MAKING MDF PANELS - Part II

Okay so having followed my epic tutorial on how to prepare a sketch with measurements for an MDF wall panelled section, there’s just a few more pearls of wisdom to share about the panel sections before you go off to your local timber merchants to buy your specially cut MDF panel pieces. 

Can't she post something about dandelions?

Firstly, all of the horizontal and vertical bars that make up your overall panel design need to sit on a backboard of some kind.  Even with perfectly plastered walls I feel that to give the panelling some relief and enhance the overall wood-like texture of the finished item, then you need to have an MDF baseboard.  I’ve used 6 mm thick MDF sheets for my base.

MDF sheets come in lots of different sizes but when you get to B&Q and depending on the size of the area you are covering, you may not be able to get a sheet of MDF that covers the whole space in one piece. 

The biggest sheet size (2.44 m x 1.22 m) may not be big enough or available in store for your project and in such cases, you will need to think about how best to cover your wall space so that no MDF joins are showing. 

Our nearest B&Q in Bognor Regis had a shortage of large 6 mm MDF sheets so to get round this issue, I divided my wall space into smaller sections with the MDF joins falling in the centre of my vertical bars.  I’ve marked these out in green in the diagram.

 

Measuring up for smaller backboards

I was then able to buy 6 of their 1.22 m x 0.61m x 6mm MDF sheets and get them cut down to the required sizes.  This works out a little more expensive than perhaps buying the larger sized sheet but it can be a way of getting round the issue of MDF sheet shortages or larger wall spaces to panel. 

For the horizontal and vertical bars, I used 12 mm thick MDF.  From a large MDF sheet (2.44m x 1.22m), I was able to get 2 horizontal bars and 7 verticals bars cut to size with plenty left over.  For greater depth or if you want to use a quadrant bead inside your panels to give them a nice finish, you can always use 18 mm thick MDF.

 

Panel bars in 12mm thick MDF

Finally, your panelled section may need something to finish it off such as a dado rail, decorative bead or in our case, a shelf.  This is not just for an aesthetically pleasing look but also to hide any visible MDF joins when you look down along the top edge.  

That shelf will be perfect for cat naps

Victorian Emporium or even Ebay are good places to look for longer lengths of rebated dado rail or decorative beading that can then be cut to size to give the perfect finishing touch to your panels. 

Now armed with your measurements and brain full of all of this amazing stuff you’ve read here, off you pop to the timber merchants with your panelling shopping list.