How To: Attach a fireplace mantle

Thank you so much for this advice!! I have a 100-year-old mantel that came from the farmhouse in Alabama where my mother was born. As far as I know, my grandfather may have cut the trees and milled the lumber and built it himself. My mother salvaged the mantel when the house had to be torn down, and she had it in her home for many years. Eventually I inherited it, and hauled it 3,500 miles back to Seattle. The mantel spent the next 17 years in my garage because our house didn't have a place to put it up. Last spring we finally moved into a place that did, and I had to get serious about figuring out how we were going to do this. I found your video and showed it to our carpenter. We both loved the idea of attaching it securely to the wall without putting bolts through the wood. It worked beautifully. So, here's the result...