How can I cut a mirror that is glued to my drywall. I am installing new bathroom cabinets and they are taller than the old ones. right now it is 78x42 and I want it 60x30. I have tried to remove it but no luck, I don't want to break it.
Thanks
just put cabinet where you want it, ignore the mirror... use a firring strip or decent looking wood and wherever cabinet hangs off of mirror? use the wood to create the illusion that cabinet is actaully touching wall where visible
i was heating some old floor tiles by laying a towel over them and heating with a cloths iron,,my buddy said it would work on a mirror glued to a wall, but i havent tried it. lucas
Break it intentionally. It will feel better than breaking it unintentionally. Or getting cut trying to save a mirror.
I have heard of forty different ways to get them off. None of the ideas worked.
I have removed about five of them. After the first one, it was easy. I learned from the first one you can't get it off in one piece, and if you do, a day's labor is more than a new mirror. Just put down some protective blankets on anything that can get cut, and break the thing. Use care, wear gloves, safety glasses, and one of those Husqvarna helmets they wear when logging is good, too.
Perhaps you could take a glass cutter, and cut grids on it so that when it fractured, it might come off in predictable pieces. The ones I have seen were all held on by a few globs of Liquid Nails, and not a lot of swirly lines. So, the actual area on the back of the mirror that had adhesive on it was relatively small.
Steve
I"m told you can't cut it at all. This was decades ago, but they had a professional glass guy on tv who commented on the typical cat burglar movie where the guy cuts a circle in the window and removes the circul to unlock the windwo and get inside. He said it was impossible, because the scoring has to be done on one side, and the bending has to be done away from the scored line. Since you can't bend your mirror, especially away from you, you wouldn't be able to do it.
Any other glass people who can comment on this?
Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.
The cat burglar would usually have a powerful suction cup with a handle. Pulling from the same side as the scoring is effectively the same as pushing from the other side.
Commodore Joe Redcloud
One way to do it.
Don't always believe the stuff you see on the tube. This on IMDB re: the Vincent Price movie, The Bat... "Goofs: Revealing mistakes: The Bat uses a suction cup and a glass cutter to cut a hole in the glass in order to reach in and unlatch the door. The circular piece of glass attached to the suction cup is twice as thick as the glass from which the hole has been cut. The glass attached to the suction cup is also too thick to cut a hole in using a simple glass cutter."
R
You can't cut it unless it is removed.
We usually use suction cups to carefully work the mirror loose, the paper on the drywall will let loose before the mastic on the mirror will.
Since you don't have suction cups the other option is to use "piano wire" (I suggest braided) to remove it. If you use "regular" piano wire it will get hot and break, and it will take you forever to remove the mirror. The braided wire will not break and the braided texture helps it cut faster.
You can get this from a glass shop, odds are, you will have better luck at an "Auto Glass" shop. Auto glass installers use this more than glaziers do. You don't need a whole roll just about 20 ft, if it's braided, if its not braided you might need a whole roll : )
I would use a piece about ten ft long, this way you have 2 pieces to work with. (a spare)
This is assuming that you cut across the shortest end (42") If you have to cut across the 78" obviously you will need a bigger piece, but it is MUCH easier if you can cut across the shortest side.
You might not be able to do this if the 78" side of the mirror is resting on a vanity top, or splash guard.
What you would do, is take a piece about 4 ft longer than the width, work as much of the wire that you can under one edge of the mirror, leaving about 2 ft of wire (or more) on each side to work with.
Now, take two pair of vice-grips and lock them on each end of the wire, then pull the wire back and forth in a "sawing" motion, while doing this also pull the wire so that it will work it's way down (or across) the back of the mirror. As you work you way across or down the mirror, you will find that it will be easier if you move the vise-grips up the wire to shorten it, instead of trying to cut/saw with such a long wire.
(This will probably be easier with two ppl)
Be CAREFUL! Always have someone applying light pressure to the mirror so that it doesn't fall, and wear gloves and safety goggles
Just take your time and you will be able to remove the mirror and then you can take it to a glass shop and have them cut it to size.
Also, they is a slight possibility that you "might" cut into the silver on the back of the mirror, making it worthless, but this rare if you are careful......Always keep the wire as close as possible to the wall so that the wire will cut the drywall paper and not into the silver on the back of the mirror.
Hope this makes sense, my dog has been jumping in my lap wanting to go out.....lol
It should be tempered glass in a bathroom. Even a pro will not guarantee not breaking it.
Glass can split on a scored line due to shock (impact) as well as due to bending. The score is a stress riser.
Mike
I'm aware of the code requirements for glass near a door, near a floor, in a tub area, but I don't know of a code provision for tempered glass for a mirror above a vanity. Never had a code examiner call it out on numerous sets of plans either.
R(irobledo) wrote:
You can't cut it unless it is removed. =A0 We usually use suction cups to carefully work/pull the mirror loose, the paper on the drywall will let loose before the mastic on the mirror will. =A0 Since you don't have suction cups the other option is to use piano wire (I suggest braided) to remove it. If you use "regular" piano wire it will get hot and break and it will take you forever to remove the mirror. The braided wire will not break and the braided texture helps it cut faster. =A0 You can get this from a glass shop, odds are, you will have better luck at an "Auto Glass" shop. Auto glass installers use this more than glaziers do. You don't need a whole roll just about 20 ft, if it's braided, if it's not braided, you might need a whole roll : ) =A0 I would use a piece about ten ft long, this way you have 2 pieces to work with. (a spare) =A0 This is assuming that you cut across the shortest end (42") If you have to cut across the 78" obviously you will need a bigger piece, but it is MUCH easier if you can cut across the shortest side. =A0 You might not be able to do this if the 78" side of the mirror is resting on a vanity top, or splash guard. =A0 What you would do, is take a piece of wire about 4 ft longer than the width, work as much of the wire that you can under one edge of the mirror, leaving about 2 ft of wire (or more) on each side to work with. =A0 Now, take two pair of vice-grips and lock them on each end of the wire, then pull the wire back and forth in a "sawing" motion, while doing this also pull the wire so that it will work it's way down (or across) the back of the mirror. As you work you way across or down the mirror you will find that it will be easier if you move the vise-grips up the wire to shorten it instead of trying to cut/saw with such a long piece of wire. *Tip-spray some Windex or sopy water between the wall and mirror while cutting, this will lub the wire and it will also make the paper on the drywall soft.
(This method of removal will probably be easier with two ppl) =A0 Be CAREFUL! Always have someone applying light pressure to the mirror so that it doesn't fall, wear gloves and safety goggles. =A0 Just take your time and you will be able to remove the mirror and then you can take it to a glass shop and have them cut it to size.=A0 =A0 Also, they is a slight possibility that you "might" cut into the silver on the back of the mirror, making it worthless, but this rare if you are careful......Always keep the wire as close as possible to the wall so that the wire will cut the drywall paper and not into the silver on the back of the mirror. =A0 BTW, nobody can break into your house with a suction cup and glass cutter :)
And, the only glass that is tempered in a bathroom is the shower door(s).
A pro will not guarantee removal w/o breaking it but chances are if they know what they are doing it's not that big of a deal. Glass shops don't make any money on this kind of work so the guy(s) might not be as careful as they should.
Hope this makes sense, my dog has been jumping in my lap wanting to go out.....lol
=A0
Glazing needs to be tempered if within x feet of a tub or shower (can not look up what x at this moment). A mirror by definition is not glazing.
replying to Steve B, wigginsgg wrote: We just removed a large mirror without breakage. It took a little less than an hour, as we were very cautious. We used shims which we tapped to loose the adhesive.
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