Repairing Veneer on Old Doors

Question:

I am working on a restoration project for customer in an old building with a lot of 2-paneled birch veneered doors. They are around 80-90 yrs old. The Birch veneer on the bottoms of a few of the doors needs to be replaced, however, it is quite thick and, of course, not backed.

I need to try to match the old as best as I can as it is a historical building. The old veneer is about 1/16″ thick. Any advice? Thanks.

Answer:

The best or closest match to your old thick veneer would probably be a wood on wood veneer. This has a wood face, in your case birch, with a middle paper layer and a wood crossband on the back. The overall thickness on this product is about the same as your old veneer, but it is a much more stable veneer to work with due to the wood crossband.

You didn’t mention is what type of cut you have. Birch is typically rotary cut or flat cut and each produces a very specific grain pattern. Look at the different cuts of veneer on our web site to determine which is your best match. If you have further technical questions, contact us and we’ll help you make the best decisions on selection of the veneers and the best way to apply it.

Oakwood Veneer Tech Support