Paul wrote:

On 5 Oct, 14:42, (Steve Firth) wrote:
Paul wrote:
Can I put two large screws with spring toggles, or similar, into the wall
and just suspend the mirror off those?

I would use the screw-type plasterboard fixings.

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...91620&id=11923

I have used these to hang radiators on the walls, and the radiator
weighs more when filled with water than any of the mirrors we have (and
that includes a mirror we have which is real plate glass and a heavy oak
frame).

Thanks, those babies look just the job. Presumably one drills a small
pilot hole in the wall, taps in the fitting and then screw into the
wall?

Not even that, just identify the location and screw the fitting into the
wall. That tiny little prong on the sharp end drills the pilot hole
without the need for a drill. Don't overtighten it, hand tighten only,
because this will reduce the strength or even worse pull the fitting
right through the plasterboard.

The more I think about it - and I realise this is famous last words,
tempting fate etc. - the more I think it ought to take one Hell of a
vertical force to pull any reasonably sized screw out of a plaster
board wall. No?

Umm sort of. But these fittings have an axtremely deep thread which is
part of their strength. Woodscrews just don't have that much grip on a
friable material like plasterboard. The plasterboard fittings are
distributing the weight over a relatively large area.

Also remember that with a mirror, some component of the weight will be
trying to pull the mirror away from the wall because we don't hang
mirrors absolutely upright.