Glass mirror expertise needed, please!

[Jeff Scott]

Our main contractor was here today. We cut and installed shoe mould, and hung the pocket doors (originally, they were French doors between the living and dining rooms, but had been leaning against a wall in the basement since the early '60s. We had the doors stripped and refinished for their new way of life.

Mark and I put some straightedges and 4' and 6' levels up against the mirror in various directions. I knew the whole thing was leaning back slightly but we learned that diagonally from LL to UR the mirror is flat, but from UL to LR it is concave with about a 1/4" gap in the middle to the level. I believe the diagonal dishing is the major issue to deal with.

 

[bolophonic]

No tape, just some type of PL (I assume, I did not see what specific adhesive they used). Yes, the installers supplied the mirror.


Wow, how could anyone not notice that?!?!?!? Fortunately, our fireplace is parallel to the wall - horizontally. Over time it has tilted forwards a couple of degrees. The new mantel design helped to cover the gaps along the sides of it.

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Photograph Copyright © Jeffrey P. Scott 2017 All rights reserved.

View attachment 2613232
Photograph Copyright © Jeffrey P. Scott 2017 All rights reserved.

The mirror is supposed to be 1/4" thick but I did not measure it while the installers were there. It did look a bit thinner, probably due to the beveled edges, though. The old mirror I did measure at 3/16", no bevels on that one.

I keep dreaming of some leaded glass for one of our doors. Damn you!

I mean... personally, I enjoy the precision cheats that we had to do to square up certain parts of this old house, so I like to point out to people how tight that floor work turned out, but I am constantly amazed by how many things people do not notice on their own. I would estimate that probably 90% of people never look closely at any detail work in any room.

 

[Jeff Scott]

A shame too, as these old houses have some really nice details and wood that are not generally found in new construction, for the most part.

 

[David Jayne]

Yes.
Mirror sould have been set into a rabbet and the frame should have had a back. They went cheap and now you have lost the mirror (it will break when being pryed from the wall), you will have damage to your wall (wall will get damaged) and you'll need a new frame.

Is the mirror attached in the frame too? If so look at the distance from the glass to the edge of the frame all the way around. Any variation is an indication the frame is smaller than the mirror, which means the mirror has been installed wrong.

The pictures look like the mirtor is convex, i.e., pushed out in the middle.

What kind of wood butchers use glue to attach a mirror to a wall?

I don't know how else to tell you this, so here goes: it's extremely common practice and usually works just fine.