Aluminum Panel Wall

This striking wall treatment can provide a high-tech sheen to a room, or if surrounded by softer textures, can convey a luxurious sophistication. So whether you're going for industrial or swank, this aluminum look is anything but recycled.

For a different approach to the Aluminum Wall, click here >

What You'll Need:

Handyman Coil

A paste adhesive like Liquid Nails - several tubes

Handyman Coil

Handyman Coil is a roll of aluminum (it’s probably another metal but I call it aluminum) that is used for roof flashing. You will find it in the roofing section of your local home improvement warehouse. It comes in rolls of 10 or 20 feet, and is pretty inexpensive at about $12 for 20 feet. It also comes in different widths, from as small as 6 inches to 20 inches. You can use the 6 inch coil for smaller walls, or on areas where the wall is broken up frequently by cabinets like a kitchen backsplash. When you have larger expanses of wall, the 14 or 20 inch widths will work better. The panels pictured above are 14 inches wide.

Adhesive

Your local home improvement warehouse will have Liquid Nails and many similar adhesives. I like it because it holds quickly on the wall, yet doesn’t set permanently for about 20 minutes, so you can still move things around a bit. However, once it’s set, this wall treatment is pretty permanent, so you’d better count on having it around for a long time. I am never planning on taking my aluminum wall down, and if I ever sell my home, the next homeowner had better love it, which of course she will, as it is, after all, a Jonathan Fong original.

But don’t worry, folks, if you want this look to be more temporary, there are alternatives. Instead of using adhesive, you can use real nails. The drawback with real nails is that once they’re in, you can’t adjust the panels as with the adhesive. My suggestion, then, if you want to be able to easily make this wall temporary is to place wallpaper or posterboard on the wall first, and then apply the aluminum to that. In fact, that’s just what I did for this demonstration, as I didn’t want to alter a whole wall just for the purposes of this demo. When I was through, I simply removed the posterboard, with all the aluminum panels on it. Just be sure to secure the wallpaper or posterboard well, so they don’t fall down.

Safety Equipment

The corners of the aluminum are sharp, so wear gloves to protect your hands. Actually, the most practical reason for using the gloves is that they will prevent you from putting fingerprints all over the metal while you are handling it.

Also, wear safety goggles in case the metal should suddenly fly up or fall and hit you in the eye. And remember to allow plenty of ventilation, as many adhesives will emit some vapors.

IMPORTANT: The package on Liquid Nails warns about possible risks of this substance, so keep them in mind for your personal safety. Read the fine print. You may want to consider another adhesive that is safer.

How to do it:

For a different approach that might be easier, click here >

1. Cut the Aluminum Panels

First, cut up the aluminum into panels, where one side is an inch longer than the other. The coil in this demo is 10 inches, so each panel will be 10” x 11”.

Just unspool the coil and, with a straight edge, mark a line every 11 inches (or whatever your width is plus one inch).

Using metal snips, cut a straight line across your mark. What you will have, then, is panels with two even edges (the existing edges of the aluminum) and two uneven ones (these are the ones you just cut). The even edges are one inch longer than the uneven ones. Please note, even though I’m calling these sides “uneven,” they’re just uneven in comparison to the machine-cut edges that the aluminum came with.

2. Clean the Panels

Your aluminum panels will probably have metal dust streaks on both sides. They come this way. Just wipe each side with a damp cloth to remove the dust. You will also notice that because the metal has been rolled in its packaging, the panels will be curved. You will be applying them on the wall so that the middle part curves out from the wall.

3. Apply Adhesive to the Uneven Edge

Apply a ribbon of Liquid Nails adhesive along each uneven edge, about an inch from the edge. Do NOT apply adhesive along the even edges. Do this for each panel right before you apply it to the wall.

4. Apply the Panels to the Wall

Starting at the corner of the wall, apply the first aluminum panel (Panel A), with the even edge flush against the ceiling and the uneven edge flush against the wall edge. Press firmly where the adhesive touches the wall until the panel is steady. At this point you may find that your walls are not straight, and you see a tiny streak of white peaking where your wall meets the ceiling or adjacent wall. You can either live with this, as your neighbors probably won’t notice, or you can touch it up later with silver-colored paint.

On to the second panel (Panel B). You will put this below Panel A, which has an even bottom. Tuck about a half inch of the uneven edge of Panel B under the bottom of the even edge of Panel A. Press firmly till this panel holds.

The third panel (Panel C) goes to the right of Panel A. Because the right edge of Panel A is uneven, you will be placing an even edge of Panel C on top of the uneven edge of Panel A. To determine where to line up this even edge, use the right edge of Panel B, which is even, as a guide.

Next is the fourth panel (Panel D). You will notice that the right side of Panel B is even, while the bottom side of Panel C is uneven. Therefore, you will tuck an uneven edge of Panel D under the even edge of Panel B, and overlap an even edge of Panel D over the uneven edge of Panel C.

Are you following me? It sounds complicated with all this even-uneven mumbo-jumbo, but all you have to remember is uneven edges are always tucked under the even edges. It's just like basket-weaving. That’s why earlier I said not to apply adhesive along the even edges. You need them clean so you can tuck the uneven edge underneath them.

Here is where you will appreciate how forgiving the adhesive is, because you can move the panels around so that the intersection of the four panels is perfectly straight.

Once you’ve done these first four panels, you can continue in any direction you wish, up and down or left to right. Just keep tucking uneven edges underneath the even ones, and placing even edges on top of uneven ones. While you’re progressing, you may notice that some of the panels aren’t flush against the wall and bow out a bit. If this happens, it’s perfectly fine. Any bends or imperfections will create more interesting reflections in the metal. When you get to the bottom or end of the wall, your panels will probably be larger than the space that's left. Just measure the actual space you'll need and trim the panel to fit.

Just trim the panels to fit around windows and doors.

Cut a hole to allow for light switches and outlets, and then install metallic plates to match.