OATEY 34247 Louvered Design Access Panel

The Oatey 34247 louvered access panel is made for exactly that. It meets code requirements for recessing an air admittance valve in a wall, so the AAV can sit inside the stud bay instead of hanging exposed under a sink or in a cabinet. The louvers are the point: an AAV needs air to draw in when the fixture drains, and a solid blank cover would choke it. That is the difference between this panel and a plain drywall access door.

Go louvered. An air admittance valve pulls make-up air from the space around it, so it has to stay in communication with ventilated air. A sealed or solid door defeats that. The Oatey 34247 is the louvered design and is stated to meet code requirements for recessing an AAV in a wall, which a general-purpose blank access door does not claim.

Order it as Oatey 34247. That is the manufacturer part number and the model designation, and it is the louvered design access panel used to recess an air admittance valve in a wall. One model covers it, so there is no size or finish suffix to add on the order.

That is the job the 34247 is built for. Recessing the air admittance valve in the wall behind a louvered panel keeps it code compliant and keeps it reachable, so a tech can pop the cover and change a failed valve without cutting drywall. It also gets the valve out of the cabinet interior, which is where it usually ends up getting knocked or buried behind stored supplies.

No. The 34247 panel weighs 0.66 pounds, so it carries essentially no load and mounts in a standard stud bay opening with normal fasteners. Frame the rough opening for the panel and the AAV behind it; you are not adding structural weight to the wall.