Wall panels for Goan homes and businesses

Every panel job starts with a moisture reading at several heights, including near the floor and under windows, and a look at the plaster. White powdery bloom means salts are being carried out of the wall by moisture; hollow-sounding patches mean plaster has lost its key; black spotting in corners means condensation or a hidden leak. We ask what is on the other side of the wall and whether the patch changes with the season.

External laterite walls, walls below a terrace or bathroom, and ground-floor walls are the usual suspects. If a wall is wet, the source has to be found and fixed first: a cracked terrace, a failed pipe joint, a missing drip on a window sill, or ground water. A panel is a finish, not a cure, and we will not quote for panels on a wall we expect to fail.

On walls that are sound and dry, many panels can be fixed directly with adhesive or concealed clips. Where moisture is possible, we build a frame of treated or composite battens, fixed into the masonry with corrosion-resistant fixings, and leave an air gap between wall and panel. Small openings at the top and bottom let air move behind the panels, so any moisture that does reach the wall can dry out instead of collecting.

Laterite is soft and variable, so fixings need to reach sound stone, not just plaster, and are spaced closer than on brick or block. The frame is packed to a true plane, which matters most for gloss and fluted finishes that show every ripple. Where the frame meets the floor we leave a gap and keep timber clear of the slab, because that is where termites arrive and where mopping water collects.

From June to September, indoor humidity in a Goan house stays high for weeks, and a house that is closed for the season traps it. PVC and WPC panels are unaffected by that moisture. Timber and MDF take it up, swell and, if unsealed, grow fungus; that is why they need sealing on every face, including the back and cut edges, and why we prefer them in rooms that are lived in or air-conditioned.

Termites travel up walls inside mud tubes and through gaps in skirting. They ignore plastic and pay little attention to composite, but they will eat untreated battens behind a plastic panel, which is why the frame matters as much as the face. Near the sea, the risk shifts to metal: plated screws, clips and trims rust and stain the panel, so we use stainless or coated fixings throughout.

The best panelled rooms usually have one panelled wall, not four. Choose the wall you see first or the one behind the bed, sofa or television, and let the other walls stay calm. Where panels meet a ceiling, a door frame or a window, decide in advance how the edge is finished, because a clean termination is what makes panelling look built rather than applied.

Light decides how a textured panel reads. Fluting, slats, 3D relief and moulding all need light that grazes across them from above or the side; front light flattens them. A linear light at the ceiling line, a cove at the top of the panel or a few angled spots are usually planned at the same time as the wiring. High ceilings in older houses suit tall vertical ribs and full-height moulding frames; lower modern ceilings benefit from vertical lines that lead the eye upward.

Plastic-based panels soften with heat and give off dense smoke if they catch fire. Keep them away from hobs, ovens, heaters and hot halogen fittings, and use cool-running lighting near them. Sockets and switches are brought forward to sit flush with the new face using proper extension boxes, not left buried behind the panel.

On a television wall, the bracket is fixed through solid blocking into the masonry, never into the panel alone. Cable routes, a socket behind the screen and a supply for the router or inverter are decided before the frame is closed, because changing them later means taking panels down.