Wall Panel 011A White Marble Board: measuring a kitchen wall

Wall Panel 011A - White Marble Wall Board is a flat PVC board with a white marble effect, listed at 90 x 240 x 0.7cm per board, two boards to a pack and 4.32m² of coverage, joined with a tongue and groove. It is code AWS-WP0790 in the Slat & Acoustic Panels range, and the listing describes the PVC as moisture resistant and names kitchens, bathrooms and commercial spaces.

Measuring a wall that has things on it

A bathroom or kitchen wall is never a plain rectangle, and this is where most orders go wrong. Work through it in this order.

1. Height, three times. Floor to ceiling at both ends and in the middle. Boards are 240cm, so note immediately whether you are cutting down or filling above.
2. Width, top and bottom. Boards are 0.9m wide, so the width divided by 0.9, rounded up, is the board count.
3. Every opening, twice. Window and door openings measured from the nearest corner and up from the floor, so you know which board they fall in.
4. The fixed stuff. Worktop height, splashback height, the position of the hob, the sink, the shower tray, the towel rail, the sockets.
5. Depth. At 0.7cm the board adds little, but check the window reveal and the socket faces anyway.

The 4.32m² coverage is two boards at the full 0.9m width. A tongue and groove joint usually overlaps, so the covered width may be a little under that; where your sum lands exactly on a pack, ask the shop for the covered width or order the extra pack.

Where to put the joints

With only two joints on a typical wall, their position is the whole design. Keep a joint away from the centre line of a hob or a basin, start the run at the corner you see from the door, and if a board has to be cut down the length, put the cut end into a corner where a strip will cover it. On a wall with a window, a joint that lines up with the reveal looks deliberate; one that lands 4cm from it does not.

The trims the listing names

The listing names matching finishing pieces, which are separate lines and need to go on the order with the boards.

A colour-matched PVC strip disappears; a black, gold or silver aluminium one becomes part of the look. Ask which the shop recommends for each junction, because the listing does not say which joints each strip is intended for.

Questions to ask before you order

The listing does not state whether the board can go inside a shower enclosure or directly behind a hob, gives no fire rating, and does not say how the marble pattern repeats from one board to the next, which on a 90cm board is the first thing anyone notices. No fixing method is given either, so confirm what suits your wall; Adhesive for Wall Panels is a separate line.

The grey version of the same board is Wall Panel 011B - Grey Marble Wall Board, the gold-veined white is Wall Panel 011D - Gold and White Marble Wall Board, and the same white marble idea appears in the 07 series as Wall Panel 07A - White Marble Wall Board, which is four pieces to a pack on a different board size, so ask for its figures before you work out quantities from the table above. Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store and £50 beyond.

Photographs and the full specification are on the Wall Panel 011A - White Marble Wall Board page.