Wall Panel 31D Dark Oak: the trim, the thickness, the count

Most of what goes wrong with a slat wall happens at its edges, not in the middle. Wall Panel 31D in dark oak is unusual in naming its own finishing trim on the listing, which takes one decision off your hands. The rest of this is the measuring, the thickness and the questions worth asking.

Four boards to a pack

The listing does not label the three dimensions, but it states the panel is 17mm thick in its own description, which settles 1.7cm as the thickness, and the 240cm in the name settles the length. That leaves 60cm across the face. Four of those make 2.4 metres of wall per pack.

Sixty centimetres is a coarse unit, so the arithmetic is worth doing on paper. A 3 metre wall takes five boards, which is two packs with three over. At 3.6 metres you want six, still two packs. A 4.8 metre wall takes eight and uses two packs exactly. Anything in between leaves you cutting one board down the length, and because a cut lands between slats rather than on a neat edge, decide now whether that part board goes in a corner or whether you halve it across both ends.

The trim named on this listing

The description names Wall Panel Trim A - D Dark Oak - WP 01/03/04/31 - 240cm, in a pack of ten pieces. Two useful things come out of that code. The colour letter D matches this panel's dark oak, so the trim is listed in the same colour name rather than a contrasting one. And the list of panel numbers tells you the same trim serves the 01, 03, 04 and 31 groups, which is worth knowing if you are panelling two walls in different profiles and want one edge detail throughout. The trims are listed in panel trims and fittings; ask the shop to confirm the profile against a 1.7cm panel before you order, since thickness is what decides whether a trim sits flush.

Seventeen millimetres changes the detailing

The description makes a point of this panel being thicker than a standard one. On the wall that reads as more shadow and more presence, and in the detailing it means the whole wall steps forward by nearly two centimetres. Check the four usual suspects before you order: socket and switch positions, the skirting, any door architrave on the same wall, and a window reveal that is already shallow. None of them is difficult, but all of them are easier to resolve on paper than once the boards are up.

Dark oak with felt behind it

The felt backing is part of what the panel is for, and it is also visible in the gaps between slats, so its colour is part of the look. The listing does not state what colour the felt is on the dark oak version, which on a dark panel is the difference between the gaps reading as deep shadow or as a contrasting stripe. The photographs on the product page will tell you more than the description does, and the shop can confirm it outright.

What to confirm before ordering

• Felt colour behind the slats, as above.
• Whether the dark oak face is a timber veneer or a wood-effect finish. The description says three-sided veneer coverage on all visible slats but does not name the material.
• Slat width and the gap between slats, neither of which is given. If you are matching an existing panelled wall, that is the figure that decides it.
• Any measured absorption figure. The listing describes sound absorption but quotes no number, so do not plan a studio around an assumption.

The rest of the group

The same board is listed as Wall Panel 31H in oak, Wall Panel 31F in grey oak and Wall Panel 31T in walnut, and the wider selection sits in slat and acoustic panels. Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store and £50 beyond it.

With the board count, the trim and the felt colour agreed, order Wall Panel 31D dark oak and its trim together so the whole wall arrives at once.