Help Me With My Door Design on my Built in Canopy

[dustinc]

I’m building an in wall system currently and trying to figure out the best removable door design for the wall I just framed out on top of the tank. I need to be able to access the tank from the front for placing corals, etc. the room is more for equipment, etc as I don’t have a ton of space back there. Any ideas would be appreciated. I’m leaning towards some sort of hook/latch type connection currently, but open to any ideas. The rest of the walls will be finished out as well so it’s completely enclosed, but only need access to the top. Thanks.

 

[Fish Fan]

I recently saw your build thread for this tank and the hidden fish room; nice work!

I don't know what aesthetic you're going for, but perhaps some panels attached with magnets that can be easily removed and set back in place?

 

[dustinc]

I recently saw your build thread for this tank and the hidden fish room; nice work!

I don't know what aesthetic you're going for, but perhaps some panels attached with magnets that can be easily removed and set back in place?

Thanks a lot. Definitely looking forward to it coming together. My only concern with magnets is the fear of them coming loose and those wood panels falling on one of my little ones. That’s why I like the idea of something more secure.

 

[Fish Fan]

Thanks a lot. Definitely looking forward to it coming together. My only concern with magnets is the fear of them coming loose and those wood panels falling on one of my little ones. That’s why I like the idea of something more secure.

Oh sure, you're family's safety is of course a concern. Just a suggestion

 

[Ef4life]

For the door I would put a hinge at or near the ceiling horizontally, and use 2 gas struts to lift the door up and out of the way like a storage compartment on an rv - I would remove the 2 center supports imo they will just get in your way during maintenance

 

[mjszos]

For the door I would put a hinge at or near the ceiling horizontally, and use 2 gas struts to lift the door up and out of the way like a storage compartment on an rv - I would remove the 2 center supports imo they will just get in your way during maintenance

Opening vertically is a great option.

If you prefer doors that swing out, you could look into the lift-off hinges? Just need a little bit of vertical clearance and they come off pretty easily.

I use these in my garage for larger lawn machine storage (snow blower/lawn mower platform) to keep them out of sight:

Amazon.com

 

[Patx]

Will you "close" this part ?

 

[Fish Fan]

Other members here have definitely had good ideas

Just for the sake of conversation, these hinges would allow for support of a vertically opening door panel (like gas struts), but would be cheaper, and can hold the door panel up when needed. looks like they even go to 110 degrees, which would make good use of your slanted ceiling.

Toy box hinges on Amazon

EDIT: Maybe your ceiling isn't slanted, at first it looked like it was.

 

[Ef4life]

Cheap quick and possibly funny lightweight removable panel idea - canvas print

build a Simple wood frame for a canvas painting sized for your access panel

Buy some French cleat hangers and mount to the wall and back of canvas frame

Get a funny printed shower curtain or a nice patterned fabric and stretch it over your frame and staple. Something that could even be backlight nicely with the reef lighting or supplemental led strips as mood lighting for the room.

Amazon product

 

[Fish Fan]

Cheap quick and possibly funny lightweight removable panel idea - canvas print

build a Simple wood frame for a canvas painting sized for your access panel

Buy some French cleat hangers and mount to the wall and back of canvas frame

Get a funny printed shower curtain or a nice patterned fabric and stretch it over your frame and staple. Something that could even be backlight nicely with the reef lighting or supplemental led strips as mood lighting for the room.

Amazon product

What a great idea! I'm building two new systems, using panels and magnets (is my plan). But using canvas prints is a really creative idea. Obviously you could print up whatever you want, and then a very simple wooden frame would make it much like any other door or panel that could be hinged or whatever.

Do you have any concern with saltwater getting on the canvas and ruing the print? Thank you!

 

[Ef4life]

What a great idea! I'm building two new systems, using panels and magnets (is my plan). But using canvas prints is a really creative idea. Obviously you could print up whatever you want, and then a very simple wooden frame would make it much like any other door or panel that could be hinged or whatever.

Do you have any concern with water getting on the canvas and ruing the print? Thank you!

I’ve not actually done it, just something I thought up. I figure a simple cloth/plastic like a shower curtain should hold up pretty well and be cheap to just replace every year or so as needed. Getting a custom canvas print in my experience is not to expensive but something of that dimension might not be cheap to ship.

You could always do 2 simple doors with normal hidden cabinet door hinges and center a smaller sized canvas mounted on French cleats partially hiding the doors. Just lift off the canvas to open up the doors for access. That would keep the canvas away from the majority of the water/humidity

 

[Fish Fan]

I’ve not actually done it, just something I thought up. I figure a simple cloth/plastic like a shower curtain should hold up pretty well and be cheap to just replace every year or so as needed. Getting a custom canvas print in my experience is not to expensive but something of that dimension might not be cheap to ship.

My wife and her sisters get canvas prints all the time from Walmart and others; it's very affordable, even shipped, and, again, I think a really novel way to build a door panel.

You could always do 2 simple doors with normal hidden cabinet door hinges and center a smaller sized canvas mounted on French cleats partially hiding the doors. Just lift off the canvas to open up the doors for access. That would keep the canvas away from the majority of the water/humidity

French cleats would allow the OP to use any panel they want, and I don't see how that would fall off and hurt the OP's family members. They'd just have to allow for a little "wiggle room" to lift the panel "up" and "off" the cleat.

Great reply, thanks for your help here, you're giving me some new ideas for my next builds!