On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:45:25 -0500, "Buerste" wrote:

I have a 5' x 6' mirror in a bathroom that has to go. It was glued on the
wall 30 years ago. Any ideas how to get it off without breaking it? It's
tight up to the ceiling and one wall. I don't think I can get a wire behind
it.


I remember reading about how you could use a wire to cut through the
glue and release the mirror and reuse it. The mirror I was trying to
salvage was in good shape. When I tried the wire trick, the mastic
just kind of yielded and seemed to remelt behind the cut from the heat
of friction. It gummed up stranded wire, so it would not do much. In
addition, all the action started removing the silver backing on the
mirror edges. On top of that , there was not much room on one side to
maneuver the wire, so I could not put much leverage on the wire. After
an hour of getting nowhere, I taped up the mirror, put a couple of
pillows over the vanity with a drop cloth and plastic over them and
hit the mirror with a crowbar just with enough force to break the
mirror into pieces (wearing safety glasses). The $40 for a replacement
mirror was worth it. I am sure the wire trick works, but depends
critically on just what type of mastic or material was used to install
the mirror.