How to Remove a Large Mirror

What are they attached to? Paint over drywall? In other words, what surface is the glue touching?

Do you know what the adhesive is now? Construction adhesive, silicone, etc.

You have a 10 foot dimension, can the window guy work sideways? 4 feet's good, 10 should be better.

Glass is a poor conductor of heat, so heat it gently, but thoroughly. Should be as hot as Mom's old iron to the touch. Use plenty of heat, carefully.

BE PATIENT!

I'm not crazy about that beam down the middle.

BE VERY CAREFUL. IF THE MIRRORS BREAK, THEY CAN HURT YOU!

'BE VERY CAREFUL. IF THE MIRRORS BREAK, THEY CAN HURT YOU!'

I think there needs to be a substitution of words here... HURT should be replaced with KILL or MAIM of course glass and I have a history (26 plus stitches from 1 incident and there are others...)

Back in the day...piano wire and two patient folks.. pulling top to bottom..( let the wire do the work )......

This has merit. The problem here is they would have to work with a nine+ foot wire.

I don't think you can do each three foot section by itself.

Could be done.

Transformer for a soldering iron is often used to heat piano wire for cutting long pieces of styrofoam. I've seen it done for cutting shapes 6' long.

I just realized something. A sheet of jagged glass coming down glued to a 10 foot 2x4 would be like a guillotine. Ok that idea is dead.

don't quit too easily, this can be done safely... What you need to know is in the thread, just be careful and do everything with deliberation and always err towards the side of caution.

I haven't tried the heating method (I believe it will work well assuming typical installation) but sawing through with piano wire will work, though I recommend three guys instead of two and possibly buying/renting a pair of those cool suction cuppy thing-a-ma-jigs that glaziers use.

Good luck, if you need more advice I'm sure there are knowledgeable folks here who can help; worst case... I know a few glass guys and I imagine I could get their input.

CJM,

Do you think that using a turpedo heater would assist in heating a large area? instead of contact paper , how about the window films they sell to help winterize? would that help the safty factor. And I really like the wire Idea. I know you can get wire with grit for cutting.

Guest, I am not familiar with a turpedo heater, so I don't have an opinion on that. I will say that it does not take a great deal of heat, just enough to soften up the goo. An average ladies hair dryer has been used successfully with smaller mirrors.

As for window film etc, I found that sticking ANYTHING other than perhaps suction cups, gives a false sense of safety, and ensures the destruction of the entire section should a break develop.

The reality is that if a large piece of glass develops a break, you must be able to control and separate. Taped together broken edges develop more chips which soon become breaks. I could not imagine taping several large sections of glass together end to end on purpose, and then attempting to work with them from vertical to horizontal, or carry them around that way. Don't set yourself up for disaster.

I found in previous situations that the wire idea, which sounds so good on paper, often results in damaging the edges of the glass. The small chips result in sudden breaks.

Many good ideas have been tossed about for this, but it comes down to

1. Safety barriers you can easily work around yet still deal with the pieces separately should a break occur.
2. Shield glass edges with wide taping knives etc when using wire or saw - avoid chipping
3. Heat gently, don't over heat. This is not a race.
   
4. Use a support, plywood or 2X6 etc to reduce flexing and shield worker while transitioning mirror from vertical, but don't glue to mirror.
5. Wear gloves & eye protection, sturdy shoes etc
   
6. Don't use contact paper etc = false sense of security + greatly added problems.
7. Hand sand edge nicks before flexing glass to avoid cracks
8. know the weight - Don't get surprised and injured.

Excellent advice and info. Myself, I would have tried to tape a large sheet of styrofoam onto the mirror (taping the edges), for surface protection, and backed by a sheet of 1/2-inch plywood for structural integrity. That would give rigidity and surface protection. I cede to your experience.

Rather than glue the vertical beam to the centre, why not attach 4 or 5 of those suction cups to the vertical beam - easier to remove and they are the same suction cups used by glaziers to handle large sheets and carry sheets on their vehicles so should be perfect for the job. You may find 2 vertical beams at 1/3 width spacing with the cups will give you a more rigid and safer structure to move around.

So are you saying the vertical beams would somehow attach to the cups? What would they be? Metal rods? I thought the cups just have handles... not sure how to attach anything to them...

Louis

I was thinking something like this,

presuming many of the variety of glass suction cups available would have some mechanism to bolt or clamp these to a wooden or metal beam.

It is probably the type of devices that were used to handle the mirrors in the original installation.

Will all this gear you could probably setup up your own business.

Gluing a single strip of wood will do little to prevent breakage! You also have to be careful as heat will cause the silver to peal from the back and give the mirror bald spots! The proper way to remove the mirror would be to attach a steel or non-flexible frame to the section you are removing. Anything less will allow the mirror to flex and break! Been moving large glass objects for over 30 years so I know what I am talking about!

But don't pay for any of the mirrors until they're off that wall.

amen....I was going to suggest taking a hunk of the entire wall (studs included) since it would be safer to rebuild the wall than to try and peel such a large piece of glass from a wall. I bought a house full of mirrors glued to walls and it is a very dangerous, tricky thing to do...

amen

I was going to suggest unrooting the wall itself from the foundation and use that at new location, instead of separating wall and mirror

Not only Risk analysis, Economics of removal also (if no emotions are invalved in the mirror).

May be you will get new mirror much cheaper than the cost of removal.

I gave the last three posters in this thread votes for good answer.

I've moved big mirrors off of walls, and they weren't glued to the wall.

Hell, I wouldn't have done it without the pay to do it in the first place.

Minimum its a 350 to 500 buck job to get the mirror off the wall and out the house to someplace else, and that mirror is not going to show up somewhere else without damage.

In my opinion, from my experience...

Proper prior planning prevents poor performance.

First construct a means to handle the mirrors as they are removed; a padded rack mounted to a supported handtruck, portable lifting table or forklift. Configure in a manner to receive the mirror from the wall.

Join a 2 x 4 and a 2 x 6 boards on edge to produce a 6 x 6 angle x 10', secure to immediately outboard of one of the mirrored panels you choose to begin removing to prevent it slipping away from your control. Use vacuum cups to control inward slipping.

Have handy a suitable heat gun capable to gradually heat the entire mirror or if used judiciously a propane tank and rosebud nozzle maybe used.

Position the panel rack to receive a mirror.

Steady as you go too slow is the correct speed...too fast is an accident waiting to happen...

Hi, Best advice I can give is treat the purchase like a horse dealer, "don't hand over the cash till its on the truck"

For all the free advice being added here I would say that I don't have the tools or experience to do the job without breaking something. Maybe you should hire it out?

I would say that I don't have the tools or experience to do the job without breaking something.

So you would say that I have the tools and experience to do the job of breaking something.

I would probably skip the glue, and use the suction cup idea instead. I would worry the glue would hold, but the mirror could just break all around it. A wider suction cup would give more pulling area across each piece (using multiple ones). Would also use a high temp heat gun to ensure the glue loosens completely and not get stuck with sections that just will not come off.

Or you could take the whole wall with you.....sorry, couldn't resist.

I have done this before with a mirror in a bath room. Cover the entire surface of your mirror with duct tape first.This will hold the mirror together if it should break.use a blow dryer to heat the glass evenly all over its surface. This is because it can help soften the glue, called mastic, which holds it to the wall. Next, using your painter's tool or putty knife, gently separate the mirror from the wall, working it around and under the edge to cut through any paint that might have overlapped the mirror, thereby making a small crevice behind the mirror. Now, while keeping a careful hold on the mirror, work the piano wire behind the mirror and bring it down in a sawing motion, with your helper holding onto the other end. The goal is to cut through the mastic, which is usually applied in dabs rather than along the whole surface. It might help to heat the mirror again before attempting this. With any luck, this will totally detach the mirror from the wall. But if it doesn't, it is time to use the pry bars. Use two at once along each side of the mirror to help distribute the pressure and reduce the risk of cracking, since this is the point at which the mirror is most likely to break. Also, be sure that your helper is ready to support the mirror, should it come loose. After gently prying and making more room between the mirror and the wall, try to fit your painter's tool or putty knife between them to work away at the mastic. Again, re-heating the mirror at this point will probably be helpful. Once the mirror is down, you and your helper should store it carefully, wrapping it between several towels for protection. The now bare wall will most likely have some damage, either because the mastic remains or because some of the surface has been torn away. Most experts recommend removing this section of wall and replacing it, which is fairly simple and inexpensive.

For $50 and the risk and effort I would get a glasscutter, cut the 3' x 10' mirrors into smaller mirrors while attached to the wall, sell the smaller ones on Ebay and use the funds to buy new large mirrors.

Inspect the edges of the mirror for any chip out or cracks. If there is then I will not recommend heating to soften the glue but go with solvent which will dissolve the glue. Most common one are the stripper, flux cleanner, acetone also work if the glue is based on polyvinyl acetate based. and then get mirroe released from support holding with section cup.

Before transporation blunt the crack so it will n ot propagate. Common blunting solvent is 2% hydrofloric and 2% sulforic acid blend but make sure to have rubber gloves during application. This is only at the are you see crack. Leave this for about 15 minutes then was the area and glass for atleast 10 minutes and then you can carry this like normal glass carrying method. Chances are better than 95% will not break.

Best of luck

Masyood

Congratulations

Along with all the other suggestions on this thread, I would add that you could also criss cross each mirror with a good strong tape before attempting to handle it. Masking tape, clear package tape, etc. An old movers trick for handling large expanses of plate glass. Also good for reinforcing windows in hurricanes. The tape adds a tensile reinforcing to the glass.

Wow, and you are paying him..........

He should be paying you to remove it.....considering the risk you are taking.

And the damage to the wall to save the mirror.

oops this was coverd

Yes based on comments here and something else I saw posted elsewhere, I told him I would do the job for $0 and keep the mirror. He agreed! Of course, that is fair. He also knows the wall will be damaged. Another option I may take is to cut the mirror, as suggested. Guess I'll need to buy a glass cutter : )

Thanks so much for all your helpful replies!

Louis

HELP FOR YOUR PROBLEM

First go to wal-marts fishing section and get yourself some "leader wire", attach one end to a stick to use as a handle, do the same for the other end. Have a friend stand in front of the mirror for leverage and a friend on each end of the wire and using a sawing motion pull the wire downward between the mirror and the wall. This method should release the mirror from the wall.

as for transport, use a 2x4 placed every 24" on the bed of a pick up or van. then a blanket, then the mirror. Repeat the process for each layer of glass. That should do the trick. To reattach the mirror to the wall use mirror adheasive found at your local glass store or Vulcom-found at the home depot in the paint department caulking section.

Put a lot of thought into what others have said about safety. Tape on the mirror face and plywood to trap the glass seem like a must.

A few years ago I was in a store while an employee was adjusting a 12" x 18" glass shelve. Something slipped a little, the shelve cracked and fell about 6 inches before it hit his arm. With only an 6 inch fall and less than a pound of weight this cut him to the bone. Your statement "wear lots of protection in case the mirror shatters" is not near good enough. The other poster's statements that the mirror could become a guillotine and cut you in half is a very real risk. As you work on the mirror your arms and feet will be properly positioned for easy removal.

An off the wall idea. Is your friend just getting rid of the mirrors or is he/she remodeling and taking down the wall? If the wall is coming down then it will probably be easier to tape and brace the mirror on one side and attack the drywall on the other side. You would still have the removal problems, but if the mirror is taken down drywall-and-all then it will be much easier and safer to work on.

Be safe.