Any suggestions/ideas on an access hole in living room ceiling?

Submitted by Myedicius t3_11sj627 in DIY

Just bought a house. In the living room there was a cabinet door screwed to the ceiling. . .it's plumbing access for the upstairs bathroom. I guess that's necessary but the solution of screwing a cabinet door over it sure is ugly. It's about 20 inches by 48 inches, though it is in actuality a very misshapen hole. Dry wall over top of plaster ceiling. Tried ordered an access door off home Depot to put there but the damn thing arrived dented all to hell so I'm going to return that.

So, trying to look at other solutions instead. I am not very experienced with home repair but I'm learning a lot lately. I'm also pretty swamped with other repairs trying to get ready for move in day on the first(when rental lease expires), lots of plaster repair,painting, dealing with aftermath of electrical being replaced etc.

Any help or advice would be appreciated,if necessary I can get a pic of it tomorrow when I go to do work at the house.

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ThreeBlurryDecades t1_jcggnue wrote

The usual procedure is to do the plumbing correctly, then drywall nicely over it and paint. This will look much better for somewhere between hours and many years. Yes, someday you may have to cut it out but overall its likely cheaper and probably less work than a proper access door install.

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Myedicius OP t1_jcgm8hv wrote

yeah. . .not being a plumber myself it is hard for me to know how soon there will be a problem up there. the old guy that owned the house previously did a lot of things himself(hey that's great I'm trying to do the same) and so the quality of the work is kinda all over the place.

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DONGivaDam t1_jcev5qa wrote

Piece of nice plywood, cut to size of access panel, prime twice , use hinges and a block to attach piece to ceiling now you have made a cheap access panel. Want to get fancy get some cornerbeams for where the sheetrock meets the plywood and spackle to a nice clean edge, then paint the whole ceiling.

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DONGivaDam t1_jcev9hm wrote

Sorry forgot a latch system to attach it when hanging up. Magnets on the plywood and a screwed up L bracket on the ceiling

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allangee t1_jcievu5 wrote

I would cut the drywall so that you can frame a proper opening -- a frame that will let you firmly attach the ceiling portions, with enough overlap to firmly fasten drywall to the inside of the opening.

THEN, use drywall J-channel around the perimeter of the opening and around the perimeter of the filler piece.

When you install the filler piece, you'll have nice straight edges and a tight professional looking seam. It can all be painted in the ceiling color and not that noticeable. If there ever are any plumbing problems, the middle panel can be cut out and removed and a new one made.

The OTHER OPTION would be to find some kind of ventilation grate the same size as, or bigger than the hole. Paint everything behind the grate black and install it. Everyone will assume it's supposed to be there.

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Duckbilling t1_jch353i wrote

I would recommend installing a metal hatch if you wanted to maintain access.

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