<p>Anyone know how to repair the edges of a mirror that has worn from the back so that the silvering has come off? Our bathroom mirrors have no frames, and the edges have worn from the back so that the mirroring has gone. You folks know everything! How do we fix this? I have thought about ordering frames and covering the wear and tear, but am curious to know if there’s an easy fix - some sort of rub I can towel or paint on.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s fairly expensive and kind of hard to find places that do this. I believe the places that do re-silvering wait until they have several pieces, so they can do them all at one time. I waited 6 months to have mine done, but it turned out beautifully.</p>
<p>[Resilvering</a> a Mirror | Bathrooms | This Old House](<a href=“http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/asktoh/question/0,,1192156,00.html]Resilvering”>http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/asktoh/question/0,,1192156,00.html)</p>
<p>Depends on your taste…we had one like that in our kids bathroom. We ended up taking it down and buying two very nice oval mirrors…one over each sink. The larger wall bathroom mirrors with no frame are becoming a bit outdated.</p>
<p>In a couple of the bathrooms we took the mirrors down, took them to a glass shop and had them cut down. We had added molding to the top of the counter area, so they needed to be resized, but it also cleaned up the edges. You could always create a “picture frame” with molding around the mirror if there is space.</p>
<p>We moved into a new house - the large mirror in the downstairs bath was cracked. We did just that … put a picture frame with molding around it. YOu can take a piece of your current molding to a good paint store - they can match it … buy, stain and install. It looks nice.</p>
<p>[Reflected</a> Design - Custom frames for existing mirrors](<a href=“http://www.reflecteddesign.com/]Reflected”>http://www.reflecteddesign.com/)</p>
<p>They make frames for vanity mirrors… call and they can tell you how much “bad area” their frames will cover.</p>
<p>Other companies do this, and you can do it yourself with some HomeDepot molding and paint. The important thing is to lift the mirror enough that moisture isn’t seeping around to the back any more and continue to deteriorate the silvering.</p>
<p>We have also done the “cut down” technique. Take it to a glass shop, get it re-sized, re-install.</p>
<p>You can make frames from cheap molding material- use a miter box (found at Sears- at the end of the project). Synthetic moldings 6 or 8 foot lengths can easily be cut by a noncarpenter. Measurements bring back those school math skills. Find the materials at your local or national chain home improvement store. I used the thick double sticky foam to attach them to the mirrors and carved out the molding to accomodate the mirror fasteners. Wanted frames and finally did it 15 years after we had our house built.</p>
<p>You can also have the glass shop make a frame from beveled mirror instead of wood. It covers up the blackened areas around the perimeter and just blends in as part of the mirror itself.</p>
<p>On our island, there are no places that resilver mirrors any more, so will have to consider some of these other options. :(</p>
<p>It’s likely cheaper to just replace the mirrors. For future reference, it’s the ammonia in some glass cleaners that eats away at the silvering.</p>