Tile plumbing inspection hatches: how to choose and install

Recommendation points

• Purpose of plumbing hatches
• Plastic door – simple and versatile solution
• Special designs of sanitary doors
• Plumbing hatches for tiles
• Installation of different types of inspection doors

Revision hatches are not uncommon in our time: everyone wants to hide plumbing communications, but at the same time they need to be serviced or read from meters. This article will tell you about the types of plumbing hatches, as well as how to install and decorate them..

Purpose of plumbing hatches

Most builders and designers do not allow open communications in the interior and strive to place them in the cavity of the walls, or they specially create suspended structures from gypsum plasterboard to hide plumbing, heating risers and others like them.

And if pipelines can be hidden without much difficulty, then what about all kinds of nodes that need constant or at least periodic access? We are talking about valves, metering devices, as well as electrical and telecommunications equipment. In such cases, an opening is cut out in the wall covering, into which a frame is inserted with a movable plane fixed on it. It is optionally applied with a finishing coating, masking with the wall surface.

Strictly speaking, inspection hatches do not have to be called plumbing. Their main purpose is to provide access to the space behind the wall or ceiling covering. And what will be located there: water or heating pipes, taps, cables or any equipment – does not matter.

Plastic door – simple and versatile solution

The cheapest and most popular plumbing hatches are made of plastic with a glossy finish. They are practical and durable, but do not always correspond to the design idea. Plastic is usually cream or white, so wallpaper or photo print on vinyl is often glued over it.

Such an inspection hatch consists of a frame with a hinged door. The swivel mount is made in the form of a latch, which allows you to quickly remove the door if necessary. The frame has small protrusions that hide all kinds of irregularities in the hole.

Such simple hatches are often used in offices and bathrooms of a budget design. They are not very convenient due to the fact that often the door has no fixation and opens at the slightest draft or sharp air flow.

Special designs of sanitary doors

More expensive and sophisticated design options are available from well-known manufacturers of plumbing and building materials. Such, for example, as Knauf, Praktika, Revizor or Alu-Star. Their high price fully corresponds to the quality and reliability, and in a wide range there are different types of structures and mechanisms for various tasks.

According to the type of installation, hatches are divided into wall, ceiling, floor and corner. Designs of different types have their own differences:

1. Wall hatches have the simplest design: rigid frame and hinged door.
2. The frame of the corner hatches is L-shaped, two hinged doors close with a slight overlap.
3. Floor hatches have a reinforced frame and hinges to withstand high loads.
4. The design of the roof hatches includes a hinge that limits the movement of the sash and a door lock in the closed position. Some skylights are designed as a lamp..

Two-door hatches are considered a separate type, the arrangement of the doors can be horizontal or vertical. When you close the doors of such a hatch, they close as tightly as possible.

Also, revision doors are distinguished by the type of opening:

1. The name of the swing hatches speaks for itself, however, their hinge can be extended to open the door 180 °.
2. Sliding hatch sash moves to the side or upward, which is convenient for installation in a corner or in confined spaces.
3. Removable hatches are usually attached with magnets or latches, the door can be completely removed when opened and held by the handles.
4. Inclined doors partially open the sash, if you need to get quick access, the hinges are located at the bottom of the frame.

In advanced models of hatches, the hinges are arranged in such a way that the door can be completely removed. To lock the door, a button, handle or a twist mechanism can be used, sometimes you can find hatches that can be locked with a key. Also, some doors provide for moving the hinges to the other side of the frame.

The door itself can be smooth plastic or metal; such hatches are used for painting. It is also common for doors in the form of a frame frame, inside which a small piece of gypsum board of different thickness is attached with self-tapping screws. The edge of the frame protects the end of the drywall from destruction, the metal rim comes out flush with the surface. Such doors are also actively used for painting or various decorative coatings: Venetian or textured plaster, bark beetle and others.

Plumbing hatches for tiles

Hatches with a GKL door in bathrooms are often used as so-called invisible doors. The gap between the door and the frame corresponds to the thickness of the joint grout, if desired, the edge of the door is pasted over with a vinyl seal of the appropriate color, so it is quite difficult to visually detect the door.

You can lay the tiles, relying on the location of the door, so that the seams correspond to the gaps between the door and the frame. Otherwise, it is necessary to slightly displace the hole itself under the hatch. With this approach, you need to correctly select the width and height of the door for the format of the tiles and friezes used, but most of the standard sizes are supported by manufacturers.

Sliding and removable doors are simpler than others in cladding. The easiest way to use such hatches is with a mosaic type of tiles. But if the dimensions of the tiles are large and it is impossible to place a whole number of tiles on the door, a special laying technique is used. The position of the door is only preliminarily adjusted to the grid of the tiles, and then it is covered, releasing the edges of the tiles behind the door, free of glue. It turns out that the size of the removable panel is slightly larger than the revision opening, but the tile is intact and the appearance is neat.

Installation of different types of inspection doors

The easiest to install are plastic hatches. They are installed after mounting the wall or ceiling covering, having previously outlined the location. A small hole is cut out in the coating with a crown and, relying on the location of the object to which access is needed, the boundaries of the opening are shifted, after which a rectangular hole is cut with a drywall hacksaw and the frame is glued onto liquid nails.

Complex doors require a more thorough approach to installation. This is especially true of tiled hatches due to their significant weight. The frame of such hatches should be fixed directly to the metal profile, for this, when dialing it, a rectangular cell with carefully calibrated dimensions and level is assembled.

When the walls are sewn up, the covering at the opening is cut out using the profile as guides. If the walls are plastered, the edge of the opening is framed with a painting corner. This is not required on the door, the latter is played by a metal frame. The door and the wall are putty separately, and when painting, the hatch is installed in place.

Plumbing hatches can solve many technical and decorative problems, but only if the product is correctly selected.