Wall Panel 36H Oak 02: what the name means, and how it fits

The Wall Panel 36H in Oak 02 is a slatted panel built from HDF slats on a felt backing, supplied four panels to a pack. Before anything else, the name is worth unpicking, because it carries less information than it looks like it does.

Oak 02 is a code, not a description

The listing does not say what the 02 stands for. There are several other oaks in this range, each with its own code, and the number appears to separate one from another, but nothing on the page confirms that. What it certainly does not tell you is whether the tone is warm or neutral, how heavy the grain is, or how much sheen the surface has. The listing names the finish and stops there. If the panel is going on a wall beside an oak floor, an oak worktop or an oak door, that is a real gap and not a quibble: two oaks that are a shade apart argue with each other more than oak and grey ever would. Ask the shop for a photograph taken in daylight, or look at the panel in person before you commit a whole wall to it.

The panel, in figures

• Panel size: 60 x 240 x 1.7cm each
• Slat width: 2.5cm
• Space between slats: 1cm
• Four pieces per pack, covering 5.76m²

The two slat figures are the useful ones. A 2.5cm slat with a 1cm space repeats every 3.5cm, which is a fine, close rhythm by the standards of this range.

Fine slats in a small room

A close repeat reads as texture from across a room. A wide one reads as stripes, and on a short wall stripes can shorten it further. That is the real difference between this panel and the wider-slatted ones: in a box bedroom, a hallway or a chimney breast, the finer rhythm is usually the safer choice, and it keeps a part-cut panel at the end of a run less conspicuous. If you want the bolder line instead, Wall Panel 37H is the same Oak 02 finish with a 4cm slat.

Working out the order

Measure the wall at the top and at the bottom, take the wider figure, divide by 60 and round up for the panel count, then divide by four and round up for packs. A 1.2m return beside a window is two panels. A 3m wall is five, so two packs. Order the lot together: a second order can come from a different batch, and a shade difference between two batches of the same finish shows most where two panels meet.

Before the first panel goes up

1. Check the background is sound, flat and dry. A slat panel follows a bowed wall and the gap shows at the joins.
2. Strike a plumb line. Rooms are rarely square and the first panel sets every one after it.
3. Mark sockets, switches and any bracket plate before you start, allowing for the 1.7cm the panel adds to the face of the wall.
4. Buy the adhesive and the finishing strips with the panels, not after. The wall panel adhesive comes by the box and corner strips are in panel trims and fittings, where each trim is listed against the panel numbers it suits, so check which one fits this panel.
5. Ask the shop to confirm timing before you book a fitter.

One last honest note on sound. The description says the slats and felt backing absorb sound and reduce noise, and gives no coefficient, no test standard and no figure, so it describes the construction rather than measuring the result.

Alongside it, 36F in grey oak cools the colour down and 36WT in walnut darkens it, both on the same slat figures; the wider set and the taller 280cm panels are in slat and acoustic panels. When the measurements are settled, order the Wall Panel 36H Oak 02 acoustic panel for the whole wall in one go. Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store and £50 beyond.