Veneering a Boat Cabin

Question:

I am looking to line the interior of a boat cabin with wood veneer. I am looking for advice on the best type of veneer to use. It will be laid over rough fiberglass and needs to be flexible to bend around corners. What are my options for types of veneers? Is contact cement the best, or is there a better adhesive? The rest of the woodwork is teak. What would be the best complimenting wood type to use? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer:

I believe we may have already spoken on this subject, but I would be concerned about veneering directly on the raw fiberglass. The only veneer we have that would not telegraph this rough surface would be the phenolic backed veneer. If you used this veneer you would sacrifice quite a bit of flexibility as this is a fairly stiff veneer.

Also, I wouldn’t be 100% convinced that the adhesive bond would hold up using contact cement or even something stronger like marine epoxy. My concern is that with such a rough surface there would be pockets or depressions where the veneer and the adhesive won’t make good contact. If you have a number of these areas over a large veneer surface you could be looking at a significant failure.

I would suggest another alternative, maybe even covering this surface first with a thin MDF or laminate “skin,” then applying a veneer to this much smoother surface. Anyone else out there with more advice on this subject, please chime in.

Oakwood Veneer Tech Support