Mirrors

Cut glass, framed mirrors and full-length mirrors:

the commonest mirror is a plain sheet of glass cut to size, with a polished edge or a bevelled one, ground at an angle so the border catches the light. It goes up on clips or adhesive in bathrooms and on wardrobe doors, where a frame would only collect damp. A framed mirror is closer to furniture and hangs where a painting from art might, over a sofa or a sideboard. Full-length mirrors either hook over a door, light enough to move house with you, or stand on easel legs and take up floor. Vanity mirrors sit on a dresser, often with a magnifying side or a ring of light.

Thick glass, thin glass and LED bathroom mirrors:

thickness is the detail worth asking about. Thin glass is fine on a small piece, but a large one flexes with any unevenness in the wall and the reflection ripples; thick glass stays flat. An LED bathroom mirror adds a light strip and usually an anti-fog pad, a heated film that keeps one patch clear after a shower, and it needs a socket or wired point close by. A mirror with no light of its own can take a wall sconce from lighting on either side.

Carved and painted wooden frames from the highlands:

workshops in the western highlands carve mirror frames in pine and cedar and paint them with bright flowers, birds and animals. A genuine one shows chisel marks under the paint and never quite matches its supposed twin; a moulded resin copy is lighter and repeats exactly. Small round holes with fine powder on the shelf below mean woodworm. A gilded colonial-style frame is either gold leaf, with faint square seams, or gold paint, which turns flat and brownish with age.

Mirror prices, from a bevelled bathroom square to an LED panel:

a plain bevelled or polished mirror for a small bathroom costs around Q75 to Q200 new, which is why a used one that size fetches little: the glass does not wear out, but a new piece in exactly your size is cheap and close by. LED anti-fog mirrors start around Q600 and reach about Q800 for an ordinary bathroom size, and on a used one you are paying for the light strip and the small driver behind it, because those fail and the glass does not. A large thick mirror, a full-length one with a sturdy stand or a carved frame holds its value far better.

A mirror that has already spent years on a wall:

its faults usually come from how it was taken down. A crack running in from a corner tends to start when someone prises it off. Ordinary household silicone, the kind that smells of vinegar, slowly eats the silvered backing, so dark blotches where it was stuck will keep spreading. A large plain mirror with a broken corner is still worth having, since a glazier can cut it down and polish the new edge; a framed or LED mirror cannot be saved that way. On an LED one, run every mode and the touch switch and look for a dim or yellowed stretch of strip.

Glass size, frame size and how the mirror hangs:

give the size of the glass and the outside of the frame, since a buyer is matching it to a wall, and say how it hangs: clips, a wire, a pair of rings or adhesive that will have to come off. Photograph it at an angle, so the picture shows the glass and edge rather than you holding the phone, then add the back, each corner and, for an LED mirror, a shot with it lit. A mirror travels upright on its long edge, wrapped in a blanket with the corners padded. The usual seller of a big wall mirror is a barber’s shop refitting its stations or a family leaving a rented house in Escuintla, and whoever comes to collect one should bring a second pair of hands.