26dbh water heater access

[MColley]

I am trying to make it easier to access our water heater bypass valves. Now I have to either have my wife hold up the bed and crawl in or crawl in through the front storage to get to it. It is literally right under the closet floor on that side. I am wondering if anyone has created an access point through the closet floor and if so how did you do it without just cutting a hole and leaving it open. That piece is really thin so I'm not sure how to do it. Thanks for any ideas

[Robbie D. Camper]

I get what you are trying to do. The placement of the water heater was probably the only thing I didn’t like about our 26 DBHL. Since we used the floor of the closet, cutting a hole wasn’t an option. I considered hinging that thin piece of wood and adding some support. Good luck, there’s got to be a better way than crawling through the storage.

[TTnewbie]

I was told by someone on here that there is supposed to be a hole under the mattress where you can access the valves. I don't have a hole on mine. I don't have anything that lifts or allows me to reach the valves from the top of the mattress. The only way would to either crawl through the part that flips up or to go through the storage door just the way that the OP mentioned. I can't do either of those.

Im going to look into the suggestion that RDCamper made......creating an access point inside of the left side closet bottom.

[baint]

Here are photos of the hole cut in the bed platform beside the left hand wardrobe closet. Not sure if this was done by the dealer or the factory, but you can access the water heater and water pump valves from the opening without having to get under the bed platform. Did not measure but I believe it is about 6 inches in diameter. Can't tell there is a hole there through the mattress, but I have replace the 4" mattress with an 8" mattress. Photos need to rotate 90 degrees clockwise.

[TTnewbie]

I DEFINITELY don't have those cut outs. I'm going to bring this up when I take the trailer in to the dealer in a couple of weeks. I have several doors/drawers that are warped out of shape. As a mater of fact, one of them is the left closet door above the water heater. It bent out almost an inch at the bottom.

[baint]

There is only one hole. Both pics are the same hole.

[TTnewbie]

I might as well cut out my own. I have a 4 inch drywall hole saw that I can use.

[baint]

That would work, just make sure your hand will fit through the hole. I could walk out and measure mine if needed,

[baint]

The hole is 5" in diameter.

[TTnewbie]

I'll have to make due with what I have for now. Im going up to storage tomorrow so that I can try to fix my water heater and hopefully open up all of the lines that are shut down.

Thanks for the visuals.

[MColley]

Yeah I don't have that hole either. That is one of the reasons I asked for ideas

[TTnewbie]

This makes absolutely no sense given the fact that we are supposed to access the winterization valves.

[MColley]

I agree completely but I guess this is just one of those things that we have to deal with

[TTnewbie]

I had to do the same thing today.

[MColley]

How did you do it? What did you cut it with?

[TTnewbie]

Originally Posted by MColley

How did you do it? What did you cut it with?

If you are asking me, I had to do it with a drill bit. I drilled around to form a circle and then I broke the piece of wood in the middle. It is a thin board that will break easily. Originally I was going to use a 4 inch drywall hole saw used for recess lighting but I forgot it at home and was not going to drive back to get it. I will clean up the whole with a jig saw at another time. The OP did a nice job and ended up with a clean cut out.