Can I stick a mirror up with tile adhesive?

[King Herald]

Wifey has forced me to tile the bathroom, as opposed to building my hot rod, over the last few days. So, tiles are up, grouting yet to come, but SWMBO has decided we are to have a mirror in the 18" x 24" gap I left in the tiles. Can I simply spread some normal tile adhesive on and trust it to stay there, or do I need to put screws in the holes? Or both?

[jkennyd]

There is a special silicon based mastic you can buy just for that purpose. I have a 6ft by 3ft up with it in my bathroom. I cant remember what its called.

[Raverbaby]

Probably best to use a quick grab adhesive ( sticks like s**t or no nails ) although ive never tried using tiling adhesive, it may be alright, someone with more knowlege will hopefully confirm.
I would avoid standard silicone as ive known it to damage the mirror through time.
Bearing in mind whatever you use will no doubt damage the existing tiles when removing the mirror should you/your misses ever change your mind

Edited by Raverbaby on Saturday 4th April 19:25

[mwy1964]

jkennyd said:

There is a special silicon based mastic you can buy just for that purpose. I have a 6ft by 3ft up with it in my bathroom. I cant remember what its called.

+1 Do not use tile adhesive... The mirror stuff as mentioned above is very good and has worked well on two big mirrors I have fitted over two years ago... I'd hate to have to remove them though, feel 7 years bad luck going against me...

[rick.e]

mwy1964 said:

jkennyd said:

There is a special silicon based mastic you can buy just for that purpose. I have a 6ft by 3ft up with it in my bathroom. I cant remember what its called.

+1 Do not use tile adhesive... The mirror stuff as mentioned above is very good and has worked well on two big mirrors I have fitted over two years ago... I'd hate to have to remove them though, feel 7 years bad luck going against me...

I have two mirrors, each about 5ft x 3 in my bathroom stuck up with bathroom sealant and they have been there 10 years now. Cover the wall with walnut sized blobs 4-6 inches apart. Put the mirror up, press it into place so the blobs spread and support it until the sealant sets. If you are tiling round the mirror, do the tiling first and use tile spacers to stop the mirror sliding down the wall. Us a 6 or 7 foot piece of wood to prop the mirror to stop it falling forwards.

One final, but important point. A piece of glass that size can bend if you don't press it into place evenly. Have a good look before the adhesive sets to make sure you don't appear tall and thin or short and fat!

It is OK to grout up to the mirror, but if you fix it with tile adhesive (which is usually quite brittle) the mirror may crack due to differential expansion.

Uisng the method above you will end up with the mirror attached by sealant patches 2 or 3 inches in diameter and 3 or 4mm thick, which will allow a little movement.

[elster]

rick.e said:

One final, but important point. A piece of glass that size can bend if you don't press it into place evenly. Have a good look before the adhesive sets to make sure you don't appear tall and thin or short and fat!

I think he means get the wife to check that she looks thin in the mirror.

[rick.e]

elster said:

rick.e said:

One final, but important point. A piece of glass that size can bend if you don't press it into place evenly. Have a good look before the adhesive sets to make sure you don't appear tall and thin or short and fat!

I think he means get the wife to check that she looks thin in the mirror.

On the other hand if you really do want to encourage her to start that diet "on Monday", press the sides of the mirror harder than the middle!

[V12Les]

Stixall (clear), better than "sticks like st" and the likes.

[ozzerr]

low modulous silcone is what your wanting,normal silicones may remove the mirrors backing.

[B17NNS]

I'd avoid anything not specifically recommend for the job as it may damage the mirror coating over time.

This is the stuff you want.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/87258/Sealants-Adhes...

[Simpo Two]

King Herald said:

Wifey has forced me to tile the bathroom, as opposed to building my hot rod, over the last few days. So, tiles are up, grouting yet to come, but SWMBO has decided we are to have a mirror in the 18" x 24" gap I left in the tiles. Can I simply spread some normal tile adhesive on and trust it to stay there, or do I need to put screws in the holes? Or both?

As the mirror has holes in it I think it would look a bit odd if it didn't have mirror screws in it. Or you could use mirror adhesive as alreday suggested, and just add the chrome domes with sealant to hold them in place for effect.

[Mr POD]

I put up a 173 cm x 98 cm mirror with 3 tubes of industrial spec silicon sealant. The only problem was standing there for 3 hours whist it set.

[Simpo Two]

Mr POD said:

I put up a 173 cm x 98 cm mirror with 3 tubes of industrial spec silicon sealant. The only problem was standing there for 3 hours whist it set.

Two nails or a batten underneath would have done it - the suction would have stopped it falling forwards.

[IanMorewood]

Raverbaby said:

Probably best to use a quick grab adhesive ( sticks like s**t or no nails )

Just hope the plaster on the wall your attaching too is strong enough then, I a shelf stuck to the wall with that stuff, first one bracket popped then the next, in the space of 5 seconds 3 shelves had emptied themselves on the floor thanks to bits of plaster coming away from the backing plaster.

[King Herald]

elster said:

rick.e said:

One final, but important point. A piece of glass that size can bend if you don't press it into place evenly. Have a good look before the adhesive sets to make sure you don't appear tall and thin or short and fat!

I think he means get the wife to check that she looks thin in the mirror.

Not worried about her, it's me who needs the curvy mirror trick.

B17NNS said:

I'd avoid anything not specifically recommend for the job as it may damage the mirror coating over time.

This is the stuff you want.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/87258/Sealants-Adhes...

I'll pop into Been & Queued tomorrow, see if they have the proper mirror type goop. Sounds like tile adhesive is not the ideal glue of choice. Last thing I want is the mirror dropping out when my little 'un is underneath it.

Now, any tips on grouting for beginners......

[Simond001]

Grouting around mirrors can look a bit nasty. Grout may also attack the mirror backing.

Why not consider using a trim around the mirror.

[King Herald]

Simond001 said:

Grouting around mirrors can look a bit nasty. Grout may also attack the mirror backing.

Why not consider using a trim around the mirror.

Unfortunately the mirror is the exact width of three tiles, but leaves a gap top and bottom, so we can only put some trim/spacer/border on the two sides. Still, SWMBO is in charge of the ornamental side, I just provide the finance, taxi service and labour. She stands there telling where I've gone wrong and how to do the job.

[catso]

I have a large mirror (approx 5ft x 2ft) on a bathroom wall, I put it in when I was tiling the wall and I used tile adhesive to fix it staright to the plaster, with tiles all around it all grouted to each other - great fit as it blends with the tiles being of similar thickness. I put it up 18 years ago, had no problems and it certainly wouldn't come down without breaking it and ripping plaster off the wall.

[Utterly Clueless]

Tiger Seal FTW.

seriously, that stuff is mental. you could use it to adhere a cupboard handle to a car windscreen, and once set the windscreen would break/pop out before the adhesive gave way.

[tossbag]

What you need to do is heat the mirror to 1400 degrees using theramite.
When the glass is almost in a liquid form it should be easy as pie to simply nail it to the wall without breaking the glass.
Place an open freezer in the room for rapid cooling and in the morning you will have a safely secured, now tempered, mirror.