How to paint Oak Acoustic Panels?

ritams

Hello, we have installed these oak panels by a builder and really dislike them. Visually they make you feel dizzy and the colour feels orange. This is a home gym, it’s a small space and  floor will be black so don’t think painting black would be a good idea. Has anyone successfully painted these beige/white? Or any other ideas to make these less jarring?

  

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @ritams. It's terrific to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about acoustic panels.

These acoustic panels are definitely a newer product to the market, so it's quite unlikely many people have tried painting them yet, especially given the challenges with the two different materials involved. The panels are made up of a felt backing and wooden veneer battens, so you're essentially asking about painting over veneer, which can be done, but it requires a careful approach.

You would first need to lightly sand the timber battens with a fine 240-grit sandpaper to give the surface some key. After that, a primer like Dulux Max Adhesion Primer would be a good choice to help your topcoat stick properly. You could then apply a water-based enamel like Dulux Aquanamel, which would give you a durable and cleanable finish in your chosen colour, like beige or white.

The tricky part will be avoiding getting paint onto the felt between the battens. The battens are quite thinly spaced, so masking off the felt or painting by hand with a small brush would be very time-consuming. Painting the felt itself is another story — while physically paint might stick, felt is flexible and porous, so there’s no guarantee how long the paint would last or how it would perform over time. It could end up cracking, peeling, or looking uneven as the felt moves.

If the look of the panels really isn't working for you, and the painting process sounds too risky, another option might be to clad over them with a new style of panel.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell