Plastic mirror mounts - a warning!

[RogerM]

Picture the scene. New Year's Eve, and getting ready for guests to arrive. I had just stepped out of the shower, and was half dry when the phone went. Cursing profusely I left the shower room to answer it, and less that 10 seconds later there was a thunderous crashing sound, which just seemed to go on and on. It was obviously far more than something falling off the sink - I really thought something had fallen off an aircraft and come through the roof. Looking through the door I was greeted by a scene of devastation. A mirror, 4 ft x 3 ft had fallen off the wall, hit the soap dish holder below and shattered.

This was were I had been standing toweling off my (not so) little pink body just a few seconds before. The mirror had been supported by 3 heavy duty plastic mounts, supplied by the glazing company that had provided the mirror about 16 years ago, and they had all sheared off.

We have two other mirrors in the house that are mounted using the same fixings, so they are going to have to be taken down immediately. Screwfix is closed just 3 days a year - Xmas and Boxing Day and today, New Years Day so replacing the mounts with something like this will have to wait. Fortunately the sink and loo are undamaged, but the soap dish and loo roll holder have also smashed, and I think the carpet will have to go as well as I'll never get all the shards of glass out of it.

So - I suggest you check to see how your mirrors are mounted, and if the mounts are plastic, replace them asap with steel. Having initially cursed our caller, I went on to thank him for having almost certainly saved me from serious injury. It could have killed a small child.

A happy and safe new year to you all!

 

[Paul Chapman]

:shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[bourbon]

that was very Lucky

 

[Stu_2]

Close call. I'd go and put a tenner on the lottery for tomorrow, to see if your 'lucky streak' continues.

 

[blackrodd]

That's very scary, Thank god for the 'phone call at that very time!
Rodders

 

[rileytoolworks]

Bloody hell, that could have been nasty.
Glad you weren't in there.
God luck with the clean up.

Adam.

 

[flying haggis]

I have used those fischer mirror mounts and they are good, but the mirror can slide from side to side in them. I fixed the two "top" mounts at the top of the sides of the mirror

 

[gwaithcoed]

Hope you didn't look into the broken mirror while standing over it with just a towel over your "pink bits" or you could get 7 years embarrassing bad luck. .

Glad you are OK though. Happy New Year

Alan.

 

[Woodchips2]

That was a lucky escape! Last year I was replacing the standard glass in our porch screen with toughened glass and had safety glasses, gloves and steel caps on just in case. As I gently pushed the old glass out it shattered and a shard of glass went through my trousers and into the fleshy bit above my knee. Lots of blood and blooming painful but nothing compared to what could have happened to you with nothing on.
Regards Keith

 

[AndyT]

Wow what a scary near miss.
I think you should let the glazing company know about this so they can stop supplying those mounts.

 

[Harbo]

A few years back our shower door toughened glass exploded - thankfully nobody was in the room at the time.

Rod

 

[RogerM]

For info, the plastic clips are made in Germany by Klick-Klack and are still widely available. I have taken down the remaining 2 mirrors that I put up at the same time using the same clips, and the ones supporting the second 4ft x 3ft mirror are deformed and clearly on the way to failing.

The glazing company that sold them to me tell me that this is the first time they have heard of any of these failing - but to quote Mandy Rice-Davies, "they would say that wouldn't they!" They refuse to accept responsibility for a product they sold 15 or 16 years ago, which I can understand, although they had no answer as to whether it is reasonable to expect the product to announce the end of its life by failing in such a dangerous and catastrophic way. Nor are there any instructions to change them after a set period, or any info on the maximum weight/size of mirror that they will support safely.

All the wall mounted mirrors in their showroom are mounted with the same clips, and they haven't deformed at all. Anyway, I've now replaced all mine with steel Fischer mounts from Screwfix which should last indefinitely. As a good will gesture they have offered me a 20% discount on a replacement mirror which I'm inclined to accept as the quality of the dg units I've had off them over the years has been excellent and their life has exceeded the originals they replaced.

However, I will never use plastic mirror mounts again and I'm advising everyone to change any they have for steel ones asap, particularly if the mirror is large, or if the mounts have been in use for more than 5 years. I would say you owe it to your families!