Wall Panelling in Malaysia: Plywood and Laminate Wall Panels

Wall panelling from The M Renovation is 12mm plywood fixed to the wall on timber battens and faced with high-pressure laminate, priced from RM55 per square foot for a flat panelled wall and from RM80 per square foot for a fluted or slatted face. We build it in our own workshop and the price includes delivery and installation anywhere in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

People usually come to us after looking at PVC and WPC panels online. Those are fine for some walls. This page explains where a built plywood panel is worth the extra, what it costs, and how we fit it, so you can decide before anyone comes to measure.

What is plywood wall panelling?

We fix a grid of timber battens to the wall, pack them out until the grid is flat, then screw 12mm plywood panels onto it. The panels are faced with laminate in the colour or woodgrain you choose, and the joints are either tight butt joints or a deliberate V-groove that becomes part of the design. Because the panel sits on battens, it hides an uneven or patched wall and leaves room behind it for cables.

The same method gives you three looks:

• Flat panelling. Large laminate panels across a whole wall or room, and the most common choice for bedrooms, corridors and office walls.
• Grooved or framed panelling. Flat panels with routed lines or a beading frame, for a more tailored wall without the cost of a full feature wall.
• Fluted or slatted panelling. Individual laminate-wrapped ribs fixed in rows. Laminate cannot bend into narrow flutes, so every rib is made and fixed separately, which is why it costs more.

How much does wall panelling cost in Malaysia?

Wall panels are priced per square foot of wall face, width times height. Delivery and installation are inside every rate below.

Worked examples. A bedroom wall 12 feet wide and 9 feet high is 108 square feet, so flat panelling comes to about RM5,940. Put a 3-foot fluted band behind the bed and that strip is 27 square feet at RM80, about RM2,160, with the other 81 square feet flat at about RM4,455, so around RM6,615 for the wall. An office reception wall 20 feet by 10 feet is 200 square feet, about RM11,000 flat.

What pushes the price up: fluted or slatted sections, woodgrain or textured laminate over a plain colour, LED runs, curved corners, hidden doors, and walls with a lot of switches, windows or corners to cut around.

Plywood panels or PVC and WPC panels?

PVC panels typically sell for around RM20 to RM40 per square foot installed and WPC panels for around RM40 to RM80, so a plywood wall at RM55 sits in the middle. The difference is what the panel is. PVC and WPC are plastic-based boards glued or clipped to the wall, and they follow every bump in it. Ours is a built wall: plywood on a levelled frame, high-pressure laminate that keeps its colour, and edges, corners and cut-outs finished like furniture. You can also screw shelves and frames into it.

If your budget points to WPC, we can fit it and we will tell you so. For a bedroom, a living room or an office reception that gets looked at every day, the built wall holds up better over the years.

Homes, offices, shops and mall units

We panel walls in condos, terraces and semi-Ds, and in commercial spaces: offices, retail shops, clinics, cafes and shopping mall units. Commercial walls often need more than a home: fire-rated board, after-hours work, hoarding and approval from the mall or building management. We check those before we confirm a price, so mall and fire-rated jobs are quoted after the site visit rather than from the rates above.

Damp walls and ground floors

Plywood does not like a wet wall. Malaysian ground floors and outside walls can carry rising damp that never shows on the paint until something is fixed over it. We check moisture at the site measurement, and where a wall is damp we either fix the cause first, use waterproof board, or tell you that wall should not be panelled. It is also why the final price is confirmed after the site visit rather than from a photo.

How a job runs

1. Send a photo and the wall size. We reply on WhatsApp with a price range for flat, grooved or fluted.
2. Site measurement. We measure, check the wall and moisture, agree the laminate and joint layout, and send a written quotation. RM500, deducted when you go ahead.
3. Fabrication. Panels are cut and laminated in our Batu Caves workshop, three to five weeks from confirmation.
4. Installation. Our own team fits the battens and panels and clears up before leaving. How long this takes depends on the area and how many rooms are being done, and we give you the installation schedule with the quotation.

Walls we have built

All built and installed by us. More on the portfolio page.

• Commercial office, Kuala Lumpur. Marble-look laminate feature wall along the reception hallway, next to a bronze frosted-glass partition.
• Alix Residences, Petaling Jaya. A full-width dark woodgrain panel behind the bed with floating bedside units, and a white fluted feature wall in another bedroom.
• Park Regent, Desa ParkCity. A wood-slat feature wall with LED lighting beside a glass display cabinet.

Questions we get asked

Can you panel over an uneven or cracked wall?

Yes. The battens are packed out until the frame is flat, so the panels sit straight even when the wall behind them is not. A crack caused by damp or movement needs looking at first.

Can I hang a TV or shelves on a panelled wall?

Yes, if you tell us before we build. We add solid blocking behind the panel where the bracket or shelf will go.

How long does installation take?

It depends on the size of the job. A single wall is quicker than a full room, and when we are panelling several rooms our team works across the house in stages. We give you the schedule with the quotation so you can plan around it.

Do you install WPC or PVC panels too?

We can, if that suits the wall and the budget better. Our own work is plywood and laminate.

Can the panels match my wardrobe or kitchen?

Yes, if the laminate is still available. Give us the laminate code or a door to match against.

Also see: TV cabinets and feature walls · display cabinets · custom carpentry · built-in wardrobes · renovation contractor in KL and Selangor