Hanging a heavy bathroom mirror?

[T i m]

Hi all,

A mate has roped me into helping him hang a 1400 x 900 mirror on the wall in his freshly re-furbished bathroom. It has been re-tiled and from a knuckle_knock, sounds hollow so I don't really know (pre any further tests) what's behind there (studwork, dot_n_dab plasterboard etc).

The mirror is to be mounted landscape and has a wood backing, into which the supplier of the mirror has attached 3 small hanging 'loops' at the back near the top (but still behind the mirror) and a couple of little brass retaining plates that are exposed underneath. The idea being that you hang the mirror from the top and retain it there (so it can't be lifted up and off) at the bottom.

There are several issues:

I'm not sure I like the idea of trying to provide *three* hanging points? They only have to be slightly out of line and the whole thing could rock about on two and if and / or the middle wall mount was lower it would not do anything at all?

I'm not sure I like the idea of trying to 'hang' something so big and heavy on loops that can swing about. They might be ok once you have them hooked over but as you won't be able to see them while you are doing it ... ?

I really don't want to be party to either me dropping or it falling down onto his new basins and unit (or any of us)!

So, assuming we have checked the wall behind the tiles for services etc ... can anyone recommend hardware that would make this job easier or more predictable please? Are there any brackets, clips, mounts / whatever that would give us a better chance of a getting a good anchorage on(?) / though the tiles and would also attach to the wooden rear of the mirror (looked like 12mm chipboard to me at a quick glance) and give the whole thing a more positive (and ideally, adjustable to some degree) location?

I have wall hung heavy plasma TV's and the like but never on tiles and where you couldn't get to the back of the thing as you were mounting it.

Cheers, T i m

[David Lang]

It's common for mirrors etc to have three hanging points so they can be hung landscape or portrait. Only 2 are used depending on the orientation.

That's always a bugger, you can't see the screw. Best done by feel/trial & error. Two man job.

Once hung the load is only downwards. As long as the fixings are decent even very heavy mirrors will be fine.

[David Lang]

Should have added; Bit of masking tape on front showing positions of the fixing points at the back helps and get one hoked on first, then the other, don't try to do both at once.

[T i m]

Understood. FWIW, this one has 3 direction-orientated hanging points (each bracket has 3 screws into the wooden back of the mirror) along one edge, like these:

I think the intention was to use all 3 simultaneously?

Hmmm, I was hoping there was something 'lass random' David. I have since found there could be:

4 of those might be more definitive?

Or something like these:

I'm thinking something more 'positive' than trying to snag 3 floppy 'D' loops over 3 single screw heads? At least with a wall mounted fitting that uses more than one screw you have the chance of tweaking the positions slightly? Like, if there three holes you can start with one central one and ensure the mirror is plumb etc and once it is, use the other holes.

Yup, mostly 'in shear' (re the screw in the wall).

Ah, and that (in this case) could be a bit of an unknown. Like, would it be considered sufficient to rely on just getting a good anchorage on (just the) the (large) tile, by using an adhesive for example or to try not rely on the tile and picking up on whatever may be behind (and the latter being my preference, assuming you can etc)?

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

Good thoughts, thanks. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Richard]

I used those for a mirror on a bedroom wall. Did the job nicely.

For one over the bath, I'd be looking at something like this:

Obviously, there is the problem of not knowing what lies beneath the tiles.

[T i m]

Cool, thanks. (3 of us were singing 'Mirror in the bathroom' yesterday but only one of us could remember it was by 'The Beat'.) ;-)

Ah, that looks good so thanks for that. I'd seen similar but not those at that price. So, I'm guessing for a mirror 1.4m wide I would use two at the top (one either end)?

Yes, but, with the option of that many holes you stand a chance of getting a good hold on something. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[DerbyBorn]

I like those brass boss things - it means you can tighten the screws and thus open any wall plug properly. I hate having to leave a screw loose as it doesn't cause most plugs to properly deploy.

[T i m]

Good point. However, would you still apply the same logic if it was mounted on a tile stuck with unknown amounts of adhesive to a wall probably lined with plasterboard but of unknown method (dot-n-dab / stud etc)?

Agreed.

Cheers, T i m