Wall Panel 32R Concrete: the third side, depth and cover

The Wall Panel 32R in concrete belongs to the 32 group of slatted panels: HDF slats on a felt backing, four panels to a pack, each one 60 x 240 x 1.7cm. What separates it from a plain slat panel sits in its name. The listing says the veneer covers three sides of every visible slat rather than the face alone.

Where the third side shows

Along a flat run of wall you only ever see slat faces, so the extra coverage is invisible. It shows at the points where a panelled wall stops: an external corner, a window reveal, the open end of a run, or a junction with plaster or tile. A slat finished on the face alone shows a raw side there, and the usual remedy is a trim or a shadow gap. If your wall turns a corner or ends in open air rather than tight against an architrave, that is the detail to weigh when choosing between this and a face-only panel.

Seventeen millimetres, written two ways

The description calls this thicker than a standard panel and gives 17mm. The size line gives 1.7cm. Same figure, different units, and it is the number that decides the fiddly parts of the job:

• Sockets and switches end up 1.7cm behind the new wall face, so they need extension boxes or a surface pattress.
• Skirting and architrave either come off and go back on over the panel, or the panel stops short and a trim closes the gap.
• A door that opens against the panelled wall loses 1.7cm of clearance, which is worth checking on a narrow landing.

Packs, panels and a 60cm module

Read in that order the figures are width, height and thickness, and the arithmetic agrees: 0.6m by 2.4m, times four panels, is 5.76m². Confirm which figure is which with the shop if you are cutting to a drawing. For quantities, measure the wall in centimetres, divide the width by 60 and round up, then divide the panels by four. A 3.6m wall takes six panels, so two packs with two spare. A 4.8m wall takes eight, which is exactly two packs with nothing left for a mistake.

What the listing claims about sound, and what it does not

The description says the felt backing absorbs sound and reduces noise transmission. No absorption coefficient, no test standard and no figure of any kind is published with it, so read it as a statement about how the panel is built rather than a measured result. If you are treating a room where the outcome has to be demonstrable, ask the shop what test data the supplier holds before you order. The listing is also quiet about the concrete face itself: it does not say whether that surface is printed, textured or something else, and the word veneer is used of the slat sides rather than of the finish. Worth asking if the texture has to sit beside a floor or worktop you already own.

Ordering it, and what to order with it

Panels like this are fixed with adhesive, and the wall panel adhesive is sold by the box. Edges, corners and the line at the ceiling are closed with strips from panel trims and fittings, where each trim is listed against the panel numbers it suits, so check with the shop which one fits this panel and buy it with the panels rather than after the wall is finished. If concrete grey is right but the three-sided detail is not needed, Wall Panel 01R in concrete is the same height in the standard acoustic build. For the same 32 construction in wood tones, compare 32W in light oak and 32K in shadow oak, or work through the whole set of profiles in slat and acoustic panels.

Once you have a width, a height and a pack count, order the Wall Panel 32R concrete acoustic panel in one go so the whole wall comes from one batch. Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store and £50 beyond.