken when item was manufactured. The wood is not cut flush and lined up at the corners and seams; therefore, large cracks and holes are present. Rather than making proper cuts, the manufacture just stuck a large amount of wood glue filler to fill in the holes. It makes the product look very cheap. The item does not match the exact picture on Lowes website. The item has a whole row of dark distressed features at the top and bottom that is not described nor shown online. The picture on Lowes website is highly misleading. A trained and skilled carpenter knows that when making cuts in the wood two pieces need to be flush (touching, no gaps) when lined up. The photos clearly show cracks/ large gaps in the wood because the person constructing/cutting this did not make the cuts properly! Buyer beware of this product! It is cheaply made! I did not receive this product for free but I should have! The wood is so damaged there is no point to return it as it is trash and cannot be repaired. Will not shop at Lowes again unless they contact me to resolve the money I am out for such a poor quality product. They have been in contact with me but nothing has been done.