How to Access Shower Faucets Through a Wall

Cutting a hole in the wall directly behind your shower’s faucet allows you to access the faucet connections to check for leaks. Once you have cut into the wall, instead of patching the drywall, you need to install a wood panel door. With the access door in place, you can examine the faucet from the other side of the wall freely and without creating a mess in the adjacent room. Your access panel does not have to be pretty, but it needs to sit flush in the wall opening.

Stud finder
Finishing nail
Hammer
Measuring tape
Drywall knife
Half inch thick board
Sawhorses
Circular saw
Handle
Quarter inch thick wood screws
Screwdriver

Instructions

- 1
  Mark the location of the studs on the wall behind the shower faucet, using a stud finder. Drive a finishing nail through the wall around the stud locations, finding the exact edges of the studs, and mark the locations on the wall.
- 2
  Measure the height of the shower faucet, inside the shower. Mark the same measurement on the wall behind the shower’s faucet, adding an additional foot. Cut the drywall between the studs, up to the height mark you made, using a drywall knife.
- 3
  Pull away the drywall you cut out, exposing the shower’s faucet and water pipes. Measure the height and width of the opening you cut, and then cut a 1/2-inch thick board to the same dimensions.
- 4
  Attach a handle of your preference to one side of the board, using 1/4-inch long wood screws. Press the wood panel into the opening in the wall, giving you quicker future access to the faucet.

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