How to safely remove stuck glued mirror in bathroom?

[Fefe1578]

Hi

I would like to remove my bathroom mirror. It's a typical glued flat mirror seen in many cookie cutter style apartment bathrooms.

I googled and read up that wood flat shims should be used.  I can't seem to find this product online. Could you recommend what I should use and do to remove my mirror safely. 

Here's a picture of my mirror. It's 180cm x 80cm so fairly large. 

Thank you for your help.

 

[Jason]

Hi @Fefe1578,

One of our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. experts, @EricL, will be happy to assist when he is back online this afternoon. In the meantime, let me call on other helpful Workshop members in @TedBear, @Remarka6le and @homeinmelbourne to see how they would remove this mirror safely. Please don't forget your personal protective equipment when doing the job. 

Jason

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Fefe1578,

There are a few reasons why I'd suggest you consider having a professional glacier remove this mirror. The first is that due to it being positioned hard up against the cabinet, you won't be able to get any shim behind it in that section to release the glue. The second is the overall size of the mirror, which will make the job very cumbersome once the glass is released. And finally is the potential for this mirror to break in the process. If it's an older mirror, it might not be safety glass, and if it shatters in the process, you could be injured by large shards of glass.

I suspect a professional would start by either blocking up under the glass to hold its weight or having a helper secure it with a suction cup. They'd then likely heat the mirror up to soften the glue/silicon holding it in place. They'd lift a corner only enough with paint scrapers or custom-made wood wedges to feed a wire-rope cutting tool behind it. They'd then use this tool to saw through the glue/silicon. 

You could place wooden wedges around the mirror's perimeter and have it successfully pop off if it wasn't glued on particularly well. However, I believe there is a high likelihood that the mirror will shatter in this process. I'd recommend you phone a few glaziers and get quotes on the removal.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Remarka6le]

Hey @Fefe1578 , we had a similar mirror set up in our ensuite that we removed last year, here's how we did it.

Have someone help if possible, cover the whole thing in many long strips of tape so it protects you and the area around you from glass if it shatters. We then used a wire saw (our one is 800mm) starting on one of the upper corners of the mirror, placing the wire on the wall and slowly made our way down the back of the mirror. When we got to the halfway point, we would assess every few mm sawed to see if we could just pry it off at that point, eventually it did. We had to clean up behind it afterwards so we could put our new mirror on, but the wire saw certainly helped us.  

[oheyitsbeano]

G'day! 

where did you source this wire saw from? do Bunnings carry them in stock? 

I have a similar situation where I want to remove a stuck-on mirror from my bathroom wall that's got some rust creeping in under the glass and replace it with a cabinet. 

[EricL]

Hi @oheyitsbeano

The cable saw is available but needs to be ordered at the special orders desk. It's called the Haron Cable Saw and it's 600mm long. Depending on how big your mirror is it should be able to cut the adhesive on your mirror.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric