Wall Panel 17P Teak Oak: working out packs for a real wall

Coverage figures assume a plain rectangle. Almost no wall is one. Wall Panel 17P in teak oak is listed at 5.76m2 a pack, and this post is mostly about turning that figure into the number of packs an actual room needs.

Count panels, not square metres

Panels come in fixed widths, so square metres mislead you the moment the wall has a break in it. The listing gives 60 x 240 x 1.5cm per panel and four panels a pack. Work in panel widths instead: measure each flat face of the wall, divide each one by 0.6 metres, round each up on its own, then add them together and divide by four for the pack count. Adding the areas first and dividing once at the end will always leave you short.

A worked example: a chimney breast and two alcoves

Take a chimney breast 1.2 metres wide with an alcove 0.9 metres wide on each side, all of it 2.4 metres high.

That is six panels, so two packs, with two panels spare. In principle one panel cut in half serves both alcoves and five panels would do, but only if both cut edges end up in a corner or under a trim, and only if the cut can fall in a gap rather than through the middle of a slat. The two returns on the sides of the breast, if they are being panelled too, each need a narrow piece as well. Order the spare pack rather than planning to the last centimetre.

The figures to plan from

• Panel: 60 x 240 x 1.5cm, four to a pack, 5.76m2 covered
• Slat width 5cm with a 1cm space, so the pattern repeats every 6cm
• Listed trim: Wall Panel PVC Trim Acoustic, ordered separately

The 6cm repeat is what tells you where a tidy cut can land. Ten repeats fill the listed 60cm panel width, so a cut at 30cm lands cleanly in theory; whether the panel edge itself starts on a slat or a gap is not stated and is best checked from the photographs or with the shop.

Teak oak, as far as the listing goes

The description names the finish teak oak and says the panels are HDF slats with a felt backing. It does not say whether the face is a veneer, a foil or a print, and it gives no colour reference, so a teak that is warmer or redder than you expect is a real possibility. Two photographs are published with the product. If this wall has to live next to existing woodwork, ask the shop what can be seen in person first. On sound, the description claims absorption and reduced noise transmission with no figure of any kind behind it, which makes it a description of the construction rather than a performance rating.

Before you order

Check the ceiling height along the whole wall, not at one end: the panel is 240cm and an uneven ceiling is what turns a simple job into a scribed one. Add the trim and the wall panel adhesive to the same order. If teak reads too warm, Wall Panel 17Q in smoked oak and Wall Panel 17F in grey oak are the cooler finishes on the same profile.

Once you have a panel count, the measurements and photographs are on the Wall Panel 17P teak oak page, and the rest of the profile is in slat and acoustic panels. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond.