I decided I wanted a 4" backsplash around the top. The mirror is in the way. I can't raise it because it will hit the light fixture. I have to remove it and cut it down. Most mirrors are glued to the wall. Removing them without breaking them is difficult.
The first thing you do is cut the paint and caulk on the edges to prevent the surface layer of the drywall from ripping off with the mirror.
I made a tool to cut the glue behind the mirror. This is an old door kick I had laying around. I sharpened one of the short sides on a bench grinder.
I started to work the tool behind the mirror pushing and breaking the glue bond. The idea is to slip this all the way behind the mirror till it falls off. At times I used a hammer.
I put some wood shims under the mirror to prevent it from breaking if it came down hard. Depending on how thick the glass is mirrors are heavier than they look.
A few more pushes of my tool and the mirror is almost free. It's being held by a little drywall glued to the back. Use gloves in case the mirror breaks.
I wasn't able to reach the left side with the razor knife so some of the drywall came off with the mirror.
You can see how the mirror was glued to the wall.
All and all not too much damage to the drywall.
The wall is ready for patching. Even though this is going to be covered with a mirror again I like to patch and paint the wall.
The completed patches. Once it dries you go over it with a damp painters sponge to blend the texture to the wall.
I masked off the marble top and ran a bead of silicone between the top and the walls.
I need to cut 5" off the bottom of the mirror. I'm using a drywall T square as a cutting guide. I put a piece of oak under the area where the score is going to be for support.
Here's what the on line sites don't tell you. It takes a lot of pressure to make the score. The score has to be consistant throughout the length.
I lined up the oak strip on the cut line and gently pushed down on the glass with gloved hands.
The glass didn't break evenly at the edge because my score line was so bad. I'm going to try one more cut.
I got lucky and the mirror broke off fairly clean. I'm going to use a J mold mirror mount to cover this edge.
You want the mirror to rest evenly on the wall. I'm using a razor scraping tool to remove the old glue and drywall from the back.
Any edge you cut on a mirror should be sealed so the edges don't turn black. I used some polyurethane applied with a q-tip. I did wipe the drips away.
I painted the wall behind the mirror and did a little more drywall patching to hide the old edge. When the mud is dry I use a drywall sanding block to blend the patch. You know for sure that it worked when you paint over it.
I'm mounting the mirror without gluing it to the wall so it can be easily removed. The mirror is 36" high and I have to keep it around 1" under the light fixture so I can swing the mirror up without hitting the glass on the fixture. I measured down from the top to locate the bottom of the mirror.
This is a piece of the J mirror hanging strip.
I cut the J hanging strip to match the width of the mirror. I Iocated the studs and put one screw in on the J strip. I knew the stud locations from the vanity install.
I leveled the J strip and drove the 2nd screw in.
The J strip is installed and ready for the mirror.
I located the stud positions on the top by marking pieces of masking tape.
I used plastic mirror clips for the top. There is no weight on them. They only keep the mirror against the wall. I just lined up the clip with the mark on the masking tape and drove the screw into the stud.
Finished
