Hanging a heavy mirror on the wall is not as same as hanging a small painting or a piece of décor. It may seem more difficult than it is when you try it yourself. You need to decide the right anchor and make sure that the mirror is not going askew to create any trouble. But before hanging anything heavy such as a mirror, you need to decide what type of wall you need to have. Since each type of wall requires a different anchor, it is not pretty simple to make your choices.

Let us consider a few steps necessary to hang a heavy mirror and keep it centered on the wall, these steps will serve as a guide for you to avoid costly mistakes and create more space into your rooms.

Most Important Considerations

To know what type of wall you have is the most important thing you must know before starting any type of installation on the wall including mirrors or decoration pieces. The goal of hanging these things is to provide elegance to your room instead of creating a mess; every type of wall behaves differently than other whether it is a brick wall or a drywall. Each type of wall also need a different set of anchors or supporting hardware to properly lift the weight of a large mirror. Therefore the consideration of placing the hook in the right place is most important. As compared to small mirrors, the full length mirrors need more care because they are expensive and more delicate.

Preparation Steps

Step 1

First of all, determine the type of wall you have, for example, you can have a drywall, a masonry or a plaster wall. Push a tack into the wall and find out if it is a drywall or not; if it goes inside easily, it is a drywall.

Step 2

A hanging mirror must have a strong frame, a new mirror is safe to install when it already has a hardware attached. In case of an old mirror that does not have a hardware attached, you can use the frame with angle brackets to suit your needs.

Step 3

The next step would be to weigh the mirror, for weighing the mirror, the bathroom ruler would work just fine or you can use a scale. On the packing of hardware, the weight limits are listed to make things more informative for you to help you make a better choice.

Step 4

Pick the right spot to hang the mirror on the wall. Locating the mirror above the stud is helpful but not necessary with the right anchor. Always mark the center of the stud and keep in mind not to attach it near a light bulb, switch or an outlet.

Read the guide provided by the electrical outlet devices to locate the wall switches more effectively.

Steps for Hanging the Mirror

A few steps you can follow to hang a mirror using hooks and make hanging more useful. Let us guide through the process.

Step 1

Hold the mirror in place and keep it close to eye level. Now close to the center of the top edge, put a mark on the wall with a painter’s tape or a pencil. Take a caution here that you may need a helper if the mirror is heavy.

Step 2

On the back of the mirror, you will probably see the D-rings on the wire or a hook. You can hang the rings or wire from the hooks on the wall.

Step 3

To get the right space between the hooks, stick to a piece of tape and mark the space between D-rings.

Step 4

In step 1, you marked a line. Measure down from the mark and transfer the distance to the wall.

Step 5

Now mark the location for the hook mounting holes by centering your level on the wall.

Step 6

Secure the hardware to the stud if you are in line with it. If you are not in line with the stud, then try using a wall anchor.

Step 7

Some large mirrors can scratch the wall, you can add bumpers to the bottom of the mirrors so that wall does not get damaged by scratching.

Step 8

Now is the time to gently hang the mirror, use hooks already installed in the wall and push the mirror into them gently.

Tips for Centering a Mirror on the Wall

We came across with professional ideas on how to place a mirror at the right place on the wall and considered the points to complete an installation effectively. Now, the remaining part of the discussion will focus on the centering of the mirror on the wall to make it look pleasing to the eyes. Centering the mirror horizontally or vertically are the two choices you can make; both may work at certain spaces. You can install a beautiful framed or frameless mirror, either way, depending upon your ceiling height.

1. Horizontally Centering the Mirror

• Measure the width of the wall from either end and divide it into two.

• Utilize tape to measure up from the floor to 57 inches which are standard installation height.

• Measure from the hook of the frame at the back to the top of the frame.

• Create two more marks on the wall i.e. 57-inch mark on the wall 2 inches and another mark 55 inches off the floor.

• Finally install the frame to this third mark, with it, the top of the frame will be exactly 57 inches.

2. Vertically Centering the Mirror

Vertically centering the mirrors can take up the following steps:

• Measure the width of the wall with a tape and divide this number with two; this way you mark the center horizontal point on the wall.

• Measure the height of the wall and note this halfway point on the wall with a slightly darker mark.

• Now measure the height of the frame and divide this by two again on the back of the frame with a pencil.

• Measure up from the center of the wall and mark this spot as ‘x’ on the wall.