Wall Panel 08D Dark Oak Blocks: the finish, depth and light

Start with the photographs on the Wall Panel 08D Dark Oak Blocks page, because the words on this listing do not quite agree with each other. It is one of the patterned boards in the Slat & Acoustic Panels range, built on HDF with a felt backing. The listing quotes no slat width or gap for it, and does not say whether the pattern is cut into the face or printed on it.

Dark oak in the name, oak in the description

The product name says Dark Oak. The supplier's own description, further down the same listing, says the oak finish suits modern and traditional interiors. Those are two different depths of brown, and guessing between them in a blog post would be no help to anybody standing in a room trying to match a floor. Go by the photographs, and if the exact depth of the colour decides the order, ask us and we will have it confirmed before you buy. A single panel judged in daylight next to your own floor settles it in a way that no description can.

Pack, panel and run

• Panel size as listed: 60 x 240 x 1.7cm per panel
• Pieces per pack: 4
• Area covered: 5.76m² per pack
• Named trim: Wall Panel PVC Trim Acoustic
• Code: AWS-WP066

Those three dimensions read as face width, height and thickness, and the 240cm matches the height quoted in the name. Four 60cm faces side by side give a 2.4m run, which is the figure to plan from. Count in panels and not in square metres: a wall interrupted by a chimney breast or a window still steps forward in 60cm increments, and the area left over does not go back in the pack.

What a dark panel does to the light

A dark wall absorbs light that a pale one bounces back, so the rest of the room has to do the work. Three things worth settling before you order, none of them covered by the listing:

• The wall you choose. The face with the window in it is the hardest place for a dark finish, because it is in shade for most of the day. The wall opposite is usually the better one.
• Lighting. If the pattern stands in relief, light crossing the face at a shallow angle will show it and a ceiling light straight above it will flatten it. The listing does not say whether it does, so judge that from the photographs.
• The woodwork. White skirting and architrave against a dark panel draws a hard line around the wall. That can be the point, or the thing you wish you had painted first.

The 1.7cm step, and three places it shows

The board sits 1.7cm proud of the plaster. The step appears where the panelled wall meets something that is already fixed: a cornice or coving at the top, which the panel either stops short of or has to be cut around; a door architrave at the side, which loses 1.7cm of its projection; and anything screwed through the face, such as a blind bracket or a shelf, which needs a fixing long enough to pass the panel and still bite into the wall behind. Socket faceplates come forward too, which is an electrician's job and is worth pricing alongside the panels.

Where 08D sits among the 08 panels

The pattern is listed in four finishes, all at 240cm and four pieces to a pack: 08A in oak for the lightest of them, 08T in walnut for a warmer dark, and 08F in grey where wood would compete with the floor. For another dark oak in the same category, compare it with Wall Panel 01D, listed as an acoustic panel on the 01 profile; its own listing is the place to check how that face is built.

On sound, the listing claims absorption from the felt backing and quotes no figure for it, no acoustic class and no test standard. Treat the description as a description and not as a specification, and ask us for the supplier's data if a number has to be met. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. When you have the wall width, order the 08D dark oak block panel in whole packs, or send us the measurements and the question about the finish and we will answer both.