The shadow gap, and why it hides crooked walls
27 September 2026
No wall in a real home is perfectly straight. Plaster bows, corners are not quite square, ceilings dip by a few millimetres across a room. Butt a perfectly straight timber panel against that and every flaw shows up as a wobbly line where the two meet.
A gap you design on purpose
A shadow gap is a small, even recess between the new timber and the old wall or ceiling. Usually between 6 and 25 mm.
- It makes a dark line. The gap falls into shadow, so you see a crisp dark line instead of the edge of the wall.
- Your eye reads the straight edge. Next to a straight timber edge, the small wobbles in the old wall disappear.
- It forgives movement. Timber and concrete move differently with Malaysian heat and humidity. The gap gives them room.
Where Garis uses it
Every Garis design stops short of the ceiling and the side walls with a shadow gap, 12 mm by default. It is one of the sliders in the app, so you can see the difference before deciding.