Wall Panel 83A Oak 03: choosing between the 180cm and 290cm

Most of the outdoor panels in this range come in one length. Wall Panel 83A in Oak 03 is offered in two, 290cm and 180cm, picked from the size option on the product page. Choosing well is simply a matter of measuring the height you need to clad before you order.

Coverage by length

Both lengths are six pieces to a pack and both are 21cm wide, so a pack covers the same 1.26m of wall width either way. All that changes is how high it goes. Slats are 3.5cm with 1.5cm between them on both, and the code is AWS-OWP010-1.

Where the 180 is the better buy

The shorter panel suits a wall or fence under about 1.8m, and there are more of those in a garden than people expect: a low boundary wall, the face of a raised bed, a bin or bike store, the back of a bench seat, a balcony balustrade, the base of a wall below a window run. Taking a 290cm panel to those heights means cutting more than a metre off every single piece, and an offcut that narrow is awkward to use anywhere else.

The 290 earns its length on a full boundary wall, a fence line at head height or above, or anywhere you want the run to read as one uninterrupted piece from ground to coping with no horizontal joint.

Mixing the two on one job

Because both lengths share the profile, the slat width and the gap, a tall run in 290 and a low return in 180 will read as the same panelling. That is useful where a garden steps down: use the long panel on the high wall and the short one on the low section, rather than jointing offcuts along the bottom.

What the listing does not say is whether the two lengths are cut from the same batch or finished identically, so if a long wall and a short return are side by side and in full view, mention it when you order and ask for both to come from one delivery.

Oak 02 and Oak 03

There are two oak shades on this profile. This one is Oak 03, and Wall Panel 83A - Oak 02 is listed separately in both lengths as well. Neither listing describes how the two differ, so compare the photographs and ask the shop which is warmer before committing a whole garden to one. For a different tone on the same 2.5cm profile, Wall Panel 83F in khaki and Wall Panel 83E in black are the alternatives, and the whole set is on the Outdoor Wall Panels page.

Trims, brackets and quantities

The listing names Wall Panel 73/83 Trim - 290cm for edges, Wall Panel 73/83 Corner Trim - 290cm for external corners and Bracket For Outdoor Panels, which it recommends for installation. All three are separate purchases from Outdoor Trims & Fittings. Note that both trims are 290cm, so on the 180 panels you will be cutting trim to length.

For quantities, divide each wall face by 1.26m and round up. Ask the shop for the current lead time, and tell them which size option you want so the right pack is picked. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. When the heights are measured, order Wall Panel 83A - Oak 03 - Outdoor in the length your wall actually needs.