Wood slat saturated. Felted didn't.
When the brief says "slat" or "acoustic slat wall panel", the client usually means rhythm, warmth and a wall that looks considered. Here's the panelled wall you can specify that isn't the one they've already seen everywhere.
We did a lap of the high street. Slat on the wall of the barber. Slat in the corner shop. Slat behind the counter at the post office.
It's a good wall. That's why everyone has it.
That's the problem for a dealer or specifier. When a client asks for a slat wall, they're asking for something that looks considered. The trouble is that the business down the road asked for the same thing, and got it. We're not here to knock slat, the people who make it or the people who sell it. We're here to give you a second answer when the client wants the effect without the sameness.
What the client is actually asking for.
Strip "slat" out of the brief and four things are usually left.
Rhythm. A wall with lines in it, not a flat painted surface.
A colour that works with the rest of the room. Often the brand colours, often something calmer.
A room that sounds better. Rarely the headline, but nearly always in there. Receptions, meeting rooms and hospitality spaces with hard floors and glass all get echoey.
Something that goes up without fuss in a building that's already open for business.
Slat answers the first one well. Felt answers all four, in a different visual language.
The acoustic slat wall panel look, in felt.
Grooves and patterns, engraved in. The rhythm comes from lines engraved into the panel rather than gaps between pieces of timber. Vertical, diagonal or a pattern that has nothing to do with slat at all. See the wall panel range.
Colour as a spec choice. Wood comes in wood. Felt comes in whatever you decide: 48 colours in 12mm and 20 in 24mm. That makes it far easier to land a brand palette, or to go quiet and tonal.
Your client's own pattern. We engrave from a customer line drawing. No minimum, priced per job, 4mm deep, on panels up to 2400 x 1200mm, 10 working days from drawing approval. A logo, a motif from the building or a pattern nobody else on the high street has. See custom engraved panels.
Edges and corners. Plain panels come with square or rounded corners (25mm radius). Fully clad, 12mm and 24mm square-edge panels read the same from the front.
The figures you'll be asked for.
Fire. 12mm and 24mm boards are both Class B-s1,d0 to BS EN 13501-1:2018.
Material. PET felt with 75% post-consumer recycled content. Made in the UK.
Weight. 12mm board is 2.4kg/m². 24mm board is 4.87kg/m².
Guarantee. 10 years on all PET felt products. 2 years on accessories such as fixings.
Acoustics. The figures depend on how the panel is mounted, so we publish them with the test conditions in how to read acoustic panel ratings. For sizing a room, the Acoustics Estimator gives a starting point your client can run too.
How it goes up.
Panels are a uniform thickness, so any unevenness in the wall shows at the edges. On an uneven wall, levelling battens give a flat surface and a fixing point. They run vertically, and on a fully clad wall the panel edges land on the middle of a batten. If the wall is already flat, fix direct.
There are three ways to fix. Button-fix is simple to fit and easy to remove: four sets on a 600 x 600mm panel, six on anything larger, sold separately. Adhesive is the permanent route, with holding pins while it cures. Pin head nails work too. 12mm cuts with a Stanley knife, so trimming round a socket is a job for the fitter, not a callback. The full detail is in our fitting guide, which you can send straight to the installer.
When slat is the right answer.
Felt isn't wood. If the client wants real timber under their hand, an acoustic slatted wall panel in wood is the right call. Sell them slat. We'd still tell you that.
And felt on the wall makes the room sound better. It doesn't stop sound passing through the wall to next door. If that's the actual problem, it's a different job, and we'll tell you so before you quote.
Getting it in front of your client.
Trade pricing isn't public. Send us the brief through the contact form and we'll come back to you directly, with the same person on the other end from quote to delivery. Once you're set up, the Trade Portal handles specs and prices. If the wall needs panels cut to its own measurements, here's how custom sizes work.
Colours on a screen only tell you so much. Our sample pack is £12.95 for up to six A5 swatches, so your client can see the colour on their own wall in their own light.
If you're a homeowner who found your way here, our Peak slat guide is written for you.
