Accidentally dropping or shattering a mirror while removing it from the wall can lead to severe cuts from broken glass. Always wear gloves and eye protection and work with at least one helper when prying a mirror loose and carrying it to a safe location outside the bathroom. Pry Off the Old Mirror Cover the mirror with heavy-duty packing tape as a precaution against the glass cracking or shattering. Insert wooden shims in any gaps between the mirror and the wall. Tap them snug, but avoid forcing them beneath the glass. With another shim beneath your pry bar to protect the wall, gently begin working the bar behind the glass. Maintain a steady pressure and listen for the drywall paper tearing loose from the wall. Gently work along the top and sides of the mirror, releasing a little bit at a time. As you near the bottom of the mirror, support it at the top to prevent the whole thing from popping free of the wall and falling. Once loose, gently carry it away from the bathroom.

If you plan to reuse the mirror, protect it from accidental damage. Scrape away any adhesive residue on the drywall using a putty knife. With a utility knife, score a circle only through the drywall paper around the damaged area and peel off loose drywall paper within the circle. This eliminates any leftover adhesive and paper that might have pulled loose from the gypsum underneath. Also, it helps the completed patch blend with the surrounding area. Sand around the scored area. Quickly brush on a light coat of primer over the damage, let dry, and sand smooth. (Avoid saturating the area over the exposed gypsum.) Apply several thin layers of drywall patch with a 6-in drywall taping knife, allowing each layer to dry before adding the next. Sand the patched area smooth with the surrounding wall and apply a coat of primer to the patch. Now you're ready to paint the patched area and the rest of the wall.I know I’ve been dragging my feet too long on a project when my dear, sweet hubby threatens to hire someone to come in and finish it up for me.

I’m not sure why, but nothing lights a fire under me quicker than that. So it’s back to the little guy’s bedroom. I know why I’ve been dragging my feet on this. I’ve been going back and forth in my mind about something, and I haven’t figured it out yet. But that doesn’t mean I can’t work on his bathroom in the mean time. This is the “Jack” part of the Jack and Jill right now. Not exactly what an 11 year old boy wants to brush his teeth in every morning, ski poster aside. Commercial Hot Tub PlumbingI could have just painted the walls and the knobs and called it done, but I really wanted to change it up for him and make it feel like he was getting his own bathroom, not his sister’s hand-me-downs.Garden Swing Seat Canopy Replacement Here’s a closeup of the knobs, which I bought off eBay several years ago to match my daughter’s bedding. Prom Dress Shop Sydney

As is the mirror. Nearly all the bathrooms in our home have those great big wall-to-wall mirrors over the sink. They don’t allow a lot of room to express any particular style, do they? So it had to go. Unfortunately, none of our mirrors are held to the wall with clips. That means there’s glue. A whole lotta glue. I didn’t want to end up with 7 years of bad luck, so I did some research before getting started. After removing the towel ring and light sconces, I put plenty of duck tape across the mirror. If it did break, at least it wouldn’t shatter into a million pieces. I also covered the top of the sink with my son’s old quilt, which just happened to be handy. See the picture wire on top of the quilt? I started with that, placing it behind the mirror and using a sawing motion to try to cut through the glue. I realized after about 10 minutes that was getting me no where. I also tried a hair dryer on the mirror. In theory, it heats the glue, softening it up enough so that you can slice through it with the wire.

But I didn’t have any idea where the glue was, so I quickly abandoned that idea. In the end, I used a crow bar at the top edge of the mirror, gently applying pressure, a little at a time. I could hear the glue popping off the back, one spot at a time. Eventually, it was free. They must have been running a sale on glue that day. I would NEVER have gotten through all of that with the wire! You can see here where the wire left a mark on the wall from the sawing motion. I managed to cut through about half of the first blob of glue. In 10 minutes of sweat breaking sawing motion. Little did I know there were 18 more to go! Thank goodness I switched tactics! Next on the list is to patch the wall. And then figure out what kind of mirror to hang up instead. And decide whether I’m going to replace the light fixture or not. So while I mull all that over, I’ll just work on the cabinets. Right in the middle of grand central station. You weren’t supposed to be home that early.

If you want to catch up on the rest of the progress, click here. Update: Click here to see the finished half bath.Know a good way to remove a mirror glued to a wall? Neither did I, so I asked Mark Stypczynski, manager of technical development for Liquid Nails construction adhesives. "Use windshield removal wire," he said. "Start at one corner and then work it down the length of the mirror, between the adhesive and the wall. We do it all the time in the lab." Just be prepared for some drywall repair when you're done, and if you want to save the mirror, you have to be careful not to damage the silver on the mirror's back.The high-strength braided steel wire you need for the job, often called cutout wire, is used by autobody shops, and it's readily available on the Web by itself (about $12) or as a kit that includes handles and windshield removal tools (about $30).I mentioned this tip to Mike Allen, one of PM's auto editors. (When he's not working on cars, Mike is fixing houses.) "Yeah, you can use cutout wire," he said.