Knowledge / Materials and construction
Fitting the Reverberation Control Panel: the warm-room rule
Yes, above 18 °C. The room must be above 18 °C for 24 hours before installation, not warmed up on the morning. The adhesive backing needs a warm, dry, clean substrate, and a cold wall takes the panel and releases it weeks later.
Yes, above 18 °C. The room must be above 18 °C for 24 hours before installation, not warmed up on the morning. The Reverberation Control Panel is supplied with a pre-applied adhesive backing so it can be fitted without fixings, and that backing needs a warm, dry, clean substrate. A cold wall, a room still drying out, a winter build with the heating not yet commissioned: each takes the panel and releases it weeks later, usually after the fabric has gone on. It is the single most preventable failure in the range, and it is preventable only before the fact. Where the panel will be concealed behind fabric, on any ceiling, or in a building still drying, add one 25 mm screw per panel as permanent insurance.
Why it matters
The adhesive backing is temperature-sensitive. Fit it cold and it will hold at first and let go later, and by then the panel is behind a finished surface. That is the whole of the problem: the failure is cheap to prevent and expensive to discover.
How to fit it
- Condition the room: above 18 °C, held for 24 hours. Not warmed for an hour beforehand.
- Check the substrate is clean, dry and dust-free.
- Peel and position. Press firmly across the whole panel.
- Optional permanent insurance: one 25 mm screw per panel. Drive it about two thirds in, then reverse it until the dimple disappears. The screw holds; the surface stays flat.
When to use the screw
Use it wherever the panel will be concealed behind fabric, on any ceiling, and on any job where the building is still drying. A screw costs seconds. A panel that drops behind a finished fabric wall costs a return visit and the client's confidence.
If a panel has already let go
It is an adhesive failure, not a panel failure. Refit with adhesive and a screw. If several have gone, the room was probably cold at installation, which is worth knowing before the rest follow.
What to read next
The Reverberation Control Panel. Planning a room rather than fitting one? The design service is your choice, never a requirement.