12 x 12 Flush Mount Steel Access Panel for Drywall, Powder Coated White

I live in California and had a slab leak. The plumbers cut a hole in the drywall in the back of a bedroom closet to access the hot water manifold. Rather than patch it, I decided to use this access panel in case they need access again. This panel works perfectly. It is perfectly sized (10x10 inches), very sturdy (not at all flimsy), locks securely with a flat head screwdriver and has a smooth, white finish. In fact, it looks so good that, while I originally thought I would paint it to match the wall color, I decided to just leave it as-is (matches white moulding). Upshot: If you need something like this, just buy this one. You won’t be disappointed. One caveat: The door is permanently welded in-place and blocks the hinge-side mounting holes when opened. Access to screws on that side is limited to what you can do with the door half open. If possible, it is easiest to just use the other 3 sides for mounting.

Excelente 👌 producto

When I purchased and started renovating my home a few years ago, I decided to plan ahead of time to install these access panels behind every shower valve that I could. From experience in the past, anytime something goes wrong, and these valves have to be changed, they are extremely difficult to work with from the front side. Thinking ahead of time to install them directly over where the valve is at on. The backside definitely saves you precious time if you have a leak or a broken pipe to be able to get it taken care of. These are constructed of thick metal and I’m much prefer these to the cheaper plastic clipping panels that are honestly not that much cheaper in price. These will last forever as long as you don’t have constant water spraying on them or around them. Installing them was very easy and you just measure really well ahead of time on exactly where you want the placement so it sits dead in the middle of your valve, then trace a pencil around the edge of the metal, carefully score the lines with a box cutter, and then rescore the lines again to push through the other side. I was able to slide the panel right in and it was such a good fit that I didn’t have to use any adhesive or double-sided tape to seal the edges. I’m very happy overall with the product for sure, but if I have one complaint, it is definitely the keyhole that you have to turn to unlock the door. I definitely always want these to have locking capabilities so the kids don’t drop anything into the drywall, but even with using a proper sized tool in the hole (which is usually a fatter flathead screwdriver), the metal easily gets marked up and doesn’t look so great. I feel like there’s probably a better solution they could utilize on this, but hopefully I won’t have to open this access panel up anytime in the near future so it should stay looking great. It comes in a white low gloss finish that works perfect for my house because all of my trim work is the same color. I highly recommend these, they are worth the money for sure!

Well made and very sturdy. Medium gage steel and excellent access panel for residential or light commercial use. Not fire rated but my guess would give it a 15-20+ minute rating if it were to be tested.

Door is great, however, watch the description and dimensions! The door is 8x8 but requires a 9in-ish hole in the wall. If you need an 8x8 access panel with only an 8x8 hole in the wall, premier makes one but it’s not this. You need FL-2002.

In my search for an access door for bathtub plumbing during some remodeling, I’ve considered the variety of plastic and metal doors. The less expensive plastic doors did not appear to adequately fasten to the drywall. Seemed they just snapped in place. Also, the plastic doors likely would not hold up when placed in a hallway like in my situation. I understand walls get bumped when moving furniture or kids scuffling. Here’s what I like about this metal door. The frame has holes for fasteners, and these holes are beyond the drywall in the back of the frame. Meaning I can place wood behind the drywall and secure the door to the wood rather than relying on drywall, which is a non-structural component, to hold the door in place. Second feature I like is the sturdy door latch that secures the door closed. This door installs with very little protrusion from the wall.

Item will work as expected.

Please note that while this claims to be a 14 x 14" access panel, it will not fit between normal wall stud spacing with studs on 16" centers. I've installed many 14" access panels over the years and they all fit with standard wall stud spacing. I was excited to find this 14" panel for less money, but in my excitement, I failed to read the description where it says 15+" rough opening is required. I wish I would have taken a screen shot of the description when I purchased 2 of these doors because I'm having a tough time believing that I would have missed it if it was displayed as it is now. I'm now slightly bummed that it's going to cost me 20% of the purchase price for return shipping... AND I'll have to buy (and wait for) 2 more replacement panels before I can finish my drywall project.