How do I disguise a manhole cover?
It’s unfortunate but often essential that a manhole cover is installed in the middle of a lawn, garden, driveway, garage or pathway. Cast iron and galvanised steel manhole covers are available in a range of looks and styles. But they still stick out like a sore thumb in certain areas. Whilst it’s not the best idea to physically cover a manhole cover, you can install a recessed manhole cover. These have many options of infill that disguises and blend the cover. This means it’s still accessible for maintenance, too, without affecting its surroundings.
How do you hide or cover a manhole cover?
Hide an unsightly manhole cover by utilising a recessed manhole cover.
Using a recessed manhole cover externally means there are a variety of ‘infill’ options to choose from. This doesn’t necessarily hide a manhole cover, but it certainly disguises one and blends it into the garden, pavement or driveway. There are no implications on access or maintenance, either. This means there’s no extra cost involved once the recessed manhole cover has been installed.
If you have a manhole cover that’s inside, for example in a garage or a porch, you can also use a recessed manhole cover. There are fewer infill options though, simply because there are some you wouldn’t want in the middle of a garage! You never want to physically cover a manhole cover inside or outside, as you will always need to allow access for maintenance and repairs.
Clark-Drain manhole cover
Don’t forget that when choosing a recessed manhole cover, it’s important to note the loading class needed. The fact that the cover is recessed makes no bearing on whether it needs to be a higher class than usual. This is all factored in by the manufacturer on the assessment of the cover. Use our guide to manhole cover classification sizes to work out which is best for you.
What can I fill a recessed manhole cover with?
Recessed manhole covers come with a tray built-in. This is what you fill with the materials or substrate based on the depth the cover says it can hold. For example, an 80mm deep tray will hold 60mm block paving, as it must be bedded in 20mm of concrete for the paving to stay put.
You can fill a recessed manhole cover that’s outside with block paving, resin paving, concrete, screed or even artificial grass. It’s worth noting that filling it with real grass makes for a tedious maintenance procedure, and you must get a permeable manhole cover to ensure the grass stays alive. Internally, you can fill a recessed manhole cover with block paving, concrete or screed (perfect for a garage or utility room), or tile paving for porches and more design-conscious areas.recessed-manhole-cover
If you need help with your manhole cover purchase, call our friendly team of advisers.