Wall Panel 62C Dark Grey: pack maths and living with a dark wall

Dark panelling is a stronger decision than a pale one. It changes how a room reads at every hour of the day, and it is far less forgiving of a sloppy edge or a socket in the wrong place. Wall Panel 62C in dark grey is a PVC panel the shop supplies in packs of eight, and the listing gives enough to plan with, provided you know which parts of the decision it does not cover.

Pack size and coverage

Multiply out and a pack is 240cm of wall width at 240cm high. Because 0.3m by 2.4m by eight panels comes to exactly the quoted 5.76m², the figure is the panels' flat area and no allowance has been made for overlapping at a joint. If 62C overlaps when fitted, your real covered width will be under 240cm per pack, so ask the shop how the panels butt together before you order to the millimetre.

Choosing a dark grey wall

Three practical points follow from the colour rather than the specification.

• Where the light comes from. A dark wall facing a window behaves differently from a dark wall beside one. Look at the panel in person if you can, and look at the room at the hour you actually use it rather than at noon.
• Downlights and wall lights. On a dark panel the beam from a spotlight is much more visible as a scallop than it is on white plaster, so if the lighting is being changed anyway it is worth planning both at once.
• Which grey. This range holds a light grey, a grey and a dark grey as separate panels, and those names are the only guide the listings give to the actual shade. Comparing them on a screen is unreliable.

Sheen, light and what the listing omits

The listing does not state the sheen level or surface texture. That matters more on a dark panel than a pale one, because sheen decides how much of a window or a light fitting the wall reflects back, and a high sheen dark grey shows dust and handprints that the same colour in a flat finish would hide. The description also says nothing about sound absorption, since this is a PVC panel rather than one of the panels listed as acoustic. On water it goes only as far as calling the panels resistant to moisture, fading and daily wear, with no rating or standard quoted, so a bathroom wall deserves a direct question to the shop. Nothing in the listing covers fixing method or panel weight either.

Before you order, measure these

1. Floor to ceiling at the left, centre and right of the wall. Anything over 240cm means the top of the panel needs a trim or a deliberate shadow gap.
2. Wall width at the top and at the skirting, so you know how much the last panel has to be scribed.
3. Socket, switch and radiator positions, measured off the plaster face. The panel adds 1cm, and a socket plate that ends up flush with the panel instead of proud of it is a job to put right afterwards.
4. Any external corner. The listing does not say how a cut edge looks once a panel has been trimmed to width, so plan on covering it and ask the shop which strip suits 62C.

Lighter and darker neighbours

If the dark grey proves too heavy for the room, 62B in light grey is the same panel in the pale version of the same family. For a dark grey in a smaller four-piece pack, there is Wall Panel 05D in dark grey, which is useful when one alcove is all you are doing. Where sound is part of the brief, Wall Panel 01C in dark grey is listed as acoustic in a comparable tone, and the shop can say what it is backed with. And if the room would be better warm than cool, 62D in dark oak is the wood effect at the same panel size. The full set is on the slat and acoustic panels page.

Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store and £50 beyond. For the photographs, the specification and the current lead time, go to the Wall Panel 62C dark grey pack.