how to remove mirror tiles

Hello,

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to remove mirror panels (about

2'x2' panels, arranged in 6 rows, 6 columns) stuck/glued to a dining room wall?

Thanks in advance!

Michael

Reply to
Michael
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big hammer. redrywall.

they're probably glued on, and getting them off is going to ruin the drywall anyway.

Reply to
Charles Spitzer

Most adhesives let go or get easier with heat. You might try a hair dryer if you do not have a heat gun. Heat one piece of glass, then concentrate the heat on a starting corner and pry gently with a stiff putty knife or small glass setter's crow bar. Wear safety glasses and gloves.

I hope you are not planning on getting the mirrors off in useable condition, it will be a 50/50 venture at best. The heat should also help you get the adhesive off the walls once the glass is off.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net

Reply to
DanG

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I have a similar problem for my bathroom. I haven't got around to removing the 6 pieces of mirror tile yet . My game plan is to

  1. Spray behind the mirror with WD 40 and see if that softens the sticky pads enough for me to pry loose the tiles without pulling out the drywall paper.
  2. If this doesn't work my next plan is to spray WD 40 again and add some cooking oil too in the hope that the oil plus WD 40 will work itself into the glue to weaken it.
  3. If that doesn't work either then its the paint stripper heat gun to semi-melt the glue and soften the pad.
  4. Last chance will be to heat the mirror tile with that heat gun and crack the mirror glass by shocking it with a cold water mister.
Reply to
PaPaPeng

you can go at it 2 ways heat or cold dry ice should cause the adhesive to harden. a hair dryer to cause it to soften. Dental floss, I prefer the Glide brand as it is made form Gore-Tex and holds up pretty well, used like a saw back and forth. It is important to TAPE the glass 100% so that if it does break you will not have as much to clean up and put a towel wit a drop cloth on top of it under the glass the towel will cushion the fall and the dropcloth with catch any shards.

Wayne

Reply to
Wayne

  1. hammer
  2. piano wire see-sawed back and forth

-- dadiOH _____________________________

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Reply to
dadiOH

If you can get behind the mirror to spray in WD-40 at the pads, you can probably slide a thin blade back there, cut through the pads, and save yourself a lot of trouble. Once the pads are cut, the mirror will lift away, and you can then use a putty knife to clean off what's left of the pads from the wall.

-D.

Reply to
David Gale

I'd be skittish about prying glass or spraying WD-40 onto a wall that I hope to paint or paper. A more brutal, basic attack would be to break the mirrior away, at least one panel to see what's behind it. Cover the surface of the mirror with Contact paper, lay down heavy plastic to catch pieces, wear eye protection, and give it a smack. When I was re-glazing daughter's old windows, I used Contact paper to contain the glass when the only alternative was removing it - I did not want to dig at the old, hard putty and put my hand through the window and didn't know any other method to remove it. If the mirror is held on with minimal glue, this might keep you from tearing the wallboard to shreds.

Reply to
Norminn

I tried that long ago and vaguely remember that I couldn't reach the pads on far end of the mirror. It had to be a bare snap off box cutter knife blade because there was no room for any handle attachment if I wanted to work behind the mirror. Since I couldn;' finish the separation I had to pull off the bottom pads and with it a long strip of drywall paper. Rather than mutilate the rest of the wall I put a replacement mirror tile back and left it at that. Its amazing how tenacious these glue pads are. They don't work half as well when used to hold up something else. Anyway I never used sticky pads again on drywall as the chances are that they tear off the drywall paper when it came to removing them.

Reply to
PaPaPeng

Two man job, or one really careful person. The tile can drop without warning. Wear boots.

Reply to
ruffus

Nothing to it.

1) Pry top of mirror away from wall a bit (carefully). Consider inserting a wood shim or two. The idea is to apply seperation pressure continously while you do the next step.

2) Pour a small amount of solvent between the wall and the mirror. "Goof Off" works well here but paint thinner might also. Forget the WD-40. It's not a solvent. As the solvent softens the adhesive, the mirror will move away from the wall. add another shim to maintain the seperation pressure.

3) Stay prepared to "catch" the mirror if the adhesive decides to release all at once.
Reply to
Joe Fabeitz

any solvent you put back there will make it really hard to paint.

Reply to
Charles Spitzer

I've used this technique for 25 years with no problems. You need an exposed edge of a tile. Get some shim or roofing shingles[1] and slide a couple under the mirror tile and tap the end with a rubber mallet until you feel resistance. tap a few more times and wait. Tap more, wait a bit and tap more. You may need to additional shims to add thickness, but the mirror will come off. It comes off gently, too, not shooting across the room.

At some point, a shim may run into the mastic and you'll need to tap harder, or take them out and reposition them.

There will be mastic left on the wall which will have to be removed, or torn out pieces of plaster or sheetrock that need to be patched. If the damage is severe, replaster or install (N) drywall.

charles

[1] wooden shingles, not shakes. You want them to be even, not bumpy.
Reply to
Charles Bishop

That shim idea is pretty good. It'll work. I wouldn't worry about the solvent as it will be paint thinner and the wall paint is oil based that uses the same thinner.

Reply to
PaPaPeng

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