Description
9mm Bead & Butt Primed Long Grooved Moisture Resistant MDF 101.6mm Centres 3050 x 1220mm (10′ X 4′) in the 10 by 4 size carries its grooves the full 3050mm length of the sheet. That extra reach is the whole point. One board climbs a tall wall or a high stairwell in a single piece, so the vertical lines run unbroken from skirting to coving with no halfway join to line up.
Most panelling sheets stop at 2440mm, which leaves a joint part way up a high room. At 3050mm this board clears that problem on walls up to around three metres. Run it upright and twelve grooves stand vertical across the 1220mm width, evenly spaced at 101.6mm. The effect suits tall feature walls where a shorter sheet would force an awkward seam at eye level.
Primed on the face
The front arrives ready primed, giving you a clean white base and saving the first coat. The reverse is left bare, so seal it too if it will be seen or sits somewhere humid. Skip ordinary wall emulsion here, as it suits plaster rather than timber and tends to mark. Use a wood primer undercoat, then a hard trim paint such as satinwood or eggshell for a finish that lasts.
Made for humidity, not water
This is moisture-resistant MDF, comfortable in the warm, damp air of a bathroom or kitchen that would swell a standard board. It copes with humidity, yet it is not waterproof. Keep it indoors, away from standing water and direct splashing, and never use it outside. Always seal the cut ends, because a bare edge is the first place damp creeps in.
How the boards meet
- Square cut, butt-jointed edges that sit flush against the next sheet
- Both long edges finish on a half groove, so a pair of boards butts together and the join hides inside a groove
- The 101.6mm spacing then reads straight across the wall as one unbroken set of lines
- Bead and butt, not tongue and groove, so the panels simply butt rather than lock together
Where it works best
- Tall feature walls and stairwell voids, covered floor to ceiling in one length
- Period hallways with high ceilings, where a mid-wall join would spoil the run
- Open-plan and double-height spaces that need full-height vertical lines
- Ceilings in larger rooms, run the long way for a clean continuous sweep
- Bathroom and kitchen walls set back from direct water, for a soft panelled look
Made in the UK by Matchboard from eucalyptus and pine fibre, the board is built to the EN 622-5 fibreboard specification, and rated E1 for low formaldehyde. It is FSC certified and non-structural. At 3050mm long and around 32kg, this is a large, heavy sheet best handled by two people.
