How to Hang a Mirror on Drywall Without a Stud

Weigh the mirror first

A mirror is heavier than it looks, and the glass does most of it. Before you choose a hook, find the real number. Stand on a bathroom scale, note your weight, then step on again holding the mirror. The difference is the mirror.

Write it down. Every choice after this depends on that one figure.

Check what is on the back

Most mirrors come with a wire across the back or two D-rings near the top corners. A wire rides on one or two hooks. D-rings need one hook each, placed exactly under each ring.

A mirror with neither needs hardware before it goes anywhere near the wall. Frame shops and hardware stores sell D-rings that screw into the back of a wooden frame.

Pick the hook by its rating

Monkey Hook packs print their own rating, and the rating depends on the drywall. Here is what the packs in our range say.

Most houses have 1/2-inch drywall on the walls. If you are not sure, go by the lower number. For a mirror near the top of a rating, use Gorilla Grade rather than the Original.

Two hooks keep it level

Two hooks spaced apart stop a wide mirror from tilting every time someone brushes past it. Measure the distance between the D-rings, or between two points on the wire about a third of the way in from each side. Mark both spots with a level line between them.

Then mark each insertion point 1/4 inch above its spot, as the instructions say, and install the hooks one at a time.

When to skip the hook

If the mirror weighs more than the rating on your pack, a spring-steel hook is the wrong tool. So is any spot over a stud, because the tip will not get through. In both cases, drive a screw into the stud or use an anchor rated above the mirror's weight.

Bathroom mirrors over a sink are worth the extra care: a drop there lands on porcelain. Our weight guide has every rating in one place, and Gorilla Grade starts at $8.29.