Hide Electrical Panel Box

Hi guys,

Still trying to finish remodeling the basement and hopefully this will be an easy question for all the great helpers on here.

I want to hide the electrical panel box. It is located on the one wall, and that wall is completely finished with drywall. The area where the panel box is located is cut out for the panel box.

The cutout measures 25 and 3/4 inches by 16 inches.

What do most people use to cover this opening?

I would guess the simplest thing would be some sort of snap in access panel.

Not sure if they make one that size though.

Whatever I use, I want it to be seamless with the rest of the wall. In other words, I intend to paint the access panel the same color as the wall.

I really want to make it as hidden as possible.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

It must remain accessible, so most of my clients choose to hang a tapestry or painting, or something like that to occlude it. I think it would look even more "made up" if you tried to blend it with the remaining wall. Just an opinion, however.

 

Hi chandler,

Thanks for the fast reply.

The only problem with your suggestion is this: the cutout for the box is almost completely up against the adjoining wall. The cutout is in the very corner of the wall.

To try an hang a picture or something else of that nature probably wouldn't look right.

Good suggestion though......

 

I have moved to electrical.

How much unobstructed space do you have on the other side of the panel?

 

Hi Ray,

Like I said, the one end of the cutout is almost completely up against the adjoining wall, and the top of the cutout is only a few inches from the ceiling, but the other side of the cutout has lots of unobstructed space. Probably 10 feet or more.

I actually thought of some sort of hinged panel like a kitchen cabinet. That though, would probably protrude from the wall a little bit, but if I painted it to match the wall, and the hinges didn't show, it might not look too bad. I even thought of some sort of system using magnets to attach a slim panel using magnets to cover the cutout and then paint the panel to match the wall.

I thought I would pick the brains of some of the experts on here before I proceeded with anything.

Thanks guys......

 

The electrical panel is required to be readily accessible. That means that you must have access to it without tools or ladders. You also can not install in into something like a cabinet. (however a faceframe door is OK and commonly used)

Perhaps you can post a picture of your panel so we can see what you see.

 

Thanks TI,

I'll try an take some pics and try to upload them. Not completely sure how to do that.

It's a pretty simple set up. A rectangular cutout hole completely up against the one wall and completely unobstructed on the other side. The top of the cutout is just a few inches from the ceiling.

My kitchen cabinet idea was in fact just a face frame of some kind.

Hanging a picture over it would have been soooooo much easier............

 

Cabinet doors are all I've ever seen used.
You can make your own and make them look good relatively cheap if you are willing to go through the effort.

 

http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...-pictures.html

Is the main breaker higher then 6'7''?

 

Mr.Awesome,

Thanks. Any tips on how you would make and install this cabinet door? I was thinking along the lines of some sort of spring loaded mechanism, where when you pushed in on the door it would spring it open.

Even simpler would be better............

 

Ray,

The main breaker is almost exactly 6'7" from the floor. The actual cutout is a little larger than the panel box itself, but I really need to cover the entire cutout.

Also, thanks for the link about the pics..

 

Code specifies height of main breaker so as Tolyn wrote: Higher then 6'7" you have a code violation.

Normally a face frame (rectangle of four flat boards ~3/4" thick) is made and door is set in that. This may be difficult to get right given how close your panel is placed to a corner.

 

Thanks again Ray,

As far as the awkward placement of the panel box,

The outfit that built my house located the panel box in that location, apparently because the meter was just outside on the corner of the house, and when I and some buddies were finishing the walls, it apparently just worked out that way. Being this close to the other wall will definitely give me a little trouble, but I think it's doable.

Thanks for the tip on the face frame of 3/4" boards. I will probably end up using something of that nature.

Thanks.......

 

Out of box thought. You could Velcro a cabinet door to the face frame. BigBox stores sell cabinet doors.

 

Velcro? Never even thought about velcro.

I'll definitely look into that route.

Seems simple enough even for me.

 

Keep in mind I have not seen your space you have to work with but...

Simple would be cut your drywall over to the left and right to the nearest wall studs.
Cut a piece of plywood/whatever material you want to use for a door just slightly bigger than the area to cover.
Cut that piece in half to make two doors.
Attach hinges to doors, wall studs.
As far as finishing, thats all about how much effort you want to put in. You can clean up the drywall around your hole, you can clean up the edges of your doors (anyone know what that stuff is called you iron on to the edges of plywood to create a smooth edge?). The choice is yours.

 

Thanks Mr.Awesome,

Another great suggestion.

I'm probably not going to be able to go to the nearest stud on the right side, so would it be possible to have just one door panel and have it hinged on the left side?

Hopefully I've figured out how to upload an image, so here goes:

 

Easy!
Yes one door would be fine. You will need to be pretty precise with your cut though so one side is on a stud and the other doesn't rub the right hand wall, yet covers the hole. You could also install a small magnet to help keep it shut. Something like what you see on cabinet doors.
Paint it the same color as your wall and it won't stick out too much. You could probably even find hinges of a similar color. Personally I would go with white hinges and a knob. Would look decent when finished.

Side note: I would take into consideration what Ray said about your panel being too high. It isn't a quick task and will cost you, but your panel should be lowered.

 

Mr.Awesome,

Thanks again for your help.

I just went and remeasured the height from the floor to the top of the main breaker inside the panel box and the top of the breaker is just a shade under 6'7".

Hopefully that meets code, because lowering the box is not an option.

Thanks......

 

You should be ok for the height.
Let us know how the door works out.