" -So how are you coming along with, with this job? This is pretty impressive."

" -Well this is really just a mock-up. What we've tried to do is, is mock-up the whole chimney breath so everybody can look at it because you can draw it but sometimes pictures just don't tell the story--"

" --Absolutely--"

" --like doing it in real life."

" -We have, what, 12-foot ceilings in this house?"

" -12-foot ceilings--"

" --So this whole chimney piece is 12 feet high."

" -Yes. It's, it's a lot of wood."

" -Let's run through the different elements that you've already put together here."

" -Well, the mantle will, will take up the first part, the first level--"

" --Yes.--"

" --and then the upper part is the over mantle--"

" --Yes--"

" --which makes up the entire chimney breath."

" -Yes."

" -And you can see all of these are 1 by 12 boards and we're just spacing them out trying to look at the grain and see how we want the grain to relate from each board."

" -Well I love the Cyprus grain as you see it here but you know that next board looks a little bit rough over there--"

" --Right.--"

" --so it's all tacked up and we'll probably just take this one and, and put it maybe with one that has a deeper heart color."

" -And then what do you do? Do you just nail them in place?"

" -No. Each board when it's put in it's finished place will be numbered and then taken down. The edges will be joined so they're smooth and then they'll be spline so we can glue them all together so it'll form one panel."

" -So it'll look like one panel?"

" -Yes."

" -And then the corner pieces that really go from floor to ceiling. What, what do you call these?"

" -Well, they are the corners to the chimney breath. They frame the whole chimney breath."

" -And will there be additional moldings in here?"

" -We'll have moldings in here that will kill this edge and then we'll have an inset molding that will act as a picture frame for whatever goes in the middle."

" -Right. A painting or even a mirror."

" -Yes."

" -Yes. And then that's enough of the over mantle. This is the mantle itself. How do you come up with the design? You've got such beautiful antiques, antique mantles in this house."

" -Well, the design is fairly easy because we have a, a proportionate system that's developed through a lot of these drawings like this pattern books that's--"

" --Yes--"

" --an Asher Benjamin pattern book from--"

" --18th century?"

" --Right."

" -We, we're not gonna adorn this mantle with all of the swags and the garlands that you have in the front part of the house--"

" --Yes but you see the similarity in the profile of a classic antique mantle piece to which you've already mocked up here."

" -Right--"

" --loose of course--"

" --But this is, this would act as the, the capital and this being a design from a column shaft. So we have the capital of the column, the neck, then the actual shaft and then the base down here."

" -Right. These are all individual pieces you've put together."

" -Right but it's, it's fairly simple to put together. Once you have the proportions--"

" --Right--"

" --all the pieces just go one on top of the other."

" -And then again you're cutting and mitering the moldings and the, and the panels here to create this plaque in the middle."

" -And I might add these are all stock moldings."

" -But you had them cut in Cyprus?"

" -We had them run out of Cyprus so that it would match the rest of the wood work in the house."

" -Wonderful. Let me see you actually put some of this thing--"

" --If you can see"

" --together--"

" --the backs. We just have simple blocking because it's not gonna show--"

" --Yes."

" --so that's the back of the, the mantle and then all of our finished Cyprus on the front. Then we have this part of the cornice up top and sides, wrap around."

" -Now assuming, assuming that the owner likes it all, you gotta take it all back apart--"

" --Right. Well that's really, it's just a quick way, I mean we didn't spend a whole lot of time doing this. We maybe spent an hour or so mocking this up--"

" --Right--"

" --but then everybody gets a good idea of what, what it's gonna look like and we can make any changes before all the final pieces are cut. And this is the last piece."

" --Gee I hope he likes it."

" -Yes."