Service
Wall panelling: shaker, T&G and fluted
RGS Carpentry makes and fits wall panelling across Surrey: shaker, tongue-and-groove, fluted and full-height designs. Panelling lives or dies on setting out: whether the panel widths are equal, whether the rails line up with the door casing and the window reveal, and whether the whole thing reads as though the room was built that way.
- Lead time
- 3–5 weeks
- Includes
- Filled, caulked, primed and painted
How a panelled wall is set out.
Panelling is arithmetic before it is joinery. The tell of a kit is a narrow off-cut panel in the corner where the maths ran out.
Our own setting-out drawing, not a photograph. Numbers key to the notes belowalongside.
The top rail, carried across
Set from the head of the door casing and run right around the room. Set it from a tape measure off the floor instead and it will drift, because the floor is not level and the eye reads the misalignment at the door immediately.
Equal panel widths
The wall length is divided into equal bays and the maths is done before anything is cut. A kit works left to right and leaves whatever is left over at the end — which is the single most common reason panelling looks wrong without people being able to say why.
Sockets cut in, not panelled around
The faceplate sits flush on the panel face. Boxes are extended forward so the plate lands on the new surface rather than sitting in a recess with a shadow around it.
Rails aligned to the casing
Where the panelling meets a door, the rail heights and the casing should relate. This is why panelling is set out from the joinery already in the room rather than from the floor.
Skirting: replaced, not butted
Panelling that stops on top of the existing skirting stands proud of it and leaves an awkward step. Usually the skirting comes off and goes back on top of the panelling, or is replaced with a deeper section to suit.
What you actually get.
- Setting out drawn to your room before anything is fixed
- Shaker, tongue-and-groove, fluted, board-and-batten or full-height
- Rails aligned to doors, windows and switches rather than to a tape measure
- Sockets and switches cut in cleanly, not panelled around
- Skirting removed and refitted, or replaced to suit the new depth
- Filled, caulked, primed and painted ready to use
What it is made from, and why.
The question that decides how a piece ages, and the one almost nobody asks before signing.
- 9mm or 12mm MDF, primed
- The standard for shaker and board-and-batten. Pre-primed board saves a coat and, more usefully, stops the board drinking the first one unevenly.
- MR-MDF
- Anywhere with moisture — bathrooms, utility rooms, the wall behind a kitchen run. Standard MDF in a steamy room will swell along the bottom edge.
- Solid softwood T&G
- Real tongue-and-groove moves with the seasons, which is a feature rather than a fault: the joints open and close slightly and it reads as an older, softer surface than MDF does.
- Fluted or reeded panel
- Usually a veneered or painted MDF panel with a machined profile. It is more expensive per square metre and very unforgiving of a wall that is out of plumb, because the shadows exaggerate everything.
Why two quotes for “the same job” differ by thousands.
Nobody else in Surrey publishes this. It is the difference between a number you can plan around and a number you have to take on trust.
Guide prices
- Shaker panelling, single feature wall, painted
- £900 – £2,200
- Full-height or fluted panelling, per wall
- £2,000 – £4,500
- Per m², shaker to fluted, supplied, fitted and painted
- £90 – £280
Indicative 2026 figures for Surrey, including materials and fitting. A guide, not a quote. Your quote is fixed, in writing, and comes after we have measured.
- Wall area, and how many obstructions interrupt it
- Panelling style: fluted and full-height cost more than a simple shaker grid
- Whether existing skirting stays or is replaced to suit
- How far out of plumb the wall is — fluted profiles show it, flat panels forgive it
- Number of sockets, switches and radiators to work around
- Painting: included as standard, but colour changes and multiple coats add time
From the first visit to the last adjustment.
Design visit
We measure the walls and check them for plumb, and note every socket, switch, radiator and reveal. The setting out is decided by those, not by the wall length.
Setting out drawing
An elevation with the bay widths marked. You see the arithmetic before anything is cut, which is the point at which a proportion problem is cheap to fix.
Fixing
Rails and stiles fixed and packed to a true face, since almost no wall is one. Sockets extended forward as we go.
Filling and caulking
Every joint filled, every internal angle caulked. This is most of the labour and all of the difference between panelling and panels stuck on a wall.
Painting
Primed and finished, normally in eggshell. Panelling that is fitted but not properly finished never looks right, so we treat it as one job.
When not to call us
Peel-and-stick panelling kits genuinely work on a flat, plumb, obstruction-free wall in a modern house, and cost a tenth of this. Where they fall down is old plaster, out-of-plumb walls, and rooms with doors and windows the grid has to relate to. If your wall is flat and blank, buy a kit.
The things people ask first.
Do you paint it as well?
Yes, filled, caulked, primed and finished. Panelling that is fitted but not properly finished never looks right, so we treat it as one job rather than leaving you to find a decorator.
What about sockets and radiators?
Sockets are cut in so the faceplate sits flush on the panel — the back box is extended forward to suit. Radiators usually need the pipework adjusting or the panelling returning around them, which we set out at survey rather than discovering on the day.
How do you decide the panel widths?
The wall is divided into equal bays, with the divisions related to the doors and windows where possible. What we never do is start at one end and let the last panel be whatever is left, which is exactly what a kit forces you into and exactly what makes panelling look wrong.
Can you panel over an uneven wall?
Yes — the framing is packed to a true face, which is part of why hand-fitted panelling costs more than a kit. Fluted and reeded profiles are the exception: the shadows on them exaggerate any twist, so a badly out-of-plumb wall may need attention first.
Will it make the room smaller?
Marginally. A shaker grid adds about 20–25mm to the wall, full-height or fluted panelling 25–40mm. It is not usually noticeable, but it does matter behind a door that opens against the wall.
Is MDF or real timber better?
For a painted finish, MDF. It is flat, stable and takes paint beautifully. Solid tongue-and-groove is the right choice where you want the joints to move slightly with the seasons and read as an older surface — it is a different look, not a better material.
Wall panelling across Surrey.
Each town page describes the building stock we are actually working with there, which is what decides how a job like this is detailed.
Tell us what you are trying to fit, and where it has to go.
Four quick questions, no essay and no obligation. We will come and measure, and you will have a drawing and a fixed price within a week.
Every enquiry answered within one working day.