Access The Solution

Frustrated at having to break tiles off a wall or bath panel to carry out repairs to electrical or plumbing components concealed behind the tiles? Built in access ensures the installation looks good.

IAN KNIFTON, Technical Manager for Schluter-Systems Ltd., world market-leader in complete tiling solutions, explains how to allow for easy access while ensuring the installation looks good.

Q : I'm tiling a bath panel, and I'm worried that the tiles could be ruined if the customer ever needs any repairs carried out on the pipes inside the panel.

What can I do to ensure that future maintenance won't damage the tiles? A: A wall access panel is ideal for creating concealed access in tiled wall coverings.

You'd use them in a tiled surface to ensure you've got access to services behind the bath panel, such as waste pipes and tap fitments.

You could also use them on vanity basins where you may need to get to pipes and services in the future.

There's a variety of different types, so you should easily be able to find one that meets your requirements.

Q: Can they be used in kitchens as well? A: They can be used anywhere where something's hidden in the wall behind the tiles, which you may need to get to for servicing and maintenance in the future.

There are generally two types of access panels; pre-fabricated boxes with hinges, and invisible systems.

Q: They're not really invisible are they, because you can still see the screwheads - even if you cover the screws with plastic caps, you can still see them? A: The traditional way of tiling on to a piece of wood and then screwing the tiled wood panel to the wall, does leave unsightly screwheads - and if you use grout or silicone around the outside of the panel it never seems to match correctly.

Which is why we devised the Schluter-REMA to create perfectly concealed access panels in tiled walls.

Whatever the size and thickness of the tiles, the panel forms an exact match to the overall joint design.

It means that access panels for electrical or plumbing work don't spoil the visual appearance of the tiles.

Q: How does it work? A: The kit consists of four magnets and four counter-plates.

The panel is assembled using the number of tiles corresponding to the opening, held together by attaching a tile to their backs - where the four of them meet -- with silicone or adhesive.

Magnets are fixed on to the edge of the wall at the access opening, and counter-plates are fastened to the back of the panel.

The panel is simply held in place over the opening, by the magnets.

However, if the opening is substantially larger than 30 cm x 30 cm it may be necessary to install two additional magnets.

If it's likely that access is required very infrequently - just to carry out repairs - you can make the panel totally invisible by sealing around the grout joints with silicone, which just needs to be cut away and replaced each time you want to get in there.

But in commercial applications, where you may need regular access for service and maintenance, you can use a square section profile such as Schluter-JOLLY, to create the edge of the panel.

You can still see where the panel is, but it doesn't look unsightly at all - the edging profile gives it a nice neat appearance.

And it gives far easier access, because you can simply flip it off for regular maintenance.

Q: Are there any difficulties with access panels after they're installed? A: The installer should definitely tell the customer where the panel is - especially if it's a completely invisible one where silicone's been used in the grout joints.

Otherwise, the customer won't be able to find it!.

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