"Leon" lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote in message
...
On 10/25/2012 3:10 PM, Dick Snyder wrote:
I am making a cover from teak to cover the mantle on my fireplace. The
current mantle is really ugly piece of blue stone. The teak will match a
teak entertainment center I built a year ago. The mantle will be covered
on
all sides. The mantle is 74 1/2". This is in a vacation home in New
Hampshire. It will be down to about 55 degrees in the winter and maybe 80
degrees and humid in the summer.

OK, that was the long slow windup. Here comes the pitch. How much room
would
you leave for expansion? The side pieces will match up to some trim where
the chimney and the wall meet so I can't just make it as wide as I want.

Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Dick Snyder




Relative no length expansion and or thickness expansion. The only
expansion that you will notice will be in solid board widths. Leave
yourself a bit of wiggle for the boards to expand and contract in width.
On a 12" wide board I would suggest as much as 1/4" wiggle room. This may
not be an issue if the width/edges of the board are not between two fixes
surfaces. If one edge is not confined there should be no issue.

Thanks. The widest board will be 7" x 74 1/2". I was most worred about
length but I do have room on width as long at I place the two end pieces,
which will be at a 90 degree angle to the long boards, with screws in
oversized holes so the long pieces can move.