My question is 2 fold (hence the weird framing of it!)
I have a 32 in X 48 in framed mirror that I am trying to install on a wall which has studs that are about 18 inch apart.I am using 2 1/2 inch screws to hold the thing on the wall.
The eyeholes on the back of the mirror frame are 30 inches apart and finding matching stud locations is not possible. I tried this and have ended up spoiling the wall with screw holes that didnt work for me (till i got the stud finder!!). I was advised on getting a hanging wire to attach to the back. Does anyone know what kind of wire I should be getting?
Once I get this wire how do I attach it to the back of the mirror? I was told it goes into the eyeholes but its hard for me to comprehend how it would. Do I have to screw the wire into the back of the frame?
Picture frame wire. Twisted steel. Large enough to support X (insert mirror weight) pounds plus extra for safety. Get it at a picture frame shop. _______________
Run the wire across the back of the mirror through each screw eye. Twist each end around the wire across the back near the respective screw eye, bring it back through the screw eyes and again twist around the wire across the back.
Question: what are you going to nail into that stud to hang the mirror on? It needs to be stout.
Comment: the problem with hanging stuff on wires - particularly from a single point on the wall is that they never stay hanging straight. Three ways to combat that...
Put matching pieces of velcro on mirror and wall so mirror won't shift.
Hang from two suspension points. Yeah, yeah, one stud but you could hang from molly bolts in the drywall.
NEVER, EVER hand anything but a lightweight mirror using a wire.
Buy some D-hooks attack them the same distance from the top or of bottom of the frame, use toggle bolts to attach a molly hook to the wall for each of the two hooks. 32x48 is about the largest mirror that can be hung in this manner safely with a single pair of d-hooks.
Larger mirrors need 2 d-hooks on each side or better yet is to hang them with a ledger strip.
snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in news:1159732665.998338.141270 @h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:
Plastic wall anchors can hold quite a bit of weight providing you don't get undersize ones and you make the hole for them (guess 1/4" for what you are doing) straight and clean. Get good ones that have some bite grippers to the drywall hole. Put them where the eyeholes are or a good place for the wire if you go that route.
Not sure if it would be an eyesore for your case or the mirror would hang wrong but you can put a strip of wood behind the mirror spanning two studs screwed in at either 16 or 24" on center. All studs are spaced like this at minimum. Then you can attach the mirror anywhere on the strip.
Home Depot sells a heavy-duty mirror/picture hanger that doesn't need a stud. It's in the picture-hanger section, OOK brand. It's supposed to be able to hold 100 pounds or something like that. It uses several, angled nails into the sheetrock.
We have a reasonably heavy vanity mirror that I've used one of these to hang for about 5 years now. I was dubious, but since the mirror is probably closer to 40 pounds and the thing was rated for 100, I decided to try it-- so far so good.
In our old house, I put nails into the studs, which didn't end up where I wanted the mirror, so I had to put them at different heights so it would work out and center where I wanted it to. The OOK hanger was sure easier.
As for the person who said "don't use wire" on a heavy mirror -- it can work, you just need heavy-duty wire. Our mirror is hung with wire, and it's a thick, twisted piece much, much heavier than standard picture wire (actually it might be the same stuff, just lots of pieces twisted together).
I'm not sure what you mean by "eyeholes". You need extra heavy-duty eye screws and you need extra heavy duty braided mirror hanging wire. Ask for them at a custom picture framing shop or hardware store. You can even get them to set it all up for you for a little more (frame shot maybe not hardware store).
Anyway on the stile portion of the mirror frame, the vertical framing part, mark two spots 1/3 of the way down from the top, screw in the eye screws. Never use the top rail of the frame! The weight of the mirror can separate the body of the mirror and frame from the rail dropping it to the floor. Push the braided wire through the eye slot, then back around and through a second time. Leave about three to four inches of excess wire. Twist the excess wire end around the long part of the wire, around and around until you use up all the wire. Tape the last remaining end to keep it from coming unraveled.
Now pull it to the other side and cut it from the roll or length leaving 5 to six inches excess. Push the wire through the second eye screw as you did the first side. You can pull it up taut or slightly loose. Years ago with
12 foot ceilings they put chains on pictures, and hung them from picture railings to avoid holes in the wall. They hung pictures HIGH so the chains would be loose allowing the picture to hang at an angle for viewing from below. During these times matting was done wider at the bottom than top and sides because of an optical illusion created by the slanted image.
Today, pictures and mirrors are usually mounted lower and with less angle. The matting needs no extra weight at the bottom for a picture clinging tightly to the wall, but decorators sometimes follow the old fashion because they were so taught by the ancient ones and they do not have the courage to move into newer ways themselves....or they just like the old ways. The optical illusion of a tightly hung picture...has become a mental illusion inherited from the past.
So pull the wire taut or loose as is your taste on the second eyehook. Run the wire over and around and then one more time just like the other side. Cut the excess and wrap....then tape...just like the other side.
How to fasten: You can use any number of patented wall fasteners including the anchors. From the picture framing shop or hardware store where you got the wire, get heavy duty wall fasteners. Don't worry about the stud. Get the kind that has a nail that runs through a metal hook. The nail goes into the wall at a slant. This gives 1/2 drywall the strength of 3/4 drywall because the nail travels at a bias through 3/4 inches instead of 1/2 inch.
SECRET: Use two hangers six to twelve inches apart. Now you spread the weight over two areas instead of one..........AND..........you have two pivot points...both level instead of one. Your mirror will stay straight once you hang it and straighten it. Using one hanger will cause you to forever be straightening your mirror of picture. ALWAYS use two...not one wall hanger.
If you feel the wire is too small for your mirror........use two hanger wires, one an inch or so below the other and slightly longer so that the weight is distributed as equally as possible over the two wires.
Final Test: Observe when you lift the wire after you have installed it. If the stiles of the frame holding the eyehooks move disportionately to the rails (Wiggle under the weight) then your frame is insufficient for the load of your mirror. Take out the screw eyes, add a 1/4 inch backboard to the backside of your mirror. Use screws. Now put your eye screws back close to where they were the first time. Using this method even a thin frame can frame a heavy mirror, since mostly it is the plywood holding the mirror.
Most general stores and many supermarkets sell little packets of stranded picture-wire with mounting hardware. Those have diagrams and directions.
But I wouldn't do it that way. For heavy objects on a wall, you're better off with wall-cleats.
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Use 1x2s or 1x3s the full width of the mirror, attached wherever there are studs, with a bevel forming a trench against the all.
Attach matching cleats in to the (in this case, mirror) only upside down.
If you're in an earthquake zone, you can drill vertically through the cleats and put a pin (a 16d duplex scaffold nail works well) through both brackets, to keep the thing from bouncing loose.
Note that the cleats keep your object 3/4s of an inch away from the wall. *I* don't consider this a problem. If you do, you can fill the gap with more 1x2s, and use the resulting hidden space to hide your propaganda leaflets.
All the mirrors and big pictures sold today include a warning label saying, " Do not hang using wire." As a licensed, insured contractor I have to do thing the absolute best, safest possible way.
When I advise others free of charge even though I may have no legal obligation to do so I advise them of the safest way to do the job. What they choose to do with that information is completely their choice.
I'm not denying your way is better. As far as I know, the wire on our mirror is FROM the manufacturer, though. It's reasonably old (at least 25 years, probably more). Hasn't fallen in all that time, anyway...
If I were sleeping over the thing, I'd probably screw it through the frame into the studs
A true story about when I became so passionate on the subject.
Hanging a mirror for a client, I said , "I'm not sure we should hang this mirror on this wire".
"It hung just fine in my last two houses and in my Grandmother's house before that", was the reply.
Hung the damn thing, walked into the other room and heard a thud,whap, bang. The wire broke, the mirror hit the mantle, bounced off, hit the back of a leather couch and landed on the carpet. Total damage was a scuff mark on the back of the couch.
Wow! Better to be lucky than good! You must have used up a whole of luck on that day.
Anyway.......gentlemen, when those of you who are for or against hanging heavy oblects with "wire"......
Do some of you mean single strand wire? Do some of you mean multi-strand braided or twisted aire? kind like pseudo-wire rope?
I have no problem using muti-strand steel wire to hand large pictures or mirrors. As long as the mounting locations & the wire length are such that large additional forces are not applied to the wire.
I would never use single strand wire.
The fact that some objects come with a mfr's CYA notice really doesn't hold much water as to whether "wire" is safe or not.
It is just that...... a CYA because the mfr has no control over what type of wire will be used, what size & how it will be installed.
Multi-stand wire is plenty safe when sized & installed correctly.
On heavy items I use a 2 or 3 hole strap hanger & multistrand wre
I doubt if the mirror in this thread weighs more than 50 pounds so a 2 hole hanger and 100 pound wire (allowable wire capacity) would be more than enough.
I like to use coated 1/16" wire rope (aircraft cable)
My friend is an interior designer and deals with hanging a lot of the time, she made a blogposts and I came across this and though it might help you (or anyone looking for more info on hanging)
run through the eye loop holes TWICE, if possible. and twist together for at least six inches with more than 4 twists per inch. Gently, else sharp edges can cut into the wire, weakening it.
How long? that gets a bit tricky, too long and you can see the problem, too short and after you hang the mirror the tension pulling can rip out the eyelets, seriously.
My rule of thumb is never less than 30 degrees and try to be more like 45 degrees, which is equal up for distance across. like the diagonal line on a square box, equal up for equal sideways.
Next I have always successfully used the studs, although they NEVER line up where they should be, but using two 'hook' type structures on the wall and close enough to where the eyelets on the mirror are, should be ok. AFTER hanging, level the mirror by sliding a bit from side to side [I know, the mirror doesn't quite end up where you wanted it, but can be close enough to work out] and use a thin foam backing tape along the lower backside of the mirror. The friction will keep the mirror in place although all the 'hanging' stuff behind the mirror is wonky because nothing ever lines up right.
And, for cleaning the mirror? Get a spray bottle, fill with distilled water, simply spray the mirror, squeegee off the water, repeat and DONE. W'ere talking less than 40 seconds to clean a splattered bathroom mirror. Excess water bother you? Buy CHEAP paper towels to blot up excess water, don't even wipe out in the middle, unless absolutely have to. Why cheap? because expensive' towels have additives that will sreak the surface! How to check to see if there are additives in your towels. Soak it in bleach, if gets HOT towel has additives. Example, Bounty will almost burn you.
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