This actually works well. I personally take some old, unwanted self-adhesive vinyl such as for lining drawers and cover the entire mirror with it before the final removal to keep the glass intact should it get cracked in the process. It keeps everyone safe.
This technique worked great. Removed three mirrors today with a helper. We criss-cross taped the mirrors with duct tape in case they broke (they didn't). We both wore safety goggles in case there was any glass shrapnel. Last tip is to by at least two packs of wood shims because as the mirror works away from the wall you need to double them up.
It worked!!!! I showed my husband your video and together we removed the long full length mirror from the wall without any issue at all!!! The mirror was removed without any damage and the walls will be easy to prep for painting-putty and sanding only- no massive holes or missing chunks. SO IMPRESSED!!! Thank you so much!!!! 👌💪👏
I followed the process as demonstrated and it worked perfectly. I also used gloves with rubber grips and a suction-cup handle to help handle the mirror after it released from the wall.
I used 42 one foot long shims on the top and the left side of the mirror. I had them in 3-4 shims in thickness. I put in a few pieces at an angle on the wall side. I found out the whole mirror was sprayed with glue of some sort. It wasn't spotted like your example here. Well, it came off in pieces. Some of it snapped off like glitter! It was a job to clean up. Anyhow I did use the shims to at least break off in big pieces. As I got to the center I had to use a wide putty knife and hammer. I'm glad that is over. I can't imagine the stuff you full-time remodelers get yourselves into. Appreciate you guys.
Wow.. yes I'm glad you were able to get it off ok. I have actually never seen one that is glued the way you described there. Somebody got really glue happy! Thank you for the feedback.. 😀
Just used this to remove a mirror glued to a brick fireplace. I was a little nervous because the was no paper to tear. I tried it though, and it worked like a charm. Thank you so much.
Your video was actually the most thorough of all the ones I've watched with this process, so thank you! I like the idea of doubling or tripling up on the shims. I have a slightly related question: if you're not keeping the mirror, how can you dispose of it? Do you have any recommendations?
If you get it off in one piece, you can post it for free on craigslist or facebook marketplace... etc.. If you don't want to deal with anyone, you might have to take it to the local landfill. If it won't fit in your vehicle.. you might have to break it to make it smaller.. of course if you go this route.. extra caution is required since you can get hurt with broken glass!
I did it yesterday!! Should have looked this up before I did my other one several years ago ... That was a nightmare!! This worked like a charm!! Had to triple and quadruple the shims at times, but still worked wonderfully!!
Of all the methods I’ve checked out this one looks the most thought out and intelligent! Thank you so much! Im not planning to reuse the mirror Im removing - I’ll see if I can give it away for free otherwise I will carefully break it up to dispose of it. I’ll let you know how I go! 🤞
I just used this method TODAY to remove 3 mirrors, 4' x 6'. Huge. I bought a 50 foot roll of adhesive carpet protector from Lowes for $12 to tape the surface of each mirror, because this was scaring the crap out of me (which in the end was only peace of mind, but great peace of mind) and 5 bundles of shims for $1.87 each. Only used 4 bundles, and it was amazingly straight forward. It is so interesting to hear the glue start to 'moan' and then POP, POP, POP. The installers were NOT conservative when they glued these up, lots of spots, but following the steps here was MONEY. Thanks so much for a great tip. Cost me $20, but saved me $250 at least. Now what do I do with 3 huge mirrors?
Hi Esti ~ get hold of a length of cheese wire / guitar string wire tied to a couple of wood dowels / handles at each end & slide behind the mirror, moving it downwards & side to side to slowly cut through the glue all the way down the back of the mirror ~ best get another person to help move the cutting wire from side to side especially if it's a wide mirror ~ involves patience / gentleness but mirror will be off wood in under 30mins.
@@johnmckay5621 Yes that would work, but in this case the mirror was to close to the corner. I believe it'd be to much friction to bend the wire up 90 degrees and try to slide the wire back and fourth..
Thank you for the video. Can anyone offer advice when the mirror is almost "built in"? Our bathroom mirror has a cabinet to the left/top and a wall to the right. Due the cabinet up top, the longest shim I could use would be 3-4" and no clearance at all to use wood shims on the sides.
That sounds like something I'd have to see... I don't quite have a picture in my mind... I think u might be able to post a picture on my Facebook page under take a bath PRODUCTIONS is my other channel.. maybe it would help if I could see it
Hello, what's the safest measure to use, to take down thin wavy, adhesive square strips glued to the wall. Those shims look to thick. It's 4 of them, about 3' to 4' inches apart.
I haven't had to try that one! But if I were to tackle it is any there room on the sides? Put the shims in from the side (long ways)? Be sure to wear gloves and a thick shirt, maybe even a jacket for protection. Put an old blanket on the floor in case it breaks so you aren't cleaning up glass for a week..
What do you do if all four edges of the mirrror have no access to insert shims? The backsplash and ceiling on the top, and the two walls on the side all come up to the edge of the mirror.
That's a good one.. Obviously this method won't work to good. How bout some suction cups? Harbor Freight sells them pretty cheap. You won't be able to get them as even as the shims, but it should still work.. I'd be careful and wear some gloves and probably a thick jacket to protect your arms incase it winds up breaking..
wonderful , thankyou. I would ;ay some food film over the mirror and tape round the edges first...... just in case!! Always wear safety goggles, fine splinters of glass can easily damage your eyes.
I have clips on my mirror as this clip. Can i not remove the mirror when i just want to remove the vanity only? I am asking cause will the mirror clips hold and support the mirror? It has clips both top and bottom but at the bottom its right on top of the vanity. I just want to replace the vanity and the whole bathroom cabinet. Will i need to remove the mirror to do this?
john tran of course I can’t see what u have there.. there’s usually a track or channel that the bottom of the mirror sits in. It’s possible they just glued that to the wall or just set it on top of the vanity top without attaching it to anything. Or it’s possible they did attach it. If it’s just setting on top of the vanity with caulk or something, it could let loose and the whole mirror will fall, or they might have glued the mirror to the wall like they did in my video here, so there’s a lot of variables. Be cautious about removing the vanity Incase the mirror isn’t attached very well. Hope this helps.
The Home Improvement Channel there are two bottom clips for the mirror so as well two top clips for it. The two bottom clip of mirror is right on top of the vanity backsplash. I was hoping does the bottom clips and top clip can support the mirror. I dont want to remove the mirror . I want less work for me. I just need the whole vanity gone. Dont know if i could do that without taking the mirror out. Im assuming if there is mirror clips there wont be glue behind the mirror, but there are a lot of random people out there lol
@@huyquoctran2088 Yes, you'll be able to see if those bottom clips have a screw threw them. As long as those bottom clips have a screw, in theory it should support the mirror! Even with the clips, it could still be glued to the wall, but maybe not... it's 50/50. If it's not glued, as long as those bottom clips aren't just screwed into drywall, it'll hold the mirror.
It will, but it'll be trickier to get the shims down that far. You'll need two people, one to hold onto the mirror incase it suddenly pops off the wall. If you keep feeding shims from the top, they should work their way down. Just to try remember to keep the pressure even so don't rush it or the mirror will just break. Just wear thick gloves and keep safe incase it decides to break up on you...
What do you do if the mirror goes all the way to the wall on the top and sides, and goes all the way to the sink on the bottom. This leaves no room to hammer shims in from any direction? It's like the right wall of your mirror, but on all sides
Hi, yes that's a bit unusual.. that's a bit of a problem id say. There's probably no way to avoid breakage but I would try 2 large suction cups so u can pull a fair amount. Being careful, You'll have to take measures to protect yourself.. a thick coat, thick gloves... boots if there's danger of glass falling on your feet.. safety glasses. if the glass breaks then you'll have room for hammer and shims.. id start at the top and pull slow to see if u can get it started.
I have the same setup in a nook in my bedroom where I just removed an old vanity. Mirror to ceiling and side to side attached to wall. My mirror also bottoms on what was the old vanity. It also has a lightbulb coming through the middle of it. Any updates on removing this type of mirror
What is that thing ur using under the hammer ? I'm not familiar with tools but this doesn't look hard, I'll b doing it myself just need to go buy those things
It's just a metal 5n1 or 6n1 painters tool. I was using it because the shims are kinda thin and this was allowing me to be a little farther away from the wall so I didn't beat up the wall with the hammer. Any piece of metal would work, or even a piece of wood. ..
I used a bike gear cable but also have guitars but didn't think of that. I guess one is as good as the other. I also tapped the mirror in case it broke and wore safety glasses. Shards of glass in the eyeballs would be hard to get over.
@@jstar1000 The bike gear cable is probably better since probably longer than the guitar string. Definitely don't want glass in the eyeballs! It's not a good look... ☹️
So what do you do when shims don't work? I've pounded those things in from EVERY direction, many one right on top the other (something I tried at the end), and the damn thing WILL NOT come loose. I mean at this point I feel like I need a samari sword to run down in there. We've been through like 25 packs of shims, I've never seen anything like it! Any suggestions? I don't care if the mirror breaks.
Are you stacking the shims? If you stack enough shims they'll be so thick there's no choice but to break the mirror. So if the shims just aren't working for you and you don't care about breaking it, what about a pry bar with a nail puller?.. (The thin kind that's bent at 90 degrees) There's so many ways to pull it off if you're not worried about breaking... Please, please use whatever safety gear you need... gloves, coat, safety glasses..etc. PS.. if you use the pry bar, find the studs and use the pryer where the studs are, otherwise you'll have a bunch of holes in the drywall..
Yes, the shims might have more of a tendency to fall out. IF you can the shims in and fairly consistently placed I think it'll work fine. Just take safety precautions by wearing gloves and glasses just in case..
Yes it'll probably work if you have enough room on either side of the mirror to keep the wire fairly straight. I can't see that working as good if the mirror is from corner to corner since you'll have to bend the wire at a 90 degree angle. I don't think it'll go back and fourth very smoothly with that bend like that. I've never tried that, so I could be wrong.
I tried that with a small mirror and the wire just didn't want to slice through. The adhesive coated the wire and then it stuck, Plus it's really dense stuff.
Most hardware stores will have them.. You'll need a pretty big pack, sometimes there's a small pack and a large pack. I'd get the large pack.. maybe even two packs depending how big the mirror is.
HI, do you mean without damaging the wall? I don't know of a way to make it come off perfect. You can use a flat scraping tool to carefully scrape off the glue, but you'll probably need to be ready to do some mud work on the drywall to fix it back perfect.
iam about to atemp to remove a large size bathroom mirror, i read a lot of comments and i came out with additional safety measure like taping (duct tape) a cardboard to the entire mirror just incase it breaks or perhaps explode into someones face. rubber gloves, facemask, longs leeves and pants i know for someone it might be over kill but for me safety first. i dont want to spend time in the E.R
I would use gloves, and apply some heat on the mirror. Glass is very conductive of heat, so it will warm up the material used to glue the mirror to the wall.
IF you notice I did have gloves on! I was trying to save and reuse the mirror. I think that heat would discolor the mirror coating on the back of the mirror. You can try that, but there's no way to know where the adhesive is and where to apply the heat. You'd have to heat the entire mirror... How are you going to do that? And actually get it hot enough to dissolve the glue? Just my thoughts. Thanks for the comment... :-)
Now I'd like to know how to repair the circle damage on the drywall so that when the project is completed it will be a smooth wall. For the life of me I don't understand why these big ugly mirrors get installed in the first place.
You'd have to scrape off the glue and patch the drywall. I do have several videos on fixing drywall... But yea, if you don't put a similar mirror back, you'll have to deal with the glue spots... :-)
I can’t believe they glue these things on. It seems like the upper and lower clips screwed into studs would be sufficient and allow for future upgrades without causing damage.
I just used shims for doors and such. They can be bought at any big box home improvement store like Lowe's or Home Depot, if you don't have one nearby, most hardware stores should have them. If you wanted to be extra careful, you could put some tape on the mirror and wear gloves and safety glasses just in case.
@@TheHomeImprovementChannel I tried this and because my mirror had been stuck down with sealant the mirror broke up into pieces, and it took a long time to remove.
