How does one remove a mirror?

[politicat]

Our bathrooms have giant mirrors clipped and glued(?) to the wall instead of medicine cabinets. I'd really rather have medicine cabinets but I have no idea how to remove these mirrors safely.

Has anybody ever done this? Any advice that doesn't include a gazillion glass shards on the floor or removing a hunka drywall?

[NMDemDist2]

1. I'd love to know too

my guest bath in the NM mobile has an awful oval mirror with 'etched' flowers

ugh!

:hi:

[Warpy]

2. I've done it in a mobile home

I thought it would be an easy process, just unscrew all the clips, top first, and lift the sucker off the last 2 on the bottom, right?

Wrong. The bastard was affixed to the wall with double sided tape.

I guess I was lucky they didn't use liquid nails or I'd have had to remove the SOB in pieces.

As it was, I crisscrossed painter's tape all over the mirror to cut the possibility of flying glass, went around the edges with my bread knife (the longest thing I had) to cut what I could, and then twisted the mirror back and forth until the tape let go in the middle.

I got that mirror out in once piece. I consider that a fluke. I think most times the thing will crack rather than give up easily. It would have been a quicker process had it cracked, though.

I was left with deep gouges on the wall from that damned tape, but that was easy to fix with joint compound and unladylike language.

[politicat]

5. From our old house... the "etching" comes off with a razor blade.

It takes time, but you can scrape it off. I have one of the mirrors from our old bathroom mirrored cabinets at the old house (we replaced the cab) hanging in my office as a mirror (I speckle-painted the frame and scraped off that wretched etching...)

I was planning on repapering the guest bathroom anyway, so since that mirror is much smaller (3x4 I think), I'll masking tape it and try to get it down safely. DH won't be happy when I do the master bath (that mirror is 5x3 I think) but as an experiment...

:hi: NMD2!

[Lars39]

3. iirc,

my husband used a pry bar after he took off the clips. Mirrors are usually glued right onto the drywall. It only broke into a few pieces. Hopefully the drywall that will stick to the mirror will be right where you're going to cut the opening for the medicine cabinet. :)

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

4. Warpy's got it right!

You say giant so it may be a two people thing. I might leave the bottom clips in than get a putty knife into a corner and carefully pry the mirror away from the wall ,enough to get a flat pry bar in there. you might use a hammer to carefully tap the putty knife in,and work it with your hands to free the mirror . Than get the flat bar in there in work it up and down . You will be removing paint and dry wall paper ,but that goes with the job. If the wall is painted behind the mirrors keep to mind the glue does not penetrate the paint. Thats a plus.If yer careful about it and you work the perimeter of the mirror up and down both sides than across top and bottom, you should be able to work it off the wall just like Warpy says.Again, it may be a two people operation given the size of those mirrors.Leaving the bottom clips in allows you to manipulate the mirror away from the wall without having to carry the full weight of the mirror at the same time. Needless to say you remove the bottom clips when the mirror is free from the wall.And remember,the wall can be easily fixed so concentrate on the mirror and not hurting yourself. From there it's tape and mud !

[Robb]

7. On that note:

And remember,the wall can be easily fixed so concentrate on the mirror and not hurting yourself.

I would also suggest one of these:

...And just cut out the drywall, mirror and all. Then fix the hole. You may save time. :D

[politicat]

11. Got one. Use it often.

My bigger worry about that is given the size of the mirrors, maneuvering that much weight -- drywall plus mirror -- is going to be difficult, especially in a space the size of a bathroom.

Drywall's easy, and I'm a firm believer in wallpaper, anyway. Much more forgiving than paint on iffy walls.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Accept that the mirror will not survive removal

If it does survive, consider that a bonus.

Tape the face of it. Use lots of tape. Pry it off the wall. Keep in mind that drywall can be repaired, easily. There's probably no gentle way to get it off.

Wear gloves. Leather work gloves. Heavy leather work gloves.

And safety glasses. The goggles type that resemble a swim mask. Glass shard projectiles could be involved.

Really. Once you accept it can't be saved, any mirror suddenly becomes easier to remove.

[politicat]

10. I don't care if it is saved -- the glass shards are my biggest worry.

Also, long sleeves of a heavy material and heavy denim jeans.

[goddess40]

8. Try clear contact paper instead of tape

it covers faster. I saw it on a show, I watch way too many renovation shows on tv.

[Warpy]

9. It's also much more expensive, doesn't allow you to remove

areas of glass that have cracked off as easily in order to cut the tape on the rest, and is not all that easy to find.

Tape does the job for a lot less money.