Hanging a Heavy Mirror Safely on a Plastered Wall

A large mirror is heavy, rigid and made of glass, which is an unforgiving combination if a fixing lets go. Getting it up safely is mostly a matter of knowing what is behind the plaster.

Start with the weight

The weight is on the listing. Note it before anything else, because it decides the fixing, and the fixing decides whether the job is straightforward. A framed mirror of a metre or more will commonly run into double-figure kilograms, and that load hangs from a small number of points.

Identify the wall

Drill a pilot hole in an inconspicuous spot and look at the dust. Red or brown means clay brick. Grey means concrete or cement block. White and papery means plasterboard over a partition. On brick and concrete, an expansion plug sized to the screw will carry a mirror comfortably. On plasterboard, a plain plug will not, and you want either a stud or a toggle fixing that spreads the load behind the board.

Two points, level, and share the load

• Use two fixings rather than one wherever the frame allows it.
• Measure from the top of the frame down to the hanging point, not from the floor up.
• Check level with a spirit level rather than against the ceiling line, which is rarely true.
• Use the D-rings or the fixings supplied where they are rated for the piece; do not substitute a lighter hook.

Bathrooms and humidity

Use stainless or plated fixings in a bathroom. Plain steel screws in a humid room will mark the wall with rust streaks within a season, and the corrosion works on the fixing as well as on the paint.

Safety film and toughened glass

Some mirrors are supplied with a backing film that holds the pieces together if the glass is broken. Where a product has it, the listing says so. Where it does not, that is not a fault, but it is worth knowing when choosing a mirror for a child’s room or a stairwell.

When to hand it over

If the wall is hollow and you cannot find a stud, if the mirror is very large, or if it is going above a bed or a staircase, this is work for someone with the right fixings and a second pair of hands. We sell the mirror; we do not install it, and we would rather say so plainly than imply that every piece is a simple job.