Wall Panel 84C Light Brown: why 240cm is the length to choose

Colour is the decision people spend their time on. Length is the one that costs money. Wall Panel 84C in Light Brown is listed at 240cm, twelve panels to a pack, and whether that is the right length depends entirely on the height of the wall you are covering.

240cm, 290cm or 180cm

The outdoor range is sold in three panel lengths, and the pack size moves with them. Reading straight off the product names:

A fence or a courtyard wall is often somewhere between 180cm and 200cm high, and a house wall up to a first-floor sill can be past 240cm. Pick the length that clears your height with the least taken off, because the offcut is rarely usable anywhere else on the same wall.

The waste is the hidden cost

Panels run vertically in most outdoor installations, so each one is cut to the wall height. Cut 240cm down to 190cm and you are throwing away 50cm from every panel in the pack, which on twelve panels is about a fifth of what you paid for. Cut it down to 230cm and you are throwing away almost nothing. Measure the height before you choose the group, not after.

If the wall is taller than the panel, work out where the horizontal joint falls and whether anything can sit in front of it. A joint hidden behind a planter or a bench is invisible; a joint at chest height across an open wall is the first thing anyone sees.

The figures on the listing

• Panel size: 16 x 240 x 1cm
• Twelve pieces per pack
• Area covered: 4.61m² per pack
• Slat width 2.4cm, space between slats 1.4cm
• Named trim: Wall Panel 84 Trim at 240cm
• Named brackets: Bracket For Outdoor Panels, pack of fifty, recommended for installation

The dimension order is not labelled on the listing, though twelve panels at 16cm by 240cm comes to 4.608m², so the coverage figure is consistent with 16cm being the width. Confirm it with the shop if your setting out hangs on it. The listing also does not say whether the long edges overlap when fitted, which other packs in the range do state, so ask before you count panels across a wide wall.

Light brown, and the browns either side

The listing gives the colour name and no more: no grain description, no sheen level, no indication of how it weathers. It does describe the composite as UV resistant and says it resists fading, warping and moisture damage, without a test figure attached. Light brown sits at the warm end of a group that also holds a grey, a black and a khaki, and a warm tone is the one most likely to sit awkwardly beside a timber fence that has silvered off. Look at the 84C photographs next to what is already in the garden before committing.

One step darker, Wall Panel 84D in Dark Brown is the same 240cm pack. For a taller wall in similar tones, Wall Panel 83C in Light Brown covers the 180cm and 290cm options and Wall Panel 87D in Dark Brown runs to 290cm in packs of six. Edge trims are in outdoor trims and fittings, and the rest of the panels in outdoor wall panels.

Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond it.