Wall Panel 17A Oak: what a 5cm wide slat changes on a wall

The 17 panels are the wide-slat version of this idea, and the difference is in two figures. Where the narrow profiles run a 3.5cm slat with a 1.5cm gap, the Wall Panel 17A in oak is listed with 5cm slats and only 1cm between them. More wood, less shadow, a slower rhythm across the wall.

What makes 17A a wide slat

A 5cm slat with a 1cm gap repeats every 6cm, so a 60cm face carries ten ribs rather than the twelve of the narrower profile. Two things follow. The wall reads as boarding with fine lines in it rather than as a grille, which suits a room with large plain furniture in it. And the gaps are narrower, so there is less of the backing on show and less contrast between the slat and the shadow beside it. Both of those arithmetic figures come from the listing's own slat and gap measurements; the listing itself publishes neither the slat count nor which element sits at the panel edge.

The listed figures

The wall that suits a wide slat

Scale is the thing to judge. A wide rib wants a wide wall: a lounge chimney breast, the long wall of an open-plan room, the full face behind a bed. On a narrow pier between two doors you only get two or three ribs across it, and the pattern stops reading as a pattern. Narrow slats hold up better in small spaces for exactly that reason.

Height helps too. At 240cm these panels run floor to ceiling in most rooms, and a wide rib running the full height is what makes a wall look taller than it is. Half-height panelling with a wide slat is a harder look to pull off.

Coverage and pack count

Each panel shows 60cm of width, so four of them cover a 2.4m run at the panel's full height, which is the 5.76m² on the listing. Measure the wall width in centimetres, divide by 60 and round up for panels; divide that by four and round up for packs. Then look at the remainder: a cut that takes a whole slat off is almost invisible with a 1cm gap, while a cut through the middle of a 5cm slat leaves an obviously half-width rib, so plan the cut to land on a gap wherever the wall lets you.

The sound claim, as the listing puts it

The description says the HDF slats and felt backing absorb sound and reduce noise transmission. No absorption coefficient, no acoustic class and no test standard appears anywhere on the listing, and nothing in it claims the panel prevents sound passing through the wall. For a hard-floored lounge or a home office that echoes, that description is the whole of what is promised. For anything that has to satisfy a written specification, ask us for the supplier's data first and buy on the number rather than the description. There is no fire classification on the listing either.

Narrow slats, and the other 17 finishes

If you want oak with a tighter rhythm, Wall Panel 15A is the 3.5cm profile. Within the wide slat group the oak sits alongside 17B in light grey, 17D in dark oak and 17T in walnut, all listed at 240cm and four pieces to a pack, and all shelved together in Slat & Acoustic Panels.

No fixing method is stated, so tell us what the wall is built of and we will say what it needs. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. Photographs, dimensions and the current price are on the Wall Panel 17A oak wide slat page.