might not be a WWing question but dont know where to post..

[chris fox]

I am putting the finishing touches on my master bath and need to mount mirrors to the wall. The mirrors are custom so there are no mounting points. I also want to mount these floating off the wall approx. 1"

My plan is to mount using a french cleat made from scrape white oak or use aluminum U channel. But not sure of what adhesive or mounting method for the back of the mirror w/o ruining the silver coat. Is silicone adhesive the way to go?
The mirrors are 52 x 27 x 1/4 thick so their pretty heavy.
Any ideas are much appreciated

Thanks
Chris

[Chris Allen]

Liquid Nails makes a mirror adhesive that is safe for the silver backing.

http://www.liquidnails.com/ViewProductDetails.do?productId=39

Although, having a mirror attached to a wall with only a thin strip of adhesive sounds a little scary to me! I would find a way to get a little more adhesive contact.

[chris fox]

Chris,
Good point. I could live with 3/4" instead of 1" - so then I could cut up MDF or plywood 4" offset of the mirror so it still looks floating. With this method I should have plenty of surface area for liquid nails?

[Chris Allen]

That sounds like a much better plan. Just mount the mdf/plywood to the studs with screws. I would use plywood over mdf, for a bathroom application.

[Peter Quinn]

Yea, definitely check out a good local glass company for a product called mirror mastic or use a similar product. Many adhesives will soak through the porous silver backing and leave strange ghosts in the visible front. Not sure I trust a narrow french cleat to bear the weight of a sizable mirror due to the strength of the bond between the wood and the mirror back.

[Tom Godley]

I had this done one time.

The mirror was on a half wall in a bathroom -- so you could see it from the sides.

The mirror came mounted on plywood that was almost the size of the mirror -- then another layer of plywood had a section routed out for two clips that I hung on lag screws into blocking behind the wall.

I had two strips made that were the same size as the mirror sides -- they were covered in black laminate that covered the plywood.

I remember using some small felt pads to shim the whole thing.

One thing that you must do is have the sides of the mirror sealed so moisture can discolor the edge.

[Matt Meiser]

If you use MDF, you could make it almost as large as the mirror (maybe 4" less overall each way?), seal the edges with glue size, and paint flat black to make it disappear.

[Christopher Ryan]

One thing you might consider would be a small ell bracket on the bottom edge, although mastic and other products do a great job of holding a mirror to the wall. Most of them allow "creep". Glass suppliers carry An angle that is about 3/16" x 1/2" that will catch the bottom edge, and be nearly invisable.