Outdoor panel brackets: how many you need and what fits

Panel cladding goes up quickly and then stops dead at the fixings. The Bracket For Outdoor Panels 73/83/84/92 is the part that holds the boards back to the wall, and it is sold fifty pieces to a pack.

The listing describes the method in a single line: slide the bracket onto the panel lip, then fasten it to the wall with one screw. That reads as a concealed fixing rather than a face fix, although the listing does not use either term.

What this bracket actually does

Face-fixing a cladding board means a visible screw head on every row and a hole through the face of the panel. The listing's own phrase for the alternative is mounting panels without compromising their structural integrity: the screw passes through the bracket and into the wall, and on that reading the panel is held rather than drilled. If it is right, on a long elevation that is the difference between a flat surface and a grid of fixings you can count from the garden, which is reason enough to have the shop confirm it before you order a wall's worth.

The two size options, and what they fit

There are two choices on the product page, 73 and 83, and both are listed as fitting panels 73, 83, 84 and 92. That is worth a question before you order. The option name suggests the bracket is profiled to a particular panel lip, while the compatibility note covers the whole group, so confirm which option suits the board you have chosen instead of reading the number as your panel code.

The only measurement is 2 x 5cm

Each bracket is listed at 2 x 5cm. That is the size of the bracket, not a fixing spacing, and the page does not say which way round the two figures run. Nothing on the page gives the centres the brackets should be set at, and that figure belongs with the panel rather than the bracket, so ask the shop what spacing is recommended for the board you are buying.

Working out how many packs

The sum is the run you are cladding divided by the fixing spacing, plus a bracket at each board end, multiplied by the number of boards. Only one of those numbers is missing and it is the spacing. Once you have it, round up to whole packs and order the fixings at the same time as the boards: being a pack short stops the job rather than slowing it.

What the listing does not say

• The material. Nothing states what the bracket is made from.
• Screws. One screw per bracket is specified, but not its size, and nothing says screws are supplied. Assume you are buying them separately and check.
• Fixing centres, as above.
• Whether the two size options differ in profile or only in name.

The trims that finish the job

Brackets hold the field of the wall; the edges need a trim. For 73 or 83 boards, the Wall Panel 73/83 Trim runs the perimeter and the 73/83 Corner Trim turns the external angles. For 92 boards the matching border is the Wall Panel 92 Trim. The rest of the group is in Outdoor Trims & Fittings, and the boards themselves in Outdoor Wall Panels.

Settle the spacing, count the boards, then order the 50-piece outdoor panel bracket pack with your cladding and trims. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond.