Decorative Wall Panels

Panespol has been tested to Australian standards by independent fire certification testing companies located in Australia. Australian standards tend to be higher than many countries that are known for cheap manufacturing.

Lower-quality decorative wall panel manufacturers either do not have fire certification or may use USA standards as a default. The installation of these panels may not meet Australian building codes and could potentially cause issues with insurance claims in the event of a fire.

Lower quality faux brick and stone panels are often made of softer foam that can be damaged when pushed or impacted. These panels lack durability due to their vulnerability to impact. It is rare for lower quality panels to include mineral in the surface layer. A number of these systems do not Australian fire certification.

Panespol’s entire range of decorative wall panels are made in Spain and are manufactured as a patented fire-resistant rigid polyurethane back panel covered with a polymer surface layer that contains real mineral. The panels are solid, firm to touch and resist impact. The addition of real mineral in the surface layer creates a texture that feels like stone, brick, concrete and slate.

Some stone panels that contain crushed stone are simply a thin, flat coating sprayed onto a large adhesive sticker. This can resemble wall-paper or tiles. If the surface is impacted and scratched there is no way to repair it. These tiles also lack the 3D profile of Panespol Stone Panels and the authentic stone look that this creates.

Some panels achieve a brick look by painting or printing a pattern on a flat panel or substrate. These panels tend to lack texture and the paints are often have a plastic-like finish. The end result is far less realistic compared to Panespol.

The 3D profile of every Panespol panel makes it extremely difficult to tell that the feature wall is not made from real brick. The surface pattern of Panespol panels also contains a level of ‘imperfections’ that you would expect to find in real brick.

Sliced stone pieces may require a specialist stone mason or tiler to install the system and grout the gaps between panels. If the stone facings are not mounted on a mesh sheet there can be significant extra time required to select and map out the pieces of stone to make an aesthetically-pleasing appearance. Cutting these pieces may also require wet-cutting tools that create extra mess. These factors add cost and time to the installation and cause the project to become dependent on the availability of the specialist trades people.

Panespol has a texture and firmness closer to wood and can be cut with standard carpentry tools. This makes installation faster, less messy and avoids the need for using specialist tradespeople. With Panespol everything required for installation can be performed by a builder or home handyman.

Sliced brick facing systems are often made by slicing the front and back off a real brick. The systems may come as individual pieces, pieces attached to a mesh sheet or sometimes these products can require a specialist mounting frame to be installed. The individual and sheeted products may require a specialist stone mason or tiler to install the system and put a mortar-look grout between panels. Systems requiring a frame incur additional cost and installation time.

Panespol comes as pre-finished panels roughly 1m2 in size. Only the joins between the panels require filling and touch-up painting so they are faster and easier to install.

The texture of brick and stone tiles can often be glossy or a smooth surface finish that lack an authentic and realistic 3D appearance. Brick and stone tiles also need a specialist tiler to install them, which adds cost and time to the installation price.

Panespol textures and appearance are far more realistic than tiles and don’t require specialist tradespeople to install the panels.

The rendered fibrous cement panels often come unpainted and raw. The panels require a significant amount of uncoating to seal the surface and then the bricks must be individually painted. This adds a huge amount of time to the installation and extra costs for paint. The rendered brick pattern is often created by taping lines over the surface to create the ‘grout’ lines. This results in the lines between the bricks being flat with no variation.

Panespol uses high-quality oxide based paints that contain metal-oxides that are commonly used for artistic-applications or external durability. Oxide-based paints create more ‘earthy’ tones and textures and match the stone, brick and concrete finishes Panespol seeks to replicate. The fade-resistance of oxide based paints makes them more durable for exterior applications.

Lower quality panels will tend to use some form of acrylic-based paints, which will a glossier, plastic-like finish that lacks realism. The durability of these paints in exterior applications will be lacking compared to Panespol.