Bauco Access Panels

Josh Wiener

Founder and President

SilverLining Inc.

New York City

Bauco’s customizable access panels are a game changer. Access panels used to be really ugly. We could never figure out what to do with them until this company, Bauco, came to our office nearly a decade ago. Their panels were nice, and just got better and better. 

We mostly use the Bauco plus II model. They’re totally flush to the wall, and there’s no visible hardware or hinges or anything. Instead, they open with a mechanical touch-latch. There’s even safety wire on the panels so they won’t fall on your head during installation. They’re heavy. 

The panels can come in custom sizes, with some large enough that a whole air conditioning unit is accessible. We have a good record with lead time on the panels—about a week for production and four days for shipping. It’s expensive, but the benefits outweighs the cost and clients are willing to pay the premium. They’ve even elevated our standing with designers and architects.

The insert panels come like blank canvas. You can make them look like whatever surrounds it. It’s almost like having Photoshop, but in real life. If you have an access panel in a place where there’s metal, then you can use the same metal on it. If you have sheet rock, you put sheetrock on the panel. A painted finish, tile, decorative finish, millwork? You remove the inner leaf, add the substrate, sand it down, and then custom finish it to match the surrounding area onsite. The mechanism works regardless of what I put inside the frame. If you’re going to see the access panel, we use them.