Question Framing Mirrors Correctly?

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MitchelC

MitchelC

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Posts
707
Loc
Charleston, SC
Business
Custom Framing
A lady called about two weeks ago and asked me to stop by her shop (beauty shop) to check out her mirrors. She wanted advice of possibly re-framing them all.... all eight, because there was something that "just wasn't right". I stopped by her shop that afternoon after she closed. The mirrors were framed with a very good looking 3" wide WHITE moulding. As i got closer and closer i noticed something was really really wrong. The moulding was white, but the mirror was reflecting part of the rabbit with the "natural wood" finish and with specks of white paint. I explained the problem to her and asked me to fix them. I picked them up this past Saturday afternoon, painted the rabbits white like the moulding, then re-hung them early this past Monday. She absolutely love the way the mirrors looked after the tiny paint job and asked me how much the bill was. Being my wife goes there every Friday, I told her $50 bucks; besides, it only took me a couple of hours to do the job. She thanked me several times and paid her bill. A few minutes ago, i checked our mailbox. She sent my wife a $300 gift certificate! I did all the work and my wife is jumping up an down all excited... lol.

Question: Do ANY of you just slap a mirror in the frame, or do you paint the rabbit BEFORE framing the mirror? Several times in the past years, customers have come in with mirrors (mostly bathroom mirrors) and wanted a new frame. Almost every time, it looked like CARP because the rabbit was was NOT painted.
 
I always paint 'em. Unless it's a maple frame where the inside is the same color as the outside... I also paint the rabbet of white frames if I'm going to be using clear spacers (on artwork, not mirror)
 
We always color the lip to match the frame for the same reason. As an added note for anyone pulling this thread up in the archives, when framing multiple mirrors, it's a good idea to discuss hanging placement. Several years ago, our shop framed two large mirrors for a woman's bathroom, only to have her call and complain after hanging. She had them directly across from each other, and the infinity affect was creeping her out, so she didn't want one. Talking about this ahead of time can help to avoid problems.
 
Almost always black out the rabbet. The black blends seamlessly with the mirror edge.
 
I have done hundreds and hundreds of mirrors, many of them in very high end homes and also many in corporate office buildings where we frame and hang the mirrors in the rest rooms on every floor.
These are not cheap mirrors. They often spare no expense, even in the office building bathrooms.
Did I say hundreds? It's probably more like thousands.

We always paint the rabbet. Usually black on the darker frames and white on the white frames.
We just did some very wide ornate Roma frames at the home of a national sports team coach's house.
These were glossy white lacquer frames and we painted the rabbet white and they looked great.

I usually paint the rabbet with acrylic paint using a brush.
If it's a black frame or a very dark frame I will sometimes just carefully spray the rabbet black with a spray can from the back to avoid overspray on the lip.
Personally, I don't like using a marker.
 
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I stock several flavors of Copic brand pigmented markers and use them for this purpose when I can. Sometimes the results aren't opaque enough to cover whatever is going on on the rabbet, so the black acrylic paint is employed. Another option is black felt tape. I have framed mirrors in white, but it is usually in architectural mouldings and those are all hand painted anyway.
 
Always paint with acrylic paint.
 
I always painted my mirror frames. Never used Sharpie on a frame job, as they are oil based and will fade in time. I just felt they were trouble waiting to happen.

Painting the inside of the frame always gave the mirrors a "Professional" look. It is always worth the time to do the job right.
 
Always painted flat black (90%) or color match if light frame (10%). Always used acrylic paint.
 
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