What fixtures should be used when hanging heavy mirror on external wall ?

Help,

Bough a fab mirror in M&B.
Only problem it's very heavy.
BF reluctant to hang up over fireplace due to weight.
It's a solid external wall, plaster board with plaster skim.

What fixtures/rawl plugs should he be using so that the weight of mirror is supported by concrete wall & not the plasterboard ? Drill bit ??

Advise much appreciated

Red

Go for the self drill steel plugs in woodies

Any particular size ?
Are they easy to use?

Where's M&B?

Meadows&Byrne

on the internet or they have a shop in Dun Laoighaire
Soon to be open in Clarehall !

I thought it was Mills and Boon.

Those self drilling steel plugs for plasterboard won't carry any great weight. The max load is about 7 kilos pulling out or 19 kilos sheer (straight down)

The only safe way to hang a heavy mirror is to fit a timber batten into the cavity between the plasterboard and the block.
This means cutting the slab out to allow the timber to sit onto the block directly. The depth of the cavity will dictate the size of the batten.
The batten will be fixed to the wall using woodscrews and rawlplugs, the screws will need to be long enough to extend through the timber and about 40-50mm into the wall.
The mirror then hangs on screws or hooks fixed to the timber batten.
Same as a plasma screen, really. It's a lot of work but think of the consequences of the mirror falling.

Never heard of it, was thinking Mills & Boon myself!

Hey Hoagy

What about hanging a mirror (4ft X 3ft) on an internal wall - its probably not 19 kgs but should I be looking to screw into the timber baton behind the plasterboard or even use a bracket to attach it?

Any help appreciated

John

Whatever you are hanging on an internal wall you should try and get onto a stud if possible.
That 19kg figure is the breaking point load according to Thorsmans, rather than the safe working load which would be a lot less.

The 19KG is probably for EACH fixing... use more if you need to.

Of course don't hang so much that the plasterboard itself comes away from the wall! I reckon the long four or five inch rawlplug wall anchors should be ok for your purpose... although the plasma screen TV method sounds very good to me.

Cheers
Joe

Mirror finally went up after trying out several types of heavy duty rawl plugs & screws. Don't know how secure but has passed 24 hour test....