Wall Panel 32W Light Oak: joins, depth and pack coverage

Light oak tends to be chosen for a calm wall rather than a feature one, which is why it usually ends up on the longer runs. The Wall Panel 32W in light oak suits that kind of job: HDF slats on a felt backing, veneered on three sides of each visible slat, four panels to a pack at 60 x 240 x 1.7cm each.

A pale wall shows its joins

Set out well, the join between two slat panels looks like one more gap in the rhythm. Set out badly, it looks like a fat seam. A dark panel hides a millimetre or two of that in shadow; a light oak one does not. Two things follow from it. Strike a plumb line and set the first panel off that rather than off the corner of the room, because few rooms are square. And buy the whole wall on one order, which makes it likelier that the panels come from a single batch rather than two.

The figures on this listing

• Panel: 60 x 240 x 1.7cm
• Pack: 4 pieces
• Coverage: 5.76m² per pack, which is 2.4m of wall width at the panel's full height

Count panels before packs. Wall width in centimetres, divided by 60, rounded up. A 2.4m alcove is four panels and one pack with no cuts at all. A 3m wall is five panels, so two packs, and the three spare panels are what you cut down for the last position and keep back for damage.

Why the thicker panel changes the skirting

The description presents the 32 build as thicker than a standard panel, at 17mm, and the size line says 1.7cm. Where the run meets existing joinery that depth has to go somewhere, and there are three usual answers. Taking the skirting off and refitting it over the panel gives the cleanest line. Stopping the panel on top of the skirting leaves a ledge that collects dust and needs a capping. Stopping short and closing the gap with a trim is quickest. Settle it before you order, because the second and third options change how much you cut off the panel height and which strips you need.

The specification stops short in two places

Neither the slat width nor the space between slats is published for this panel. That matters if you are extending an existing panelled wall or trying to match a rhythm in the next room, because you cannot tell from the text whether it is finer or coarser than the 36 and 37 groups. Photographs tell you more than the words do, and the shop can measure a slat on request. There is no sound figure either: the listing describes slats on a felt backing that absorb sound and reduce noise, with no coefficient and no standard attached, so take the construction as stated and the performance as unquantified.

Light oak against the rest of the group

In the same three-sided build, 32H in oak is the warmer tone and 32F in grey oak takes it cooler. If slat spacing is what you are really choosing between, Wall Panel 36H in oak publishes both numbers, 2.5cm slats with 1cm between them, and is a fair comparison on everything else. Finishing strips live in panel trims and fittings, each one listed against the panel numbers it suits, so ask which fits this panel; the rest of the profiles are in slat and acoustic panels.

Measure the wall, decide the skirting detail, then order the Wall Panel 32W light oak acoustic panel as a single batch. Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store and £50 beyond.