How To Repair Broken Slat Wall

Repairing slat wall installed in a retail store is a costly and sometimes complex exercise.  Typical ways slat wall will fail is through rupturing of the board, distortion of the extrusions that run through the groove in the slatwall, or both.  The bad news is in many cases repairs won’t be effective and the only solution is replacement of the whole panel or in some cases the whole wall.  While the repair options are limited below is some advice on what you can do.

imported broken Slat wall panel needing repair
Rupture in Imported slat board and aluminium extrusion
Why Gluing Won’t Work To Repair Slat Wall

To understand the difficulty in repairing slat wall it is important to understand that strength of slat wall comes from the 3 main areas: 

 

 

  • The strength of the actual board
  • The strength of the extrusion in the slat groove
  • The number of screws used to attach the slat wall to the backing wall

 

 

The strength of the board comes from the quality of bonding agents and compression applied when the board was made (for more details see our article on the difference between high-quality and low-quality slat wall).  Once the board ruptures it will break these internal bonds and no glue will be able to achieve the same strength as the original manufacturing process.

 

 

Replacing the slat wall extrusion can be complex because it often runs across the panel joins to add strength, so replacement often requires removing multiple panels to access it.  Also, when the extrusion has failed it almost always causes the board to rupture.  Therefore, there may be little benefit in replacing the extrusions as it may simply fail again due to the absence of support from the board.

 

 

Adding Extra Strength Around The Damaged Area Of Slat Wall

 

 

Given the difficulty of repairing the board or extrusions the only option to repair the panel without removing it  may be adding extra screws through the extrusion into the support studs of the internal wall frame.  This will only be an option if the installer of the slat wall hasn’t already put a screw into every available support in the wall frame, and assumes the slatwall has failed in a minor way at a point in the wall where there was previously no support screws installed.  If this is the case adding screws may provide enough additional strength to stop further rupture.

Slat wall with rupture forming

Major Ruptures Require Replacement Of Slat Wall Panel Sections

 

If your slat wall has a rupture where the panel has bent up in a flat sheet, and/or the extrusion material is distorted out of shape, often the only long-term solution is to replace the whole panel.  An experienced shop fitter can assist you with what is required.  If you choose to replace the panel yourself you will need to identify the following information:

  • The size of the slat wall panel
  • The thickness of the board
  • Whether the slat wall is installed in landscape or portrait orientation
  • The spacing between the centre of each slat wall groove
  • The colour of the slat board
  • The type of slatwall extrusion material
  • Any edging on the board

 

Request A Replacement Slat Wall Quote 

> If you have a standard size and colour of panel with no edging you can request a quote on our slatwall panel page. 

> If you require a custom colour, size or edging then fill out our custom slat wall quote form here.

 

Comparison of two pieces of slat wall side on

If you have any questions, or wish to obtain a recommendation of a quality shop fitter, feel free to call our team on (07) 3861 8888, or send us an email to info@advdis.com.au, and we will be happy to assist. 

 

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