Wall Panel 17T Walnut: wide slats or narrow, and what changes

Walnut turns up on a lot of the panel formats in this catalogue, and the finish is usually chosen first and the format almost by accident. Wall Panel 17T in walnut is the wide-slat one, and the difference between it and its relatives is not the colour at all. It is how much shadow the wall carries.

Four of the ways to put walnut on a wall

Shadow is the variable. A slatted panel has a gap behind every rib, so the wall is a rhythm of dark lines that changes as you move past it. A flat board has none, and reads as a continuous surface. Between them sits the tongue-and-groove plank, which the seamless listings describe as going up without visible gaps.

• Wide slat, this panel. A 5cm slat with a 1cm space, so the pattern repeats every 6cm and the shadows are widely spaced.
• Another slat panel. Wall Panel 01T in walnut is the 01 group's acoustic panel rather than a wide slat. Its slat width and spacing are on its own listing, and that is where to compare them, because only the figures on this page describe 17T.
• Seamless plank. Wall Panel 21T in walnut is listed as seamless, jointed plank to plank instead of gapped, so the wall is flatter and there is nothing to dust out of.
• Wall board. Wall Panel 07W in walnut is listed as a wall board rather than a slat panel; its own page carries the surface detail and the pack sizes.

Check each of those listings for its own sizes and pack contents, because they differ and only this page's figures apply to 17T.

What the 17T listing gives you

Four panels at 60cm wide give a 2.4 metre run at the listed 240cm height, which is where the 5.76m2 comes from. Divide your widest wall measurement by 2.4 and round up for packs.

Choosing by room, not by photograph

A wide slat flatters a large wall seen from a distance, in a sitting room or across an open-plan space, because the pattern does not break up into noise. In a narrow hall you walk past the wall at arm's length, and the wider spacing holds up better there than a fine rib. Where the wall has to be wiped often, behind a dining table or in a kitchen, the gaps in any slat panel are a cleaning job the flat formats avoid. Walnut sits at the darker end of the wood finishes in the group, so in a room with one small window it will take light out; a wash of light along the slats is what puts the texture back.

What is not published

The description says HDF slats on a felt backing absorb sound and reduce noise transmission. No absorption coefficient, no NRC and no frequency data is given, and absorbing echo in a room is not the same job as stopping sound reaching the next room, so take the wording as a description of the construction. The finish is named walnut with no colour reference, no sheen level and no statement of whether the face is a veneer, a foil or a print. Fixing method, panel weight and fire rating are all absent too. Ask the shop for any of those that matter to your wall.

Ordering

Panels, the named trim and the wall panel adhesive are easier ordered together, with trims kept in panel trims and fittings. When the wall is measured and the pack count rounded up, the figures and photographs are on the Wall Panel 17T walnut page, and the other finishes in the group are in slat and acoustic panels. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond.