Mirror fell off wall
 

Hi folks,
My mother-in-law had a mirror come crashing down from her master bathroom wall yesterday. She was fortunately in another room when it happened. Just curious if anyone has had a similar problem... 12 year old Lantana

I do know that mirrors have to be hung just right. You need more than one nail to hold them because they are very heavy. Mirrors many times will come with hanging instructions on the back of the mirror. Glad no one was injured.

This was actually a full mirror that was glued onto the wall during initial construction. When it fell onto the bathroom countertop, it damaged and broke everything it hit. Sheeesh....this where she sits and does her makeup and hair

With the different humidity issues it would not surprise me. Call warranty dept, find out who to replace it

Wow, what a mess that must have been. I'm so glad she was nowhere near when it gave way. I would definitely talk to the warrantee dept about it, even though hers is aged out. They may have some insight to the problem from other occurrences. I would also have that conversation with whoever installs the replacement. Makes me wonder what's holding ours up....

Adhesive holds the mirror in all bathrooms- the mirrors had to come down when we installed granite, saw the adhesive

Interesting discussion, I think I am going to add 2 or 3 of the mirror hooks from ACE hardware. This way if the glue/adhesive fails the hooks will hold the mirror in place. I just need to find the studs.

I would call home warranty to see if there is any category of responsibilty they could put this incident into and repair the damages.

If not then I would advise them to put out a warning to all home owners regarding the potential failure of glued on mirrors.

If someone were in that room when that happened there could very easily have been a serious injury.

We had the same thing happen in our 1998 Designer. The mirror did not break as it was stopped by the medicine cabinet from falling. We put it back on the wall with mirror clips. This is a 5 ft mirror! In the other bathroom we added mirror clips to the 6 ft.

I think I read somewhere that Father Ed at St. Timothy had a two for one special on Poltergeists...................;).

What contractor/ sub contractors did the work?

Is there perhaps water leaking behind that mirror?

Mirror, mirror on the wall
Whats it take to make you fall
All it takes is moistened glue
I hope it doesn't fall on you

Hope this isn't followed by 7 years of bad luck. Glad everyone is okay, could have been much worse.

This isn't funny !

...

Thanks for sharing this story. Glad to hear your M-I-L is OK.

Could you please explain what mirror hooks are, and how they would hold the mirror if the adhesive fails.

These are mirror hooks.....
Topzone® 1/4" inch Heavy Duty 25 Pound Crystal Clear Plastic Mirror Holder Clips, Pack of 12 Pieces - - Amazon.com

I recommend these as a safety back up, as there is really no way of checking/inspecting how well the mirror adhesive was installed without risking breakage of the mirror. Mirrors are glued on to the drywall with special mirror adhesive. It usually works well. On rare occasions a mirror can fall, and of course that can be very dangerous.

Adding these mirror holders is cheap insurance, provided they are installed properly into studs with good screws.

Understand that everything has a failure rate. Most failure rates are very small. I have no way of knowing the failure rate here on mirror adhesive, but if there are around 75,000 homes here, each with at least 2 bathroom mirrors, that is over 150,000 mirrors. If one percent fail, that would be 1,500 mirrors......001% would be 15 mirrors.

The failure rate of me driving through a roundabout is much higher.

I have also seen some nice retrofit framing put around these mirrors. It really gives a different look and would also hold the mirror...

Frank

Already in my cart, thanks Frank !

BETTER PRICE Same PARTS;
11-TMH225
12 Pcs Wall Mirror Holder Clips Kit with Screws Anchors Drywall Mounting Set | eBay

I long ago quit using these type of drywall or hollow wall mountings, as I have found them to be inadequate for anything less than something very light.

Instead, I suggest using these.

60 Pcs Heavy Duty 1 8" x 3 4" Hollow Wall Drive Anchors w Truss Head Screw New | eBay

I put them in the drilled hole first (drill a hole slightly smaller than diameter of anchor then lightly hammer them in), use the screw to tighten/expand the anchor first, then back out the screw before final installation.

The secret is when 'sucking them up/installing' is to not go too fast with the electric screwdriver/drill, as they can get hot and the screw will break off inside. In addition, set your drill on the lowest setting possible so that you don't over-tighten and then use a screwdriver for the final pressure being applied.

Since I started using this method, I have never had anything (large mirrors/clothes racks/medicine cabinets/etc.) ever come out or loosen.

Good luck. :ho:

yes I agree those are better if you are just going into drywall.
But if you have a wall mirror fastened to the wall with a lower bracket on the back-splash and glued to the wall, and want extra safe i hope people that use the plastic upper clips go into a stud and not just drywall.
These plastic clips are only good for keeping the mirror from tipping forward if the glue lets go so you don't have the same problems as the folks did in this thread.
It is just for piece of minded.
Alot of the installers of mirrors had to go to a VOC glue when the EPA removed all the good glues from the markets.
if you are just going into drywall i would use your anchors for sure, if i installed everyday and worried about looks and placement on the wall.
but if you can hit the studs with the plastic clips you are much better off.
Remember folks the purpose of these plastic clips are to hold the mirror from tipping forward and in my opinion i wouldn't trust them to hold any weight close to what they are rated for, in commercial applications no one in the business would even think of using this type of mounting.
JUST FYI.
Good luck.

Actually those are shown with anchors so installing into studs should not be necessary. Bathroom mirrors re not so heavy that four of these won't hold it even without adhesive.

Picked up a set of 4 at Walmart for $1.47 in the hardware section.

Excellent posts so far on the subject. As some have said already, the purpose here is to have a secondary way of holding the mirror back in case of adhesive failure.

The heavy weight of these mirrors are on the backsplash.
So these little plastic anchors would not be supporting the weight, just holding the top to prevent the mirror from tipping.

Respectfully, Frank

Mirror Installations
 

Mirror adhesives are to hold the mirror only against the back wall... the adhesive WILL NOT CARRY THE ACTUAL WEIGHT OF THE MIRROR.
Even special adhesives such as Locktite for Mirrors (PL For Mirrors) and others are not meant to carry the weight ... the bathroom mirrors must rest on top of the backsplash or as mentioned plastic mirrors hold... also make sure you use the adhesive for mirrors only as the regular caulk type adhesives will ruin the silver in the mirror backing of the mirror..

Note its a good idea even if resting on the back splash or counter... use
mirror holds at the top until the adhesive is dry for 72 or more hours..