How to attach heavy mirror to plaster and brick wall General problems, solutions, information and advice on fixing to walls of all kinds

[Jakester]

I have bought two mirrors; 12.5kg and 25kg. They came with plastic dry wall anchors (see pictures) but I am affixing them to the inside of the outer wall to my flat. The wall will be plaster and brick (see attached pic of exposed wall near plug).

What type of anchor do I need? I assume rawl plugs will be insufficient for this purpose. The screws to go into the supplied plastic anchors on which the picture will hang are #8 1-1/4"

Many thanks

[stoneyboy]

Hi jakester
Plastic plugs will be OK but you need to go deep enough to achieve a stable fixing. Use 60mm long screws and drive the plug into the blocks behind the plaster layer, before you screw the screw in. Your choice of screw gauge (eg 4, 4.5, 5) will be dictated by what will fit in the bracket.
Regards S

[Jakester]

Thanks for the response. It has been a bit tricky finding plugs and screws which match! I am getting pan head screws as they match the original and look a bit more stable given the mirror hangs off them. As the bracket is embedded in the mirror, I need the screw to go almost flush with the wall but protrude half a cm so I can allot the mirror down.

The gauge is maximum of 5mm by the looks of the bracket. Many screws are much longer than the accompanying plug and over 50mm the plugs seem to go get wider. I bought Fischer 6x50 as they then leap up to 8x65. The screw is 7cm but the plug is only 50mm. I thought about getting the 8x65 just for the plugs but was a little worried the 7cm screw will be too long and narrow for that plug

[stoneyboy]

Hi jakester
Your 6x50 plugs will be fine, drive them in about 5-8mm below the finished plaster surface. You will probably find getting the hole centres right for the mirror brackets difficult but with the plugs below the surface you will be able to make some bending adjustment.
Regards S