29 metres in a pack: finishing 73 and 83 panel walls

A panelled wall needs a border on every edge that is not a corner: along the top, along the bottom, down a reveal, around a meter box. That is the job of the Wall Panel 73/83 Trim, and it is sold ten lengths at a time.

Ten lengths, 29 metres

Each piece is 290cm, so a pack carries 29 metres. Measure the perimeter of each panelled area, including the edges of any opening you have to trim round, then convert to whole lengths rather than metres. An offcut only helps if it is longer than the next edge on your list, so count edges and keep a note of which length covers which. As a rough check, a wall four metres wide and 2.4 metres high, trimmed top, bottom and both sides, comes to about 12.8 metres before cuts.

The finish codes say which panel they fit

This is the most useful detail on the page and it repays reading closely: every finish names the boards it suits.

All eight share the same 4 x 4cm section, but two of them cover fewer boards than the rest: Light Brown is listed for 83C alone and Walnut for 73T alone, so if you are cladding in either, read the code off the panel packaging rather than trusting the colour name. Grey appears twice, as Grey and Grey 02, both against the same three boards, and the listing does not say how the two differ.

It is listed for decking as well

The description closes with a line worth noticing: the same trim can be used with the decking range. On a deck it does what it does on a wall, covering the cut ends of boards along an open edge or where they meet a house wall. No fixing method is given for either use, and the answer may well differ between a vertical face and a horizontal deck edge, so ask how it is meant to be held. The decking range is worth a look with that in mind.

Reading the dimensions

4 x 4 x 290cm per trim. The first two figures are the section and the third is the length; the page does not say which way up the 4 x 4 sits, or whether it is a flat face or an angle, though on a square section that may not matter much. The material is given as composite, with UV resistance the listing says keeps the colour from fading outdoors. Weight, fixing centres and whether any fixings come in the pack are all absent, which is worth a call if you are ordering for a fitter rather than for yourself.

Where it sits in the range

External angles take the 73/83 Corner Trim, which comes three to a pack because corners are counted in heights. The boards are fixed with the 50-piece bracket pack. If your boards are 84s, the matching border is the Wall Panel 84 Trim, at a shorter length and a slimmer section. All of it is listed in Outdoor Trims & Fittings.

Pick the finish from your panel code, work your perimeter into whole lengths, then order the 10-piece 73/83 trim pack with the boards. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store; £50 beyond that.