Trying to remove mirrors glued to a wall. What is the easiest way to accomplish this wihout hiring someone?

Question

The mirrors are 6 feet tall and 4 1/2 feet wide. The glad is over 1/2 inch thick.
How can we do this without having to hire someone to do it?

Ooops, I don't why I typed "glad", I meant "glass" sorry!

The glass is also held up by those wall mounts.
Thanks for all the tips! :)

Answer 1

Can you soften the glass with heat from a hair dryer, and then use a piece of fishing line or some other light cord to separate the mirror from the wall? I've never tried doing anything like this, but it's the first thing that comes to mind. You might be able to find a cable saw at a camping/outdoor store, and tie something to it to cut the glue also.

Are you sure they're glued on? A piece of glass that size would be VERY heavy, probably at least 150 lbs. Unless the bottom edge is resting on the floor or something else that supports it, I wouldn't trust just glue to hold up that much glass.

Answer 2

Ok, if it were me...

I would put contact paper on the mirrors, so that if they "break", they wont shatter all over the place!

Now, if you can get behind one mirror, then I would take large putty knives and pry along all the edges. With a large one, you should get about 6 inches or so, into the sides of the mirror, and dislodge any glue.

After that, I would get a large knife, and shove in back of the mirror..(12 inch or more if you can find it, and as thin as possible) and work this around the back of the mirror on all sides.

Dont worry about hurting the sheet rock behind it, because your going to HAVE to replace it, no ifs ans or buts about it! Having that much glue on a mirror, to hold it, will adhere to the wall fast enough, so that it wont come off easily, and it will tear the paper and plaster off behind it.

(I wouldnt recommend just cutting the mirror out with the plaster because you never know what type of utilities are behind the wall, and if you hit electrical lines it could be fatal).

Then, I would take two people, with gloves on, and grab the edges and pull the mirror from the wall, gently easing it away. You will get paper coming off with the mirror, but dont concern yourself with it, just have another person stand by with a razor knife and slice the paper away from the mirror.

Its not a one man project, thats for sure!

I wish you well..

Jesse

Answer 3

wow! 1/2 inch think mirrors are incredibly thick. i've never heard of glass that thick unless it's bullet proof.

regardless, it's the glue u gotta be concerned about here. can u smash the mirror first? thats the easiest way. kinda like removing tiles. break em up first. then just scrape the glue off with a good scraper, use the kind for flooring since u have a wide area. its on a long handle and around a foot wide.

ur gonna have to patch the holes created by the glue. honestly, for this size, i'd just rip off the drywall and replace it with one sheet. its not worth the patching.

Answer 4

I saw this done on a TV home improvement show. They used some putty knives to get behind the glass. Even though they were professionals, they still ended up having to repair the wall after the glass was removed. So, be prepared.
Also, just a reminder, 1/2" glass 6' X 4.5' is going to be very heavy.Be sure to have help.
These may help. http://www.home-improvement-source.com/removing_a_mirror_glued_to.html
http://www.startremodeling.com/_ubb/Forum10/HTML/000077.html

Answer 5

Good question.
If it attatched with clips, you slide out the clips and the mirror will lift off!
If the mirror is glued, try heat or moisture to loosen the glue.
Perhaps it would be wise to hire someone if you believe that it is bad luck to break a mirror!