Hanging a mirror on a wall in your house can be a quick and simple task or it can be more time-consuming depending on a few factors. The heavier the mirror, the more care you have to take to ensure you use materials that can support the weight for the safety of you and everyone in your household.
Hanging any mirror – especially a large, heavy one – has an inherent danger and you want to make sure it’s hung properly and safely to avoid it falling and injuring someone or damaging your wall and floor.
Of course a mirror also serves a purpose and if you’ve already hung the mirror and notice a distorted image staring back at you, you have a problem.
There are several main reasons why your mirror shows distorted images, particularly at a distance of over 5′. Common reasons are:
- Poor quality mirror
- Incorrect hanging of the mirror
- An uneven wall
- Bending of the mirror over time
Let’s take a closer look at both how mirror distortion can be addressed, how to properly hang a mirror and how to fix the distortion of a mirror in the cases when it can be addressed.
The main reasons a mirror shows distortion in the reflection
Poor quality mirror
Some mirrors are of poor quality and naturally distort the reflection due to the way it was manufactured.
The thinner the mirror, the more likely it is to be distorted, too. So when you purchase a thicker mirror, the chance that is will show a distorted reflection goes down.
Solution: You can try to frame the mirror if it doesn’t have one or otherwise make the mirror thicker by adding a layer at the back. You could also try to use the mirror in a small room or on a wall with a short wall on the other side since distortion may only appear beyond several feet. You may also have to replace the mirror completely if the distortion can’t be addressed.
When purchasing a mirror, don’t choose one whose glass is less than 1/8″ thick. The thinner the glass, the more likely it will bend over time. The thicker the glass you choose, the less likely you’ll have to deal with your mirror bending in the future.
Incorrect hanging of the mirror
The most likely way your mirror will show a distorted image from around 5′ and beyond is if the mirror is hung on an slight angle. If you use a nail or screw and attach the mirror from the top, unless it’s perfectly flat against the wall, chances are it will hang at a slight angle.
Basically the top of the mirror that is attached to the wall will jut out from the wall a bit and the bottom part of the mirror will be flat. This slight angle can cause the distortion in the reflection when you look into the mirror.
Solution: Some mirrors come with small pieces of styrofoam attached to the bottom of the mirror. This ensures that the mirror is flat against the wall when attached from only the top. You can either attach a small flat piece of styrofoam at the bottom of the back of the mirror to act as a buffer when you are only hanging the mirror from the top. You can also use a shim to straighten the mirror out along the wall.
It may be possible – depending on the size and weight of the mirror – to push it on the wall flat enough that any distortion is minimized or eliminated. If you’re using an unframed mirror you can attach it completely flat against the wall at each corner just like a builder would in a new home.
An uneven wall
Not all walls in a home are completely flat. If you are dealing with an uneven wall or one with a hollow spot, you can also use a shim to even out any hollow spot that you are dealing with.
Solution: Shims are used to compensate for walls that are uneven or surfaces that aren’t perfectly flat. You can add a shim(s) to compensate for part of the wall that is uneven.
Assuming you aren’t able or willing to fix the wall, you can also move the mirror to another wall or try to fasten it on a part of the wall that is straight and not uneven.
Bending of the mirror over time
The thinner the mirror, the more likely it is to bend over time. The weight of the mirror typically causes the slight bending and thus the distortion of the image in the reflection. Framed mirrors typically don’t bend unless the frame starts to fall apart or otherwise loosen. You might have to use nails and a hammer to fix the integrity of the frame which should also unbend the mirror and pull it back into shape.
Solution: You can add glass to the back of a mirror or otherwise increase the thickness to bend it back into shape and prevent future distortion. You may also need to shim the mirror against the wall if the wall is uneven or hollow.
You can also get the mirror framed if it is currently unframed. If you’re facing a situation that you can’t do yourself and the mirror is worth investing it, talk to a picture framer or other person skilled to help you fix the mirror and to frame it if necessary.
How much does an average mirror weigh?
Mirror weights vary considerably due to the wide range of sizes and designs and whether or not they’re framed. You can find mirrors that range in size from 16′ – 100′ wide (horizontal side) with varying heights.
You can calculate or at least estimate how much your mirror can weigh (unframed) by considering the known weight of glass by thickness.
| Glass thickness | Weight in lbs per square foot |
| 1/8″ | 1.64 |
| 3/16″ | 2.45 |
| 1/4″ | 3.27 |
| 3/8″ | 4.91 |
| 1/2″ | 6.54 |
| 3/4″ | 9.84 |
| 1″ | 13.11 |
The total weight of a mirror is determined by several factors including:
- The size (dimensions) of the mirror
- Whether or not the mirror is framed and if so, with what material
- The thickness of the glass
A small wall mirror typically weighs 2 lbs – 5lbs give or take.
A medium sized wall mirror may weigh 6 lbs – 15 lbs.
A large wall mirror typically weighs 15 lbs and up. Larger mirrors 20 lbs – 40 lbs are easy to find in varying designs, shapes and framing options which can add to the weight.
Even larger mirrors like the one shown above might simply be placed on the floor leaning against a wall rather than hanging it.
Depending on how large and heavy your mirror is, you will have to figure out how best and safely to hang it. The material your wall is built with will also impact the decision i.e. drywall, concrete, plaster, brick.
If you’re looking for a rule of thumb to choose your mirror size, it’s generally suggested to find a mirror that is 2/3 the size of furniture that it is hanging above.
What materials should I use to hang a mirror on the wall?
You’re typically going to have the option of using nails, screws with plastic plugs, or a picture wire hanger to hang a mirror on your wall. It depends on how large and heavy your mirror and what the wall is made from.
But you have other options available too again depending on the size and weight of the mirror and what your wall is made from. The most common options for hanging a mirror on your wall include the following:
Nails
Nails are really only appropriate for a small lightweight mirror as the nail simply won’t have the ability to hold the weight safely. If you’re attaching it to drywall, it can easily damage the wall and fall, too.
Having said that, some people do hang mirrors and small pictures using a nail(s) and have success doing so.
Drywall hooks
A drywall hook is used in conjunction with nails. So while the nail attaches the hook to the wall, the mirror is held up by the hook itself. For larger mirrors you can use multiple hooks.
The benefit of a drywall hook is that it tends to offer a higher weight limit than using a nail alone. Some generic wall hooks claim weight limits of around 30 lbs but a product like the Megahook® for example is advertised at holding up to 100 lbs and only requires a screwdriver with no drilling required.
Screws and anchors
A plastic anchor is used to provide extra support and grip on a wall particularly drywall or concrete. After drilling the proper hole size, the anchor is pushed into the hole and the screw is then screwed into the anchor.
The anchor is designed to expand in the wall as the screw is turned, which is what gives it the extra grip and thus the ability to support more weight. Decent quality anchor and screw sets have been advertised to hold 50 lbs of weight but check the instructions and specs of individual products to be sure.
Mounting tape
If you don’t want to put a hole(s) in your wall from nails or screws, mounting tape can be an option if your mirror isn’t too heavy. You can find mounting tapes with a wide variety of weight limits including 2 lbs, 10 lbs and 30 lbs among others.
A good quality heavy duty double-sided mounting tape may hold up to 30 lbs but you have to carefully read the instructions and actually use enough of the tape to get this level of support. Mounting tapes usually require the entire perimeter of the mirror or frame to be covered with the tape so ensure you buy enough as required.
While the tape won’t cause holes in your wall, it may leave a residue or remove paint once you take the tape off so keep this in mind especially if it’s a large mirror. You may end up needing to repaint the wall if more than a small touch up is required.
Mounting is normally easy and quick to use and has a variety of other uses i.e. to hang a picture, door sensor, LED lights, temporary blinds, etc.
French cleat brackets
French cleats are a type of molding that is attached in multiple places on a wall with screws. French cleats can hold a wide weight light anywhere from 20 lbs – 200 lbs in some cases so they’re often used to hold cabinets in place either floating in the middle of a wall or in the corner of a wall. Weight limits also depend on how the screws are attached to the wall. They’re fairly versatile in this regard.
The top part of the cleat when attached to the wall will have an angle – typically 45 degrees – that you then sit the mirror on, to hold it in place. So the entire cleat supports the weight of the mirror on the wall rather than just one or two anchor points such as with nails or screws.
Other than the weight advantage offered by french cleats, it’s a modular system so you can easily remove the mirror and swap it with a different sized one without having to drill more holes to accommodate the new size.
Summary
We bought a brand new mirror and not a cheap one either. We brought it home, hung it on the wall from the top only, with two screws and plugs and thought everything was fine.
It wasn’t until we walked past the mirror at a distance – about 15′ away – that we noticed a distortion. We’d never seen this before. We immediately figured the mirror must be bent or otherwise faulty. What else could it be?
Turns out it could have been a number of different things as we discussed above. After a bit of online sleuthing and researching the problem, I asked my wife to stand at the same spot where we first noticed the distortion while I stood next to the mirror. I gently lifted the bottom of the mirror about 1″ away from the wall and my wife told me the good news. The distortion was gone.
In our case, the distortion wasn’t a problem with the mirror itself but rather how we’d hung it. A minor amendment – placing some styrofoam behind the mirror to hang it perfectly straight against the wall – and the mirror was “fixed.”
No more distortion.
Your situation might be different and a bit harder to correct but check with the easiest and obvious fixes first before running out and returning the mirror like we almost did, and before buying any other materials that you might not actually need.