Wall Panel 89D Dark Oak: what fitted and interlocked really means

Three words on the Wall Panel 89D in Dark Oak listing save you a phone call: fitted and interlocked. The panel is given as 16 x 290 x 2cm when fitted and interlocked, which tells you the 16cm is the width you end up with on the wall rather than the width of the panel in the box.

Three groups, three ways of stating a width

Compare how the outdoor groups publish their panel width, because it changes the sum you do:

This group is the straightforward one. Six panels at 16cm by 290cm is 2.784m², and the listing publishes 2.78m² a pack, so the figures agree and nothing is hidden in the joint.

Measuring in panels

Work in panel widths rather than metres and the job sets itself out. A pack covers 0.96m of wall by 290cm high, so:

1. Measure the wall width in centimetres and divide by 16. That is your panel count.
2. Add one panel for every notch you need around a tap, a downpipe, a light or a meter box.
3. Divide by six and round up for packs.
4. Measure the wall height in three places. At 290cm the panels will almost certainly need cutting down, and brickwork and render are rarely level.
5. Decide where the part-width panel goes. Put it at the end that is least seen, not in the corner.

Interlocking panels take the guesswork out of spacing, but they also mean the run cannot be adjusted once it is started. Get the first panel plumb and the rest follow it, including any error in it.

Dark oak outdoors

The listing describes textured slats in a dark oak finish, and that is the extent of what it says about the look. A dark tone outside behaves differently from the same tone indoors: it reads almost black in shade, and whatever texture is in the face only shows in direct light. If the wall faces north and sits behind a fence or a tall shrub, judge it from the photographs on the 89D product page rather than from the colour name, and ask the shop whether a panel can be seen before you panel a whole elevation.

Fittings, and what the page does not say

Two fittings are named, both at 290cm to match the panel: Wall Panel 88/89 End Trim and Wall Panel 88/89 Corner Trim. Both are separate products in outdoor trims and fittings. Having a corner strip named means an external angle has a proper answer, which not every group in the range offers.

The listing calls this an engineered PVC composite made for outdoor use and says the panels are UV resistant, holding their colour and structural integrity under prolonged sun. No test standard, fire rating, panel weight, slat width or gap figure is published, and nothing is said about fixings or what the wall behind must be. It does ask you to quote the full product code and title when ordering, and that is worth doing: the range also contains a Wall Panel 88D in Dark Oak, which is one digit away from this one.

The rest of this group is Wall Panel 89A in Oak and Wall Panel 89T in Walnut. The full set sits under outdoor wall panels.

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