Drywall ceilings can conceal valuable storage space.
A room's ceiling serves several important purposes, including concealing wiring and duct work, insulating the space and providing a place to mount light fixtures or hanging decorations. The space above residential ceilings is often inaccessible and unused. However, you can open up storage space or gain access to your home's wiring by adding a ceiling access panel. Access panels can be made with prefabricated hatches or take the form of simple openings that you build yourself.
Instructions
1. Select a location for the ceiling access panel. Place a ladder below it and climb up to mark the access panel site with a pencil and straightedge. Use a stud finder to select a location between two ceiling joists. Measure the diagonal dimensions of the panel to ensure that it is square.
2. Turn off the electricity in the room where you're working to avoid potential electrical shocks.
3. Cut into the ceiling drywall with a drywall saw. Follow the lines you marked earlier as closely as possible. Stop cutting just short of each corner to prevent the drywall cutout from falling out of the ceiling.
4. Saw into the remaining drywall near each corner then set the cutout drywall sheet aside. Remove any insulation directly above the opening until you can see clearly into the ceiling cavity.
5. Place a prefabricated access hatch in place if you chose this option. Nail the metal studs into nearby ceiling joists for support. Follow the installation instructions outlined in the hatch's installation guide.
6. Cut four pieces of wood molding with a miter saw to create a four-sided frame for the panel. Cut the interior measurement of the frame to be slightly smaller than the opening of the access panel, around 1/2-inch in each direction.
7. Nail each of the four pieces of molding into the drywall around the ceiling opening with a hammer and finishing nails. Place the into the opening diagonally and twist it so that it rests on the molding overhang in its original position.
Tags: access panel, ceiling access, ceiling access panel, ceiling joists, drywall cutout, each corner