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I'm attempting to mount a long mirror on a door using pressure-sensitive adhesive tape.

Problem is, the instructions state that it reaches 50% adhesion after twenty minutes, 75% after 24 hours, and 100% after 72 hours.

I don't necessarily have to keep pressure on the mirror for three days, but I'd like to make maintaining pressure on it less of a hassle.

How can I maintain pressure on the mirror on the door for as long as possible, without me needing to be there with it?

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  • How much weight is the pressure sensitive tape rated to carry—and in what direction? All the pressure sensitive tapes I've researched, have very limited sheer-resistant strength. Some things will hold for a bit and then let go unexpectedly. You can check with the manufacturer who will have data. – Stan Jul 16 '16 at 0:30
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I'm assuming this is an interior door....

  1. Take the door off the hinges.

  2. Lay the door on the floor.

  3. Place the mirror on the door.

  4. Place old books/newspapers/weights/cans of soup/etc... so that you don't have to apply any force. Wait however long you like.

  5. Put door back up.

This (a) makes sure that pressure is evenly distributed (if you distribute the weights evenly) and (b) pretty much cannot go wrong - not clamps to slide off, nobody to mistakenly open the door from the other side and so on.

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  • Good idea. I would also add a step after step 3: 3a.) Flip the door over. This seems like the easiest way to apply the most even pressure. – JoelC Jan 28 '16 at 14:42
  • you may also want to take the handle off to make the door lay flat, if there is a handle on the door – Dragonrage Jan 29 '16 at 17:30
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    @Dragonrage: or just put the door on a couple of books. – Stephan Kolassa Jan 29 '16 at 20:52
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Applying pressure is simple: cut the end of a long board a 45 degrees, glue a piece of thick plywood to the cut end. Prop the uncut end on the floor and the plywood, used to spread pressure, on the mirror. Hold the board in place with weights.

However, I would not recommend double-stick tape to hold a glass mirror, because under the steady force of the mirror's weight, it will slowly pull away from the wall until the mirror crashes to the floor.

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  • If it helps, it's mounting tape and it's apparently specifically for this purpose? – jimsug Jan 28 '16 at 2:13
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    Just a heads up - in many cases the tape is strong enough, but the surface of the door is not, so the mirror will crash down, ripping of door-paint with the strong tape. – Falco Jan 28 '16 at 10:13
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    @Falco Mine fell exactly that way during last week's earthquake. smash – Jolenealaska Jan 28 '16 at 18:20
  • Doors are also subject to frequent jarring, as you will note if you try to hand something on a nail on one, or if have a door-knocker. (The latter inadvertently knocks when someone shuts the door, depending on the force used.) I would suggest that if you have to mount it with tape instead of the usual hardware, you mount it to the wall instead (the one usually hidden by the door when it's open). – Mathieu K. Jan 29 '16 at 4:29
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enter image description here

Use some of these (they're good at spreading the pressure, much less likely to mar a finish than a typical clamp) to clamp a board against your mirror.

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Mount the mirror, then wrap string, twine, or fabric around the door and mirror, top to bottom and tie it off. Make sure it's tight. Then, one at a time, insert cardboard sheets (cut out from boxes, etc) between the string and mirror until there's even pressure at the mounting tape points beneath the mirror.

You can leave this in place for however long you like, and if the twine/string/fabric is thin enough it will allow you to continue to use the door normally.

Image of door side view with door, mirror, and cardboard wrapped with string

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Get a large plastic bag, preferably quite thick plastic, and slide it over the door and mirror (maybe you need to remove one hinge pin?) Then tape with duct tape where the open end hangs loose on the door. Make as air tight a seal as possible. Next cut a corner off one of the closed ends of the bag and insert the end of your vacuum cleaner hose. Again, duct tape to make a good seal. Now run the vacuum, the bag will collapse and apply up to 14lbs per square inch of pressure uniformly over the whole area of the mirror. Depending upon how good your sealing is, you may only need to run the vacuum for a few minutes ever hour....otherwise not!

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Take 2 pieces of timber of approximately the same length and sandwich the door and mirror between them like this:

enter image description here

Screw or clamp the timber above and to the side:

enter image description here

Leave the door open until you are ready to remove the whole thing.

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