We bought our new home in April and I knew the second I saw it, that I had to replace the glued mirrors with a more stylish option.
I wanted both the master bath and the kids' bath done before we moved in. My husband was not on board with this plan, but I soon begged him long enough to carry out my plans.
The first thing I did was hit the internet to see what tools I needed to complete the job.
Peeps, let me begin by saying, removing glued bathroom mirrors is not an easy task. It sucks. Like royally. It involves a lot of bad attitude and swearing.
Read this: Grow your Hustle to Support your Dreams!
So if that's not your thing, then step away from this post and leave your builder grade boring mirrors in place.
If you are brave and ready for a challenge then read on. (be sure to print out the handy supply list and step by step printable guide to keep on hand!)
Why I am here and who I am:
Hey mama, I am Trish— AKA Labor Nurse Mama. I am a labor and delivery nurse with over 15 years of high-risk OB experience. I am also a mama to 7 kids and have given birth to 6. This means I am quite familiar with the postpartum period and how to navigate it. I am the online birth class educator for Calm Labor Confident Birth and The VBAC Lab birth classes and the mama expert inside our Calm Mama Society a pregnancy & postpartum membership community! I am passionate about your birth and motherhood journey! You can find me over on IG teaching over 230k mamas daily. I am passionate about your birth and motherhood journey!
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Here are the before pics for both bathrooms.
Master:
Kids' Mirror:
How to remove glued bathroom mirrors
Step One: Tape
Think duct tape. Lots and lots of duct tape. My big idea was to resell these mirrors as they had never been used.
Well, that went to hell in a handbag real quick-like.
So be prepared to lose the mirror, but be happy if you can remove it intact.
The first thing you need to do is tape the heck out of your mirror. I recommend doing a criss-cross sort of pattern. The tape prevents the mirror from shattering everywhere. Trust me and DO NOT SKIP THIS PART!
We did the same with both bathrooms. I did realize that maybe my OCD played a role in the amount of tape I used. You can lighten up on the heavy hand if you choose.
Read this: High-Risk Birth Story
Step two: Protect the Sink
Cover the sink and counters
I just happen to be a nurse and fortunate enough to get unused drapes. These make fantastic drop sheets.
You may not be so lucky, which in that case, I say buy some heavy reusable drop sheets to cover the sinks and counters. This is a necessary step in case the mirror breaks and falls onto your sink. It also protects the sink from your feet in case you do like we did and stand on it.
Step Three: Tools
The most important part of removing glued bathroom mirrors is heating the glue. You have to heat up the glue to remove the mirror. They use a ton of glue and it is truly difficult and time-consuming.
Heat tool (top recommendation for removing glued bathroom mirrors)
You can use a blow dryer or a heat gun like we used to remove our glued bathroom mirrors. Lucky for us, My husband had one in his work van but they are surprisingly affordable on amazon.
Wire & Gloves
We read to use heavy wire to slide behind the corners and work down to remove the glue as it is heated. Honestly, this was a little bit much. But is one way to remove the glue. I recommend using work gloves to protect your hands and also attach something to the ends to make it easier. (see the picture)
Spatula
We used two tools t help pry the mirror away as we heated the glue.
- I used a tool used to pull off the trim on baseboards.
- We also used a spackling spatula/putty knife to pry the mirror and slide the wire behind it.
Suctions Cups
Mike happened to have these large suction cup tools that ended up saving the day altogether. We used them to gently pull the mirror off after decided we did not like the wire and spatula at all.
Step Four: The process
After taping and covering the area, we then began to work. We used the heat tool to heat up small sections of the mirror, starting with the top corner.
We heated and then used the prying tools to shimmy the mirror away from the wall. (My terms..lol). After pulling it away from the wall a bit we then took the wire and used a sawing motion to slide down behind the mirror.
It took us about 2-3 hours for the larger mirror and maybe about 2 for the smaller one. It was a long process but so worth the trouble.
To take the mirrors out of the bathroom, we wrapped each one in an old cardboard moving box. We unfolded the box first, to make it larger. Then in the garage, we taped the box around the broken mirror to toss it in the dump.
The Wall After Removal!
We had to repair part of the walls after removing the glued-on bathroom mirrors. After repairing them, we then painted them and let them dry for a couple of days.
(in the meantime, Mike replaced my boring silver hardware with matte black…that post is coming later!)
Drum roll…please!
Master Bathroom
We used two tall mirrors framed in black for our bathroom. I wanted round but space didn't allow. We chose an arched top and love them.
Kids' Mirror
For the girl's bathroom, we used a round gold mirror and it looks amazing.
I hope you enjoyed this post and would love to hear your feedback.
Stay tuned for more makeovers to my new modern farmhouse!
