How to hang a mirror on a party wall?

[sciencejelly]

Hello! 

I have an 11kg 110cm round mirror to hang on my wall in a townhouse - however when I have tried to drill pilot holes for the screws, I've discovered that this particular wall is concrete inside? 

It has your normal plaster/gyprock finish in my loungeroom, but I've been told it is a "party wall" and so filled with concrete inside. 

I have the below product to hang the mirror, but now don't really know how to proceed as it is not designed for concrete.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/zenith-600mm-aluminium-surehook-picture-hanging-rail-for-timber-frame_p3...

 

I assume I'll need a hammer drill, masonry bit and some sort of anchor that works with concrete? 

There is a gap between the gyprock and the concrete which makes me really unsure how to proceed. 

I'll pop a pic of the hole I drilled to show what I mean. Any help would be much appreciated 👏 

[JacobZ]

Hi @sciencejelly,

The weight of your mirror is relatively low, and with the rail you have picked out, it would be distributed through a number of screws, so it will be well supported.

You would, as you have mentioned, need to use a masonry anchor such as wall plugs, then screw through the rail, through the plaster into the wall plug. This STAHL Masonry Kit 7mm Drill With 50mm Green Wall Plugs has the drill bit, plugs and screws; you would just need a hammer drill that is capable of drilling into the concrete.

To manage the cavity behind the wall, you could use the technique @R4addZ mentioned in How to anchor MDF on to a brick wall, where you pump some No More Gaps into the hole, allow it to set behind the plasterboard, then drive the screws into place. When dry, the No More Gaps will support the plasterboard and prevent it from bowing inwards towards the concrete wall.

Let me know what you think, and if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob

[sciencejelly]

Ahh that's a great product rec that includes everything, thanks heaps! I am lucky to have access to a tool library and so will grab an appropriate hammer drill from there. 

I do like the no more gaps solution too - quick and easy. I'll try this over the weekend and see how I go! 

Thank you very much for your advice