Aluminium End Strip WP 05/07/11: where panelling stops

Panelling hardly ever covers a whole wall. It stops at a door reveal, at a window return, at the line of a skirting, or halfway along a wall because that is where the design was meant to end. Each of those stops leaves a sawn panel edge in full view. The Aluminium End Strip for WP 05/07/11 is what caps it.

End, corner or I: picking the right profile

Three aluminium profiles in this range share a length and a pack size, which makes it easy to order the wrong one. The difference is only ever about what happens at the edge of the panel:

• End strip closes a run. One panel edge, and nothing on the far side of it.
• Corner strip turns a run through ninety degrees. That is the Aluminium Corner Strip.
• I strip closes the gap where two panels meet face to face in the middle of a wall. That is the Aluminium I Strip.

Most rooms need at least two of the three, and the end strip is the one people forget, because an edge does not look like a problem until the panels are up.

Length, pack and panel numbers

Each strip measures 300cm and a pack holds ten of them: thirty metres of finished edge. The listing names WP 05, 07 and 11, and adds that the aluminium strips work with any of the PVC wall panels sold here. Three finishes are offered, black, gold and silver, and all three are listed against the same panel numbers, so the choice is visual rather than technical.

Counting the edges before you order

1. Walk the room with a pencil and mark every point where the panelling will stop, including the top if it finishes below the ceiling line.
2. Double the count at doorways and window reveals. An opening normally gives you an edge on each side.
3. Measure the longest of those edges and work from that figure, not from an average. One length cut down beats two pieces butted together.
4. Add the horizontal stops. A half-height panelled wall has a long top edge, and that single run can eat more trim than every vertical edge in the room.

The gaps in the listing

Two things are not published, and both matter on site. The profile width and depth are absent, so you cannot tell from the page how deep the channel is or how much of the panel face the strip covers. The fixing method is absent too. Ask the shop for both before ordering, particularly if the panel is going onto a surface you cannot screw into.

What else goes in the same order

Panels in the 05, 07 and 11 series are secured with the bracket for PVC wall panels, which is sold in hundreds and is hidden once the panel is on. Browse the rest of the edge profiles in Trims & Fittings, or start from the boards in Wall Panelling if the panel choice is still open. Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store, £50 beyond.

When you know how many edges the room has, pick a finish on the Aluminium End Strip page and add it alongside the panels rather than ordering it after the fact.