The mantel cracked over just a couple months.  I'm not sure if it was defective or what.  I did call into customer service and they very quickly sent out a new one.  I'm going to hold off on installing this one until winter though.  It definitely works great in deflecting the heat and does what it's supposed to. The T.V. is above the fireplace, so that was an important feature.  We only ran the fireplace at night and I really don't think it ever got too hot. I can't figure out exactly why it cracked other than to say there just must have been some sort of defect.  I'll definitely post another review when we get the second mantel installed.